Photoshop is needed only to author the template. Every render after the
upload runs without it.
File requirements
Keep the file under 100 MB when you can. Flattening the layers you never
address makes the upload faster and changes nothing about the render.
What carries through from Photoshop
Transforms on a smart object are preserved, so build the geometry into the file rather than into your request body.
Perspective Warp stays live and renders to match Photoshop, so leave it in
place instead of baking it into pixels. Blend modes, opacity, masks, Drop
Shadow, Stroke, Glow, Bevel and Blend If render as authored. Rasterize 3D
layers and video layers before upload.
Smart filters covers what stays live, and
PSD compatibility has the row-by-row table.
Build the template
1
Convert each design area to a smart object.
Select the layers that will carry the design, right-click, and choose
Convert to Smart Object. Its contents set the size of the design area.
2
Author the smart object contents at 3000 px or larger.
Scaling down keeps quality and scaling up does not, so author larger than
you expect to need. Print work needs the pixels.
3
Name every smart object and text layer for a human.
Layer names come back in the upload response and are the only readable
handle your integration has.
Front Design still means something six
months later. Layer 1 and Copy of Layer parse fine and tell you
nothing.4
Make the layers you intend to address visible.
A hidden smart object is not exposed as a slot. A hidden text layer stays a
fillable slot instead, which is how one template carries optional lines.
Both rules are in PSD compatibility.
5
Stack adjustments and overlays above the design areas.
Background at the bottom, then the product layers, then the design areas,
then overlays such as texture and shadow, and adjustments on top. In that
order a texture or a colour grade reads across the artwork the way it does
on the finished product.
6
Flatten the layers you never address.
7
Embed any linked smart object.
Linked content renders from its placement geometry, so this is optional.
Layer > Smart Objects > Embed Linked ends the file’s dependence on
external content.
8
Save the file as .psd or .psb in RGB.
9
Publish the file at a URL that answers without a session.
The file is fetched server-side. A signed URL works. A link that redirects
to a sign-in page does not, whatever your browser shows while you are
logged in.
10
Upload the file and read back the slots you can address.
The response lists every smart object, text layer and group layer it
detected, under the names you gave them. A layer missing from that list is
one your integration cannot address. Group outlines inside a smart object
render as designed and are not addressable on their own. The call is
Create a mockup from a PSD;
Upload a PSD explains every field. Render once
at full size before the template goes into production.
Learn more
PSD compatibility
Check a Photoshop feature before you build a template on it.
Smart objects
See how a design area is described and addressed.
Next steps
Upload a PSD
Register the template once and read back every slot in it.
Render a PSD
Turn those slots into a finished image.