Step 4: Add a starting design
Step 4 of 7 · Make your first product
A blank canvas is intimidating; a thoughtful starting point sells. Whatever you leave on the product (a Your name here placeholder, your logo locked in place, a tasteful background) is the first thing a customer sees when they open the editor, and it quietly tells them what’s possible and where to begin. This step is also where you decide what they’re allowed to touch, which is the difference between giving people creative freedom and fielding a support inbox full of "I deleted your logo by accident". It’s optional, but a few minutes here makes every product noticeably easier to use.
Why add default content
A blank canvas can be intimidating. Default content gives customers a head start and shows them what’s possible:
- A placeholder they replace, for example a text line reading Your name here.
- A fixed element they keep, like your brand logo, which you can lock so it can’t be moved or deleted.
- A background mockup so they design on a picture of the real product.
Everything you add is a layer, listed in the Layers panel.
Add a text layer
- Click Add Text.
- A new text layer appears with the placeholder Type your text here…; replace it with your default wording.
- Position and style it using the inspector (font, size, colour, alignment). See Text & fonts for the full controls.
Add an image or graphic
- Add your own image (such as a logo); see Images & clipart.
- Or set a product mockup as the view Background so customers design on the product.
Control what customers can change
This is the key idea: every layer you add is locked by default: customers can see it but not touch it. You then opt in to exactly what they may do, layer by layer, in the inspector’s Customer Permissions section:
- Editable, Movable, Scalable, Rotatable, Deletable — switch on only the ones you want to allow.
- Show in panel — list the layer in the customer’s panel so they can find it.
So a fixed logo stays with everything off. A name line the customer should type becomes Editable (and perhaps Movable). Because layers start locked, nothing gets changed by accident; you grant freedom deliberately.
There’s also a Visibility & Export section per layer: Visible in editor controls whether customers see it, and Include in export controls whether it appears in the final print file.
Save your work
When the views, print areas and default content are set, click Save All to save every view in one go.
Keep going
- ← Previous: Step 3 — Add your print area
- → Next: Step 5 — Add a customisation price
Want the full editor reference? See Editor basics.
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