Digital Downloads

[efhenneke2]

Not sure if this is a technical issue, but here goes. I opted in this morning for the digital downloads program. Most, but not all, of my invitations, posters and other flat items were marked "eligible." The products that weren't included would seem to be eligible, as they are not different from the rest, except for images, and I'm curious to know why they are not eligible. Doesn't seem to be any way to make them eligible either. Has anyone else experienced this and did your issue get resolved. If so, can you tell me how?

[Cat]

Not all flat items are eligible - it's the product you put it on (the blank you started with) that matters, not the Marketplace Department. As far as I can tell, these products are eligible:

1. invitations (folded or flat)
2. save the date cards
3. posters
4. greeting cards (folded or flat)
5. holiday cards (folded or flat)

But these products are NOT eligible:

1. Generic Cards
2. Paper Sheets
3. Postcards (holiday, announcement, invitation, or regular)
4. Note Cards
5. Thank You Cards
6. Magnetic Cards
7. Foam Core Boards
8. Foil Cards
9. I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of

It strikes me as a little bit crazy since many of the products are identical physically, but it is what it is. I don't think there's any way around it other than re-making it on an eligible product.

[plumb4me]

I posted this in the general discussion on digital downloads https://community.zazzle.com/t5/general-zazzle-discussion/creator-updates-for-upcoming-instant-downl...

When you make a regular new card, you have to specially pick a card that says "folded greeting card" or "flat greeting card" or it will not be available as a digital download.

Most of the cards in my shop are not eligible for digital download, because I just used the cards, that I had to add "card" to the end of the title. I don't see the difference in cards, they are all the same, except when I made the folded or flat card, I didn't pick the ones that already had "folded greeting card" or "flat greeting card" already included in the title. I hope this is a bug and maybe there will be a fix for this. This is too time consuming to go back and pick the right cards and remake.  I did remake my thank you cards, after I found out they were not included.

[Cat]

It's not a bug. I think it was around 5 years ago that Zazzle did something they called the "paper breakout" where they separated all of their paper items into different products. This was right around the time I started designing, and I hadn't done many paper products so I was a bit oblivious to it all, but I think they used to just offer "cards" but now a thank you card is a different product from a note card or a greeting card or a save the date card, yadda yadda yadda. I think the point was for marketing - some of the identical products have different prices! 

Personally, I'm not a big fan because it's SOOOO confusing, and if you put your design on the wrong card there's no way to move it to a different one without re-making the design. But since it was such a big deal for them to do it, I sincerely doubt they'll un-do it. 

Here are links to some videos explaining their reasoning.

The Paper Breakout Pt. 1 (7/18) – Zazzle Help Center

The Shape of Things to Come - Understanding the Paper Breakout (4/18) – Zazzle Help Center

[plumb4me]

Thanks for the information. I will take a look at those videos. I guess in the future, I have to make sure I pick the right cards, if I want them available for digital downloads. I have too many cards to remake, so I won't be doing that and maybe in the future Zazzle will make all cards eligible for digital downloads. I'm not exactly sure what they consider a print either.

I wish Zazzle had explained exactly which greeting cards are included, instead of just putting "greeting cards" in the FAQ, unless it listed somewhere and I missed reading it. Thanks again for the help.

"The initial beta test will focus on four major product lines:

• Holiday Cards (excluding foil)
• Flat Announcements
• Invitations and Save the Dates (excluding foil and All-in-One)
• Greeting cards
• Posters & Print"

[Cat]

I agree it's super confusing. They seem to assume that all of the designers understand their vocabulary, but clearly that's not the case. I still don't understand what the "... & print" part of "posters & print" means. 

BTW, here's another video:

The Paper Breakout Pt. 2 (7/18) – Zazzle Help Center

There's one gem of info in there. Apparently if you use the "report this product" link you can request to have your design moved to a different product. I have no earthly idea if that works or not, but it might be worth a try.

[plumb4me]

@Cat  You have provided a wealth of information and everyone should watch these videos, they are super helpful.

I still don't know what a print is, after reading the articles. 🙂

Didn't really understand the "report this product" how it was explained in the video.

So this is what a generic card is, instead of a "flat greeting card"

*Flat Card

This is a generic ‘catch-all’ for miscellaneous content. If you don’t see your use case featured on this list, you can publish your design here.

Under folded cards this is listed,

Card*

This is a generic ‘catch-all’ for miscellaneous content. If you don’t see your use case featured on this list, you can publish your design here.

I just read Poster & Prints sizes explained and this is very helpful. Standard print sizes & minimum resolution.

