Cover Photos Tips and Tricks Time Management Discussion

[Connie]

Could I please get suggestions, tips, and tricks, for saving time when doing the cover photos? I just spent 5 hours yesterday browsing place-it, Etsy, Deposit Photos, etc., looking for suitable mockups and flat-lays. Now I still have to photoshop some in situ/ angled photos to make my own smart-object mockups for things like napkins and table numbers. Flat lays for wedding invitations and related are easy enough. I also got a bunch of smart-object mockups from Etsy, which means now I have to somehow get my designs from Zazzle into those smart objects.

The main things I am stuck on are:

1. How do you save time when browsing for images/ mockups online? It's hard enough when I need just a couple for each product (standard, seasonal), but after reading the "rules", I think I'm going to need a LOT more than what I've already got! If it's not a "trade secret," do you have any favorite go-to sites?

2. I don't mind so much taking time to make my own smart-object mockups, once I find suitable images. Except that Zazzle wants all different images, so I can't reuse those mockups over and over!

3. When using commercial mockups for home decor products, how do you get the designs from Zazzle into the mockups? It's easy enough for patterns or non-personalized designs, but the personalized designs would be hard to recreate in Photoshop, especially if I don't have the exact fonts that I used on Zazzle.

4. Paper products are easy to screenshot and isolate to put into flatlay scenes, but how do you do hundreds or thousands of them without getting bored to death? Has anybody outsourced this? If so, how do you find somebody trustworthy, who isn't going to get the idea to use the bigger screenshots to steal designs, once they find out the method? I'd gladly pay somebody to do it, otherwise it'll never get done!

Thank you all very much in advance.

[Lais]

1. There are beautiful and easy-to-edit mockups here: https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/5x7-card-mockup5x3-5-card-mockupsmart/ref/601777/
3. I recreate the design using zazzle.com/create and download it. 
4. Well, if you'd like, I can create some mockups for you. 😊 At least the card mockups, which are simple. I promise I will never steal your designs/ideas. You can message me if you want. 

[Connie]

Thank you very much. I mostly need my wedding invitations done. Actually, what I really need is just the images screencapped from Zazzle- that's what I find tedious, but after I have them, I can easily place them into flatlays. I'll send you a message.

[Scrapmaker]

Thanks so much for this! I didn't even realize zazzle.com/create existed. I just wish that Zazzle made it easier to transfer between the two designing interfaces so that we didn't have to take up even more valuable time RE-creating all personalized designs. It would feel a lot less clumsy since we already have to jump through sooooo many hoops just to get a store set up and populated. I did notice it was in beta. So maybe in the future they might connect the two somehow? I hope so.

[Lais]

There is no need to re-create the design using the Zazzle Create anymore. They allowed us to download our designs directly on the product's page. Here is how you do it: once the product is posted for sale, go to its page, find "download" on the "listing tools", just like in the image below,

once you click on it, the download options will appear.

[Scrapmaker]

Thanks! Sorry I missed this reply earlier!

[KeegansCreation]

1. I got a bunch of mock-ups from Creative Market. I walked away from Creative Market when they changed their rules such that nothing could be used on Zazzle except what had been bought before the rule change. (The rule being you can't use any designs or even add-ons on a site where a customer can interact with the design even if the design tool is locked i.e. templates). But they were mentioned as a place to get mockups in the rule Guide so I went back. Mockups don't break Creative Market's rule because the mockup is not for sale. It's just a display, an allowed use. I got some for bed covers, pillows (now a moot point) and shower curtains. It's one thing to do your own mockup for paper products lying flat on a table. But quite another to try to bend a photo down the sides of a bed- that's beyond my Photoshop skills although I might be able to muddle through after several hours.

2. Yea that sucks.

3. To solve that problem I did a screen cap of the design tool for a given design and used that image in the smart object. You can turn off the guidelines in the design tool but some green line elements still can show with some products so then there's nothing to do but fix that in Photoshop. It's a solution but not a timesaver.

4.Paper products in the hundreds or thousands? I'm out of my depth here since mine number in the dozens. 😥 I'm curious what others will say.

[Connie]

Thank you. I do look on Creative Market sometimes, but they have SO MANY mockups, that if I don't find what I'm looking for in the first few pages, I give up. I don't know if I really have hundreds, but I have dozens of wedding suites, and they each have at least 10 products. I suppose as long as I do the invites at least, I don't really have to do all of them. But I want to also do things like napkins and table numbers that don't have good images already on Zazzle.

[AlyssaErnst]

Sorry to hijack,  but your Creative Market comment caught me by surprise. I use them for probably 70% of my designs. Do you know when this Print on demand restriction was added? 

[Jermolinaart]

Hi, I started in 2019 and the restriction was already in their policy.

[Barbara]

The mockups I've done have been only for objects that don't bend or curve--mostly posters, and not many because I currently don't have the time.

My sense of it was that Zazzle didn't want hundreds of the same image (even though this is what they themselves do), but rather, a few of this here, that there, and the other thing elsewhere. In our stores, I think if we have a large category for a specific product, that's where we'll want to mix it up rather than use the same scene over and over.

