Printables are widely utilized digital products, as they offer convenient purchasing and downloading processes, ultimately simplifying the customer’s life.
A significant aspect of selling anything on the internet involves developing a product that assists your audience in conquering a difficulty.
People are willing to pay for printables as they are a valuable tool for tasks like organizing a household or planning a birthday party.
If you are seeking to generate an extra source of income, it might be worth considering the option of creating and selling printables on the internet.
What Are Printables?
Printables refer to digital products like planners, journals, charts, coloring pages, and other items, which users can easily download and print at their convenience in the comfort of their own homes.
The rising popularity of these products can be attributed to their practical functionality and ability to be customized and personalized.
PDF, PNG or JPG formats are typically used for the sale of printables.
- PDF: A format used to present un-editable documents best suited for printing.
- PNG: An image file format designed to ensure no loss of quality each time the file is opened and saved again. This format is best suited for graphics instead of photography.
- JPG: An image file format designed for digital photography.
Customers can download the file and print an unlimited number of copies after making a purchase.
If you do a quick search on Google, you will come across numerous printables that can be obtained for free from various websites online. These designs are generally simple in nature or are utilized as incentives for individuals to sign up for an email newsletter.
Nevertheless, there are numerous printable materials that can generate income, including worksheets, wall art, and spreadsheets.
By having some knowledge about creating and showcasing printables, you can effectively use this product to generate extra revenue.
If you’re unsure about what kind of printable to make, here are a few widely popular options that everyone enjoys having:
- Dot to Dot printables
- Alphabet printables
- Pokemon printables
- Planner printables
- Christmas printables
- Happy Birthday printables
- Thanksgiving printables
- Halloween printables
How to Make Printables to Sell (Step-by-Step)
Creating printables does not require a degree in graphic design. By adequately preparing and utilizing suitable tools, you can easily start selling your printables on the internet.
Discover the art of creating your own printables and establish a long-term work-from-home arrangement.
Step 1: The Idea
To begin the creation of a great printable, the initial step is brainstorming some ideas.
If you sell a single product, you might achieve success, but you will increase your chances of earning more money by offering a range of printables.
Consider your specific industry or target audience and the difficulties they face on a regular basis. What solutions or resources could be beneficial to your readers in overcoming their everyday challenges?
If your target audience consists of mompreneurs, you might consider emphasizing productivity tools or blog organization tools.
If you own a fitness blog, you might consider providing workout schedules or exercise cheat sheets.
Here are some suggestions on how you can tackle your audience’s pain points using printables.
Step 2: Your Brand
When you have determined the kind of printables you wish to sell, it is essential to contemplate your brand and image.
To enhance the visibility of your printables and associate them with your business or name, it is important to include your brand colors and logo in the design.
By doing this, not only will it lead customers back to you for additional printable products, but it will also establish a sense of familiarity within your specific market.
Step 3: The Design
To guarantee proper printing, a good printable design must be established.
Usually, individuals opt for 8.5” by 11” paper dimensions for home printing. Nonetheless, planners are often smaller than standard pages, varying from A5 (5.8” by 8.3”) to as little as 4.25” by 6.75”.
After determining the page size, make sure to stay within the margins when designing.
In order to ensure that you are selling a product of great quality, it is important to assess the size of your printables by test-printing them. Additionally, verify that the printables can be hole-punched without any loss of content.
Step 4: Price and Sell
After finishing your design, it is time to determine its price and sell it online as a printable.
Doing some market research is essential when it comes to setting the price for your printable. Take the time to browse through platforms like Etsy, paying attention to products similar to yours that have received positive feedback, and make note of the prices they are being sold for.
Determining the optimal price for your product can involve an experimental approach. It is important to strike a balance between avoiding excessive pricing compared to competitors and undervaluing your offering.
After establishing a price, proceed to start selling! Continue reading to discover the precise method of selling printables online.
How to Create Digital Printables
Let’s dive back into the step-by-step process and review how you can precisely generate printables for online sale.
Determining which tools are necessary for creating your digital printables.
The choice of tools can vary based on the kind of printable you are making.
Microsoft Office/Google Docs
If you intend to create and sell spreadsheets, it is advisable to utilize either Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Similarly, for text-heavy calendars and printables, Microsoft Words or Google Docs can be employed.
Both software packages offer the capability to convert documents into PDF format directly within the program.
Cutting Machine Software
Cutting machine software is necessary if you want to sell stickers or die-cut printables.
You will be able to include the registration marks, enabling your customers to utilize their own devices for cutting out your designs.
Canva
Whether you are providing checklists, planners, or to-do lists, Canva enables you to design visually appealing printables.
Creating tables can be a challenging task as there is no specific “table” tool available, but it does offer increased control over the placement of text and images.
Nonetheless, various images, graphics, and fonts are available to help you design a distinctive printable that aligns with your brand.
Additional Tip: With Canva Pro, you have access to an extensive range of graphics, fonts, and an increased variety of text and image effects that seems limitless.
Best Place to Sell Printables
Where can you sell your printables once you have chosen a type to sell or have your design prepared?
TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS
If you have a desire to sell teaching materials, Teachers Pay Teachers might be the ideal choice for you! Signing up on TPT is completely free, and once you make a sale, you’ll receive 55% of the sales price while being subjected to a $.30 fee. This serves as an opportunity to acquaint yourself with the platform, but if you aspire to generate a higher income, upgrading your account is advisable.