• 4" x 6"        (600 pixels x 900 pixels)
• 5" x 7"        (750 pixels x 1050 pixels)
• 6" x 6"        (900 pixels x 900 pixels)
• 8" x 10"      (1200 pixels x 1500 pixels)
• 8.5" x 11"   (1275 pixels x 1650 pixels)
• 11" x 14"    (1650 pixels x 2100 pixels)
• 12" x 12"    (1800 pixels x 1800 pixels)
• 12" x 16"    (1800 pixels x 2400 pixels)
• 16" x 20"    (2400 pixels x 3000 pixels)
• 18" x 24"    (2700 pixels x 3600 pixels)
• 19" x 13"    (2850 pixels x 1950 pixels)
• 20" x 24"    (3000 pixels x 3600 pixels)
• 24" x 24"    (3600 pixels x 3600 pixels)
• 12" x 36"    (1800 pixels x 5400 pixels)
• 24" x 36"    (3600 pixels x 5400 pixels)

[Cat]

First of all, where did you find that info that you just posted? There used to be a link to an old blog post from when the paper breakout first started that showed all of the different paper products with descriptions and links to the blanks like you quoted here, but I can't find it anymore.

Secondly, in terms of the "report this design" thing, I have NO IDEA if this will work or not because I think it was a feature they offered when they first did the whole paper breakout so that if something ended up on the wrong product you could ask for it to be moved. I'm not sure if they'll still do that or not. Anyhow, to find the link you have to go to the product page then scroll WAY down to the "about this product" section. You'll see a thumbnail of the design with a link that says "report this design."

When you click on that link a popup appears. Choose "this product does not belong in this category" and then in the description say which product you want it moved to.

If you decide to try it please report back (or create a new post) and let us know if it works or not!

[Cat]

Never mind on my question about where you found the info... I found it! Here's the link for anyone who needs it: Putting Your Designs on the Correct Paper Products – Zazzle Help Center

[plumb4me]

I posted above before I saw your reply. 🙂

[plumb4me]

I won't be trying the "report this design". I think it is only to report any "violations" you find in the marketplace. I clicked on the video link you provided, "The Paper Breakout" Part 2 and clicked on the links below the video and started reading all the articles Zazzle provides.

I found this link https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007491914-Putting-Your-Designs-on-the-Correct-Paper-Pro... about putting designs on the correct paper products. When you click on the links in the article, it will take you to the blank products.

Poster and prints explained is located here, https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/219869607-Poster-and-Print-sizes-explained

Hope this helps.

[Scott]

The "...&print" part includes Photo Enlargements https://www.zazzle.com/pd/spp/pt-zazzle_photoenlargement. 

[plumb4me]

Thank you for the info for the photo enlargement and link, but none of my photo enlargements are eligible for digital downloads. I have created the exact ones you linked to, unless I picked the wrong ones.

The link you provided doesn't seem to be eligible for digital downloads,

Example: https://www.zazzle.com/create_your_own_4_photo_collage_photo_enlargement-256118422205829683

[Scott]

I wouldn't worry about photo enlargements not being offered. The main difference between posters and prints is the paper quality, and that doesn't affect downloads. Again, I'd like to stress that this is a slow roll-out to ensure that everything is working properly. As the test progresses we will consider making new product types available for download, but there is no timetable for this just yet.

[plumb4me]

Thank you for all your help. You answered all my questions.

[ameliacarrie]

If generic cards cannot be downloaded, can someone say what the difference is between a Greeting Card and a Generic Card as to what is acceptable.  Can you post just a regular piece of artwork on a Greeting card?  Or, does it have to be event related.  Such as new house, new baby, graduation, etc..

[plumb4me]

You can put anything you like on a card, but for it to be eligible for a digital download, you have to put it on a "folded greeting card" or "flat greeting card".

Here is a link to the "folded greeting card" https://www.zazzle.com/pd/spp/pt-zazzle_foldedgreetingcard and a link to the "flat greeting card"  https://www.zazzle.com/pd/spp/pt-zazzle_flatgreetingcard

Personally I don't understand it myself, they are all cards, but here is a link that will give info on paper card types https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007491914-Putting-Your-Designs-on-the-Correct-Paper-Pro...

Maybe someone with Zazzle can explain the difference

[Scott]

The Report Violation is mainly for reporting violation. I wouldn't use it to move a product to a new product type. 

As for the main question in this discussion, it's important that we start this test very slowly. We need to make sure a lot of different processes are working properly, so we've decided to limit the amount products that are eligible for the program. If things go to plan I'm sure we'll open the program up for more product types. So, for now, this is expected behavior.

[Cat]

Thanks for the info on the report violation thing!

[plumb4me]

Thank you for the clarification.