How Do I Design a New Product?

Updated October 21, 2025 22:01

A full walkthrough to help you go from blank canvas to live product in your Fourthwall store

In this article, we'll walk you through a step-by-step process on how to design a new product from the Fourthwall catalog. It's simple and fun, and by the end, you’ll have a product ready to showcase in your store.

Getting Started

To get started, head to the homepage, click on Products > All Products, and then click Create New Product.

From there, select Design Something New to start designing your product.

Step 1: Select a product

The first step in designing your product is to select a product from the various categories, as shown in the image below.

Scroll through our online catalog to find the right product for your shop. To narrow down your search, make use of the following:

Categories: Choose from Apparel, Accessories, Home & Living, or specific items like Drinkware and Clothes
Collections: Choose from various collections, such as Gaming, Streetwear, Wellness, etc.
Filters:
- How quickly can I sell it?
  - Instantly: Products you can design and start selling instantly.
  - Request: Products that require communication with our team and the manufacturer to sell. It can take 2-3 business days before the product is ready to sell.
- Colors: Match the product's color to your branding
- Base Price: Adjust your search based on the cost per item to fit your budget and desired profit margins.
- Min. orders required
  - No Minimums: Some products have no minimum order requirement, making them perfect for small launches or testing new products.
  - Up to 300: Requires a minimum order, but you can meet the requirement through pre-orders (no upfront payment required).
  - More than 300: Ideal for larger orders where high quantities are needed.
- Production method: Different production methods affect your product quality and design options. For more details on how to select the right production method, check out this blog post.
  - All over printed: Uses the sublimation technique to print vibrant, full-color artwork on the whole area of the product. It can be more expensive, as each item is individually cut and sewn to order. It requires a polyester blend fabric.
  - Sublimation: Vibrant full-color printing technique that allows you to print on various surfaces of a product that other methods don't allow.
  - Printed
    - Direct-to-Garment (DTG): Produces soft prints that feel like part of the fabric. Perfect for soft prints on clothing. Works well on lighter fabrics.
    - Direct-to-Film (DTFx): Produces bright, vibrant, long-lasting prints (similar to screen printing, but without minimums or color limitations). For best results, we recommend using it on designs that don’t require large, solid graphics on thin T-shirts, since the print isn’t breathable.
  - Embroidered (stitched): A technique for stitched artwork. It supports a maximum of five (5) different thread colors.
  - Digital printed: High-quality printing (300 dpi) for art prints and other printed paper products. Has the same quality as you'd find in a magazine or art book.
- Print regions: Choose between Front, Back, Left/Right Sleeve, and Inside/Outside label.
- Brands: Filter by popular brands like AS Colour, Bella+Canvas, Gildan, Yupoong, and others for quality and brand recognition.
- Ships From: Ensure the product is shipped from the relevant region based on your customers' location to reduce shipping times.
- Special features: Select inclusive sizing to provide clothing that is considerate of all bodies and identities.
- Badges: Filter by the best-selling products or those recommended by our staff.
Tips:
- Use the search bar if you have a product in mind.
- Start with products that don't require minimum orders to help gauge the demand of your community.

Step 2: Design your product

Once you've selected your product, such as the Gildan Classic Crewneck Sweatshirt, it's time to customize it based on your preferences and business needs. Here are the available options for this product:

Once you've selected your product (e.g., Gildan Classic Crewneck Sweatshirt), it’s time to customize:

Design now: Click this button to start creating your unique design for the product.
Favorite: Click this button to save the product to your favorites for easy access later.

Tip: Check out the product customer reviews to get insights into the fit and quality of your product.

Step 3: Upload your artwork

Now that you’ve customized your product, it's time to bring your designs to life! Follow these steps to upload your artwork:

1. Upload your artwork: In the left-hand menu options, click Upload image and upload your image from your local storage, or simply drag and drop it into the design area.

For best results, here are some of the art requirements we recommend:

Minimum DPI: 300
Resolution: At least 1500x1500 for small prints and 3000x3000 for larger prints
File Formats: Acceptable formats are .png or .jpeg files
Effects: No fade or glow effects, and avoid using semi-transparent elements
Design Shape: Designs are most effective when they feature solid, well-defined shapes with strong outlines. For artwork best practices, click here.

2. Customize your design placement: Once your artwork is uploaded, click on the image to see it displayed on the selected area of the garment (such as the front, back, left sleeve, or right sleeve).

To add your artwork to different areas of the garment, click on the small images to the left of the primary mockup.

Switch between different areas of the garment to add your design.png

Design with Adobe Express: Use Adobe to create designs in minutes. Once you've created your design, export your file and upload it here to get started.
Hire a Designer: Browse trusted designers who have worked with and are recommended by Fourthwall creators.

Caution: Pay attention to the dollar amount shown in the lower part of the page. This figure indicates the running tally of your item's base cost, which is how much it will cost to produce.