One thing I've only just begun to do is to break images into parts so different items can be placed within a scene.

For instance:

Decorate Kitchen with Your Recipe on Green Plaid Poster
by colorwash

In the above image, I wiped out the background and pulled the basket and the oranges into separate images that I could place where I wanted. The tile wall replaced the original background. I'll be able to use the table, the oranges, the basket, and wall in other images.

Initially, it's a lot of work, but as time goes on, those bits and pieces can be mixed and matched.

Don't frazzle yourself by trying to do huge amounts as quickly as possible. Relax and enjoy the process.

Colorwash's Home

[Connie]

That would take me forever to isolate everything! It's a very good idea though, to get more versatility from the images.

[PenguinPower]

I was in the beta so I have had access for a while. My strategy is to go in on the stuff that doesn't have any insitu or doesn't have a very appropriate insitu. There's just too many things for me to do every item I have... I have been doing each one custom and not reusing any of my backgrounds, as that seemed to be the point of the program. 

I have not used any pre-made mockups, mainly because I'm cheap and don't make enough $$ here to justify paying for something that may or may not lead to more sales at this point in time...  Plus, how many mockup templates are out there... it seems like you'd run out quick if you were trying to have them all be different. Time I do have though and I have Photoshop and the skills to pull off making my own - and I kind of enjoy it.. To me, photo editing is like knitting to some folks - something to do with my hands when I'm bored. 

I don't generally try to focus on finding images that have products that match the ones here - it's too hard to find the exact right mug or a tote bag that completely the same as the one Z sells. I find a background that I like and drop my images into it. I've been using the images from my product pages, so I do need to be careful to pick images that they will fit into - things that are at the right angle with lighting that won't look wildly wrong. I can adjust things to a point, but only to a point.. So yeah, finding background images that I like is one of the most time consuming parts.

I've been using mainly free Adobe stock - I have access through my Creative Cloud account, I'm not sure if any of it is free to non CC members - mostly because the selection is good and I can be absolutely sure that if it's on Adobe's site that any people in the images will be properly model released and the images are not pirated. The licensing allows free images to be used for advertising. 
Some of my more favorite creations so far..

Vintage Wood Sign Board Look Lemonade Stand Sign by Invincible_Penguin	Personalized Funny Sasquatch Location and Research by Penguin_Protest	Steampunk Colorful Rusty Gears Custom Monogram by Works_For_Peanuts
Weathered Silver Wood Crate Personalized by Works_For_Peanuts	16th Century Celtic Knot Decorative Capital T by Brightly_Illuminated	Save the Molar Bears Punny Dentist by Doc_Penguins
Scottish Thistle on Dark Tartan Custom Name by Works_For_Peanuts	Great wave - traditional blue by Invincible_Penguin	Personalized Funny Sasquatch Location and Research by Penguin_Protest
Squirrels Rampant Doggy Coat of Arms Custom Name by Penguin_Protest	Ace of Space Rocket Ship lunch box by Invincible_Penguin	Rainbow Mermaid Scale by Invincible_Penguin

[KeegansCreation]

Such a diversity of mockup images! Very cool. 😎

[Fiorenzo]

Great in-situs, kudos! Just one remark: you need to blurry the legs & feet of the kids, too, to make it correct. It looks strange right now, and by doing so, you would also increase the visibility of the sign. Not a big deal if you use Photoshop or similar. Blurry the whole backdrop, then add the metal stand by hand plus some unblurred grass on the bottom, and save. When you add your designs, cut out and paste only the sign itself.

[Connie]

Wow, you have really creative images! Unfortunately that would take me WAYYYY too long in Photoshop. And too long to find all the images, also. Adobe Stock does have a ton of great images- unfortunately, I don't have a CC subscription, and their monthly fee for stock photos is way too expensive.

[WittyBetty]

---

@Connie wrote:

Except that Zazzle wants all different images, so I can't reuse those mockups over and over!

---

Wait, what? Where is it stated? Do we have to create a different mockup for every product listed? or for every TYPE of product? Can you please clarify that? I've never seen anything about all different images used for designer's mockup.

As you can guess, I created my own PS files with smart-objects and have been happily using them not knowing there should be a different image for exactly what? every product? or every type of product (like invites, posters etc)

[PenguinPower]

It's in the guide on google docs... it doesn't say you can never reuse images... but it does encourage you not to do it too much...  from the do's and don'ts slide
"Ensure that you have a wide variety of cover photo images and are not repeating the same view too many times."

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l5ewyw9d9k-rq9KPgd0raAXR1Yonxs8wrZieJccZ4UY/edit#slide=id.g1...

[WittyBetty]

Thank you so much, dear Penguin, I totally missed it. You are invincible. 🌹

[Wildart]

yup, but in this case, this artist (me) is going to break that rule eh? 🙂 🙂

[Wildart]

IMHO nothing wrong with shifting the colors,reversing the mockup image, and if you are photgraphing your own mockup, take a few different angles. or swap out one plant/item for another, that's what I intend to do!

