topic what is the deal with Frames in Ask a Question

what is the deal with Frames

MPFG-sos — Sun, 03 May 2026 19:53:50 GMT

I have used frames on all my products with images so far ( I am a newbie)

What I have fouind is that after set up I cannot (and thus a customer cannot) move the images horizontally in circle and rectange frames which i have used on mugs

Is this a known technical issue and why has it not been corrected

How for th love of God is one supposed to make a professional design that sells if a customer cannot move the image horizontally and adjust in the frame

I asked Ai and it gave me information on alot of buttons that dont seem to exist in the new editor ...like ratio , adjustment , etc

what the hell is going on ?

If frames dont work properly why include them and why does the new editor not include the adjustment buttons as previous versions

I learned today that one can create maskes , but loathe to go back and redo every design unless I understand if there are any further issues with masks or if its worth it ?

Also does anyone know what is the poiicy about including mockups on Zazzle ..I have done some but not for all products...will the lack of mockups mean less visibility

I am in a catch 22 situation ...I need some proof my designs are sellable before investing too much more time as not sure zazle is a profitable enterprise for new sellers and I have invested alot of time sofar

Re: what is the deal with Frames

Anne — Mon, 04 May 2026 07:23:17 GMT

You need to choose "crop" to move images within a frame. Doesn't make sense to me either, and I assume this chases away potential customers as well.
About mockups: I have noticed recently that Zazzle is not showing them consistently any more (there are some threads about this). Not sure what is going on there. I always make mockups for the consistency of my own website and because the default mockups provided by Zazzle are oftentimes not good enough for selling a product.
And for making your business profitable: that requires a LOT of time and effort and is increasingly difficult since the April Fools Disaster Day last year when all earnings were cut drastically.

Re: what is the deal with Frames

MPFG-sos — Mon, 04 May 2026 10:44:52 GMT

Thank you for replyingf

I really need help with this matter as I am at a cross roads and about to walk away

I created frames for mugs and yes if you hit the crop button for a frame you can stretch the image and move it around after stretching and within the stretched size...but you cannot crop (or at least I cant) and the movement is restricted ie you cannot shift completely to one side, which is what a customer could require to centre a subject (ie dog)

How is the customer supposed to know to do this crop ??? Does Zazzle expect them to read minds. It is a half baked non thought out solution that is very limited. I mean how do you actually crop a photo in a frame as 'crop' does not do this only allows stretching ????

Another issue I noticed is I put the same image on the back and front of a mug but repositioning one does not reposition the other even though there are the same image with the same URL . SO the customer has to reposition twice for the same image ?

I am sure I have lost sales already over this . It is so disheartening

what do other people do for their image products? Do you use Frames ?

Are you all sticking with the old style masking of your images

I am trying to decide if I shoudl redo products with frames and change to the masking method

or leave the limited frames as is and put an instruction in the description to say crop photos on your phone and use 'crop' to stretch and reposition the stretched image (though not exactly true as limited )

Any help or pointers gratefully received. What is your approach ?

Any advice please

Do you all think the FRAMES feature is ok ?

Re: what is the deal with Frames

Anne — Mon, 04 May 2026 11:29:45 GMT

Disheartening indeed. You may try to delete the frame and it again. That usually solves scaling issues for me. Your image always stays within the boundaries of the frame, so I am not sure what you want to crop? You can shift your photo to show what you want within the boundary of the frame.