Hello fellow Zazzle friends! I am recently new to Zazzle. When using the Designer Tool am I able to save the templates from there and create my own products using those templates to then sell? I guess I am kinda confused on the designer tool templates? It gives me the option to download and save...
"Templates" are what you set within the design tool in order for the customer to be able to "customize"/personalize the product on the product page without having to go into the design tool. You can set photo and text templates.
The definitive answer is no. Those are for customer use only. Make sure you read through the terms of services you agreed to carefully. I know it is a lot to read, but that and the help center can help you to know the do's and don't's of Zazzle. We lost a lot of the old information with this new forum implementation, but you can not use templates or font combinations from the create tool (which it looks like you are in) and you can not use backgrounds or icons that are available in the design tool (which is where you should design your products). You will get a notice that you don't have the right to sell the image you created if you use one of those elements in your design.
You can however make use of all of the fonts available in the design tool, plus the shapes and lines in the design too.
Start with a product from this menu and make sure you don't use the ones that say start from an existing design, those are for customer use.
Honestly, it is best if you create your own work and sell it and then you do not have to worry about copyright issues, but if you want to use elements that have already been created you will need to purchase those elements and make sure that they have a license for you to use on a print on demand platform or make sure they are copyright free or fair use in the public domain. Not everything online that says it is copyright free actually is, so it is up to you to research it and make sure you are not using something that you are not supposed to. Many words, logos, brands, etc. are trademarked. For instance, there are tons of Good Vibes Only items on Zazzle, but a couple of years ago I had my t-shirts and masks taken down where I used those words because there is a clothing company that has that phrase trademarked on apparel.
Thank you for mentioning the copyright issue. I made a query in the help section about representing works with cars and other transport elements, always drawn by me without using the logos obviously but using the names in the background with non-corporate fonts, for example: "hyper-realistic illustration of a racing Ferrari, maybe accompanied by a racetrack environment or the figure of a famous driver with lighting set". I received an answer but I didn't find it very clear because they would have to ask for authorization from the brands. I have seen for years so many artists on other platforms that are dedicated to this and I have never seen them admonished, I have asked on many sites but no one has responded, the reason? I could make my own cars but I know the public likes certain recognizable models, I don't agree with taking an existing model and modifying it, no one would like it, not even the brands. Thank you.