[Wildart]

This is NOT what it seems, on first reading, you think zazz is going to fit your product magically into the mockup..but no, you have to do the long way, first grab your image.artwork from your own image file, place it in your mockup picture,upload it to zazzle as a separate image, THEN go to your zazz published product,  and add the cover  photos..etc..I've been doing this anyway, in collections, but just not been able to do as a cover till now. I enjoy doing this but it is a bit deceiving since zazz makes it sound so simple..   it's anything but!

[Connie]

Yes, it is very time consuming, so that's why I asked for tips and tricks to speed things up a bit, hopefully.

[Fiorenzo]

1. I make my own. And yes, it TAKES time. I use to create the basic template with a masked spot where the Zazzle design or product gets in, then I take a high-res basic product preview of a design of any sort and create also a mask on that base "screenshot". When I add new products, I download the Zazzle preview needed, put that image over the masked base template, cut the clip out, and paste it into the mask of the new mockup base. Save, rinse and repeat and die of boredom. 

2. I won't make hundreds of different mockups for the same products - not only it is a nightmare to do so, it gets also confusing in your category or product collection if your eyes have to adapt to every single image from scratch. I will make color and themed sets, tho. It's not a must to create tons of different mockups, it's a suggested "Do" - big difference.

3. Usually you have to upload an image of a specific size that will then be adapted by their tool to fit the mockup. For that image, you can use a flat basic product preview at max size, cut out the image and enhance it if needed. Never used Z's create tool, so no idea if that would work, too.

4. Paper products are not always easy to make. Take the inner pages of folded greeting cards as an example. For these, I use to copy the left and the right inner page designs to the front page design area to get a flat, clean preview image for the related inner page.

It IS repetitive and EXTREMELY boring, even with the best template.

I can help you out with the mockup-enhancing (if you don't want to use external tools) plus the boring implementation work if you want - IF a) you provide me the resp. basic mockup image you want to use (from scratch no, too time-consuming and costly for you, unless we team up and use it both), b) you are NOT a difficult client to deal with (quality and precise work are given but mind-changing games are a no-go), and c) you don't mass-produce designs (I have my own stuff, plus rescues to care for, plus some client work even if I've stopped doing complex stuff. I prefer small "quickies" nowadays, can't concentrate on big projects anymore, that's why I'm up for it - if it doesn't get overwhelming).

Won't be that costly and I wouldn't for sure steal fellow designers' designs. In the case you have a design that could be too similar to one of mine (either published or draft/idea - absolutely possible on stuff that isn't own-made artwork), I'll tell you in advance so we can decide what to do. Of course, I won't use your paid mockups for mine, unless we want to share them for synergy reasons (50/50 basis). Message me if interested, but plz give me some time to respond. Quite some RL stuff going on right now.

[Connie]

"die of boredom" about sums it up! I don't mind doing the actual mockups so much as getting all the screenshots. And FINDING the original flatlays/ mockups is very time-consuming as well.

Thank you very much for your offer. I'll send you a message.

[Jacklinart]

jacklinart Design coffee mugs

[Barbara]

@PenguinPower  You've been doing a bang-up job!

[giskard]

I would recommend using Freepik and RawPixel for display mockups, backgrounds, props, shadows overlays.

[Connie]

Thank you. I haven't checked out either of those sites yet!

[angelafuller729]

Canva has quite a few backgrounds and flat lays that can be used for mockups.  **I have the Pro version which is $12/mo, however, I know they offer a free trial.  Having the Pro version makes it easy to isolate your products with their background remover - it's a game changer.  
I save the new "view" and then use it for social media posts <<  which Canva has tons of templates for and that allow you to then just drag & drop in the photo.

[Connie]

Maybe I'll try the trial and see what they offer. Thanks.

[AngelaO]

Make sure you read the terms of the free trial, I don't think you can download images with the free trial and use them on a print on demand site without a subscription.

[Marcia]

Can you put shadows on the silo'd products? (ie: the mug would look much more believable with one under it)

[angelafuller729]

don't know, haven't tried, but I have used a darker "table" mockup on Canva that would suit the contrast issue. I was in a hurry doing this post lol

[Jadendreamer13]

An easy fix is to crop the photo—to include slicing off a small portion of the bottom of the cup. In essence, you’re cropping off the area where a shadow would naturally be seen. Hold your hand over the bottom of the cup in your photo, and you’ll see that now the cups looks grounded—not floating.

[shellifitz]

If you use Gimp you can easily add a drop shadow to any object you have isolated.  Maybe PS has a drop shadow filter too?  Idk bc I don't use PS. 

[Jadendreamer13]

Yes, Photoshop has a drop shadow tool. But unless you create a custom shadow, photoshop’s shadow will not match the drop shadow on the other items in the photo.

[Marcia]

Thanks, but I was asking about making a drop shadow in canva – photoshop, I'm more than familiar with. 😉

[8PawsStudio]

@Marcia Canva does have drop shadows. Here's a blog post on it that is pretty comprehensive (not my blog - just a google search result) Hope it helps

https://digitalhygge.com/how-to-add-shadows-to-images-in-canva/

[Marcia]

@8PawsStudio thank you!!! Bookmarked the link so I'll always have it.