Sell a Custom Mug with a 3D Preview

A photo mug is one of the easiest personalised gifts to sell, and one of the most returned when the print is not what the shopper pictured. With the Product Designer your shoppers design the mug themselves and turn it in 3D before they pay, so they see the handle, the wrap and where their words fall. This guide sets up a 325 ml white mug from the start and follows it to the first order's print files.

You need the Product Designer add-on (a 14-day free trial is in Settings › Billing › Add-ons). Ask your mug printer two things first: the print area they can print (for a standard 11 oz mug about 20 × 8.4 cm) and the file they want (most sublimation printers take the PNG at 300 DPI).

Step 1: Make the Product

1. Go to Products and press ADD PRODUCT.
2. Give it a Title ("Chai Time Mug"), a description that says it is printed to order, a Price (₹349) and the HSN code of ceramic mugs (6912).
3. Add photos: one of the mug as it will arrive, and one of the mug's surface laid flat (a plain rectangle of the mug's colour, as wide as the way round). The flat photo is what shoppers design on.
4. Press SAVE.

What you see: the product's page, with a Product Designer card under the photos.

Step 2: Set Up the Side That Wraps Round

1. On the Product Designer card, press SET UP DESIGNER. The product's Designer screen opens.
2. Press ADD SIDE. Name it "Wrap". Under Base Photo, press REPLACE and choose the flat photo from Step 1.
3. In the 3D View card, switch on Wraps Around.
4. Type the Diameter (cm): 8.2 for a standard mug. Type the Height (cm): 9.5. Leave Has a Handle on.

What you see: the card says how far round the print area goes, for example "The print area goes 78% of the way around and covers 88% of the height." Until you draw a print area it says nothing.

Step 3: Draw the Print Area

1. Choose the rectangle and drag on the flat photo where printing can go: across the middle, leaving a gap at both ends for the handle.
2. In Print Area, name it "Wrap" and set its Real Size to your printer's (20 × 8.4 cm), the Print Quality to 300 DPI, a Bleed of 2 mm and At the Edge to Cut at the Edge.
3. Under Shoppers Can Add, tick Text, Photos, Art and Shapes. Choose the Fonts shoppers may use.
4. Set the Price When Used: ₹0 if the mug's price already includes the print, or what printing adds.
5. Press SAVE.

What you see: the 3D View card now says how far round the area goes. Above 100% it warns that the area overlaps itself in 3D: make the area narrower or check the diameter.

Step 4: Give Shoppers a Head Start (Optional)

In Products › Product Options › Designer Library › Templates, press NEW TEMPLATE, choose the mug, place a name in a script font and a line under it, and press SAVE TEMPLATE. Shoppers who do not want to design from nothing start from it. See Templates.

Step 5: See What Your Shoppers See

On the Designer screen, press PREVIEW AS SHOPPER. On the store's designer:

1. Add some words or a photo.
2. Press 3D (at the top right, under the zoom). A sheet opens and, after a moment, your design appears on a white mug.
3. Drag it (or swipe on a phone) to turn it. The arrow keys and the two round buttons turn it too. Back or the × closes it.
4. Press CHECK AND ADD: Check Your Design also has a 3D button under the mug's picture.

What you see: the design wrapped round the mug, the handle opposite the middle of the print area. On an old phone that cannot draw 3D, the design shows laid flat with a note; nothing else changes.

Step 6: The First Order's Files

When a shopper pays (or their cash on delivery is confirmed), Mercayo makes the print files.

1. Open the order. The Print Files card shows the mug's side with DOWNLOAD PRINT FILE (the PDF) and the PNG at 300 DPI.
2. Or open Orders › Print Queue: every mug waiting to print, by product. Tick several and press DOWNLOAD ZIP, or send them to your print partner. Mark them printed when done.

The print file is the print area flat, the way the mug is printed and wrapped: the 3D view is only a preview for the shopper.

Common Problems

• The 3D button does not show. The side's Wraps Around is off, or the side has no print area yet. Switch it on, draw the area and press SAVE.
• The design looks stretched or squashed in 3D. The diameter or height does not match the mug. Measure the mug (across the top, and the height without the base) and type them again.
• The words fall behind the handle. The print area is wider than the space between the handle's ends. Make it narrower (for a standard mug about 20 cm of the 25.8 cm round).
• The mug in 3D is whiter than my mug. The 3D view uses the side's tint when your product has colours with tints; otherwise it shows a white glaze.
• A shopper says the 3D view stays on "Getting the 3D view ready…". Their connection is slow: the 3D view loads only when they open it. The design itself is safe; they can close it and carry on.