Your first customizable product
Eight steps in the order of the app — from “Enable customization” to the first production file. No prior knowledge needed; one product is enough.
Before you start
- Etchify is installed in your Shopify store (Apps → Etchify).
- A product exists in Shopify — with a title, a price and at least one image. Etchify does not create products; it makes yours customizable.
- You know what you produce with: laser (SVG/DXF) or print (PDF/PNG). Both are open to every shop; each product gets one of them.
The eight steps
Enable customization
Open the dashboard, pick the product and click “Enable customization”. Choose the method (laser engraving or printing).
Result: The product page shows