By subscribing to the Premium account, you will receive 80% of all sales and will be charged a transaction fee of $0.15 for sales below $3. Hence, any items priced above that threshold will be exempt from transaction fees.
ETSY
If you intend to sell teaching materials, you can utilize Etsy as a platform for selling your printables. With a vast selection of digital products and printables, Etsy is an ideal marketplace for marketing the printables you design.
Etsy is renowned for its DIY projects and acts as a traffic generator, relieving you from the burden of audience development. However, it does entail charges on your sales. Every item you sell on Etsy incurs listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processing fees.
Establishing an Etsy shop dedicated to printables presents an excellent opportunity to reach a large audience. Managing an Etsy store focused on printables can provide the desired passive income.
Discover the steps to establish your own Etsy store, enabling you to showcase your freshly designed printables and initiate sales right away!
ON YOUR WEBSITE
If you do not have a blog or website, selling printables on your own website or blog is another viable option. However, be aware that this will require additional effort in terms of creating a website and locating a suitable hosting service for your store.
If you already have a website, incorporating a shop plugin like WooCommerce or utilizing Shopify can easily enhance your site.
WooCommerce is an added plugin for WordPress sites, which is available for free. While some additional features require a paid plan, they might be beneficial to utilize. Due to the requirement of several plugins to operate WooCommerce, it is advisable to have a subdomain in order to maintain optimal speed for your website.
If you prefer utilizing a plugin for your website, there exist alternative options; however, WooCommerce remains the top choice among them.
Another option is to utilize Shopify, which is not actually hosted on your website but allows you to select a customized domain. By linking your shop to your website, you can maintain connectivity and consistent branding.
For $29 per month, Shopify offers a simple setup for your online store and access to their customer service hotline to assist with any technical problems.
Printables to Sell on Etsy
As previously stated, Etsy serves as an exceptional platform for selling printables. Numerous customers visit Etsy with the intention of discovering particular digital products, and yours might be the ideal match they are in search of. However, the challenge lies in distinguishing your printable from the others available.
It could involve creating an uncommon kind of printable that is not widely recognized on Etsy, possibly catering to a particular target audience. Alternatively, it might entail transforming popular items such as invitations or planner pages into a distinct and sought-after product.
Looking to give your printables business a boost? Thousands of individuals have successfully learned the intricacies of designing and marketing printables on Etsy through our E-Printables course.
BEST PRINTABLES TO SELL ON ETSY
Are you still struggling to come up with ideas for printables to sell on Etsy? Here are a few suggestions!
COLORING PAGES
Printable coloring pages are enjoyable for individuals of all ages, including both children and adults. It is possible to tailor the designs to suit different age groups: simple and large designs work well for young children, while older kids might prefer pages featuring their favorite characters or animals. Adults can be provided with pages that showcase intricate and captivating designs, or pages featuring motivational quotes.
WORKSHEETS OR ACTIVITY BOOKS
Design worksheets for parents to utilize during the summer, which assist in furthering their children’s education and encompass exercises in writing proficiency, numerical comprehension, and shape recognition. Compile a comprehensive activity book that incorporates various engaging tasks such as mazes, word searches, and connect the dots.
BACHELORETTE PARTY GAMES
Planning becomes effortless when printable party games for a bachelorette party are crafted. Provide distinctive products that distinguish themselves among the multitude of options available on Etsy.
CHORES AND REWARD CHART
A printable version would serve as a convenient resource for parents to quickly find and print what they require, as they often utilize chores or reward charts as an effective method of instilling responsibility in their children.
PHOTO BOOTH PROPS
The use of photo booths is widespread at weddings and other events, with props serving as an excellent means to enhance the fun factor. If these printable photo booth props can be tailored to suit a specific occasion, buyers will find it highly advantageous to avail themselves of this print option!
SAVE THE DATE CARDS
In a similar manner to creating invitations for sale on Etsy, it is also possible to create and sell save-the-date cards. Given the recent alterations in events, you can even design “change-the-date” cards for sale.
DAILY CHECKLISTS
Assist individuals in managing their daily routines, such as busy mothers or overwhelmed professionals, by designing a convenient tool to efficiently track tasks.
WEDDING PLANNER
Why not create a tool to alleviate the stress of wedding planning by incorporating timelines, checklists, and planning guides? It can be overwhelming and easy to forget important details when organizing a wedding.
SELF-CARE PRINTABLES
Including a checklist to keep track of habits, a gratitude journal, or a self-love workbook is crucial for practicing self-care, which can effectively reduce stress and allow for a break.
MEAL PLANNERS
To ease the chaos of keeping track of meals throughout the week, consider designing a printable that can assist in organizing meal plans and facilitate grocery shopping preparations.
BUDGET PLANNER
A budget planner, which serves to assist buyers in efficiently managing their finances and budget, is yet another excellent printable item to sell on Etsy.
ART AND DECOR
One significant aspect of Etsy revolves around its art and home decor marketplace. Therefore, generate printable designs that can be framed and applied to various rooms within a house.
CLEANING CHECKLIST
It can feel overwhelming to keep track of cleaning tasks around the house. However, forming a cleaning checklist for daily, weekly, and monthly chores can effectively structure a cleaning routine.