Step 4: Position and size your artwork

Now that your artwork is uploaded, it's time to position and size it for the best possible look on your product. See the GIF below for a visual guide on how to position and resize your artwork.

Note: The design elements you can manipulate will depend on the production method.

Positioning:

Click and drag the image to move it around the designated area.
Rotate the artwork by clicking the dot that sticks out from the top center of the image area.
Be sure to keep your design within the print-safe area indicated by the dotted-line square. If you see red appear, this means the artwork is outside the printable area, which can result in production errors or defects. Avoid this to ensure proper printing.

Resizing:

To resize your artwork, grab one of the white dots located at the four corners of the rectangle surrounding the artwork.
The rectangle will turn blue if your artwork is printed at high quality, yellow for fair quality, and red for low quality.
Always aim to keep the rectangle blue, which indicates the best print quality for your design.

Additional Options: Click the three dots on your uploaded image to access these options:

Resize: Adjust the size of the artwork by dragging the corner dots.
Duplicate (Cmd + D): Create an exact copy of your artwork.
Bring Forward (Cmd+]): Move the artwork to the front layer.
Send Backward (Cmd+[): Move the artwork to the back layer.
Fit to Area: Automatically resize the artwork to fit the designated area.
Set Position: Precisely set the artwork’s position using coordinates.
Delete (Del): Remove the artwork from the design.

Remember, the goal is to ensure that your artwork stays within the boundaries and prints at a high quality. Taking the time to adjust the size and position correctly will ensure your product comes out looking great!

Step 5: Preview your product

1. To get a better view of how your artwork will look on the product, use the preview screen button shown in the image below. Click back and forth between the preview and design screens as you make adjustments, ensuring that your product looks exactly how you want it!

2. When you enter preview mode, the background of your image (e.g., gray areas) will automatically become transparent. This allows your design to blend with the background of your website or any custom background settings you've applied to your theme.

What to do if your artwork looks misaligned in different product views

Suppose your artwork appears misaligned when switching views or color variants. In that case, it may be due to product previews using 3D renderings, which can visually alter the artwork even if it’s perfectly centered in the design editor.

How to fix it:

1. Verify that this isn't due to 3D rendering.

2. Click and drag each design to reposition it within the designated print area.

3. Use the three dots menu on each uploaded image to access Set position for precise coordinate placement.

4. Make sure both logos stay within the print-safe area (indicated by the dotted-line square) to avoid production errors. You can use the Fit to area option here.

5. For layered designs, use Bring forward or Send backward to correct the stacking order.

If you’re still having trouble, feel free to reach out to our support team at support@fourthwall.com.

Step 6: Add more colors (optional)

1. On the right side of the screen, locate the color section and click the (+) sign to add additional color options for your product. See the GIF below for a visual guide on how to add color options:

A color palette will appear, allowing you to add or remove colors based on what’s available for your selected product.
Review your design to ensure the size, placement, and colors are exactly how you want them.
Once satisfied, click Next, and you will be redirected to the next page where a high-quality render of your product will be generated, and you’ll be taken to the product details page for final adjustments.

Step 7: Add initial product listing details

1. On the right side of the screen, enter your product name, a description (recommended), and the price. Alternatively, click Write a title and description for me, and the system will generate a nice name and description for your product as shown in the image below.

Enter product details or generate using AI.png

Tip: By default, we recommend a markup of at least $10 or 30% of the price, whichever is greater. While there is no hard and fast rule for setting pricing, try to keep things as clean as possible. If an item comes out to, for example, $23.87 in suggested pricing, we suggest rounding up to $24.

For products selected from the Product Catalog, the product generator will automatically include information like sizing and garment materials (e.g., cotton, polyester), so you don’t need to worry about adding these manually.
The system shows how much profit you'll make per sale. For example, with a selling price of $37, you'll earn $12.55 per sale. This is calculated for each size, and you can customize the pricing for different sizes by clicking "Customize." Note: The platform automatically adjusts pricing for larger sizes to maintain your profit margin across all sizes.
Once you’re happy with the details, click Save as hidden to continue editing later, or Publish now to make the product live on your store.

Step 8: Set it live!

1. After finalizing your product, it’s time to make it live! By default, all products are hidden to keep in-progress listings secret. Navigate to the All Products page and click on the Product to edit. Once your product is ready for customers, simply:

Click the Hidden button located in the top right corner of the product details page.
Select Public from the dropdown menu.
Click Save to confirm.

2. Manage your listings. All hidden and published products appear on the All Products page. You can. Click on any hidden product to continue editing. Published products are also listed here, and you can go back to make any edits as needed.

3. For detailed steps on editing product details, click on How to Edit your Product Listing?

Note: If you don’t see your changes reflected, try refreshing the page or waiting a few seconds. If you’re still having trouble, please reach out to creators@fourthwall.com.

That’s all it takes to get your product ready and live in your store! With just a few simple steps, you can create something unique and set it up for success. Once published, you can easily edit and adjust details later if needed. Enjoy the process and good luck with your new product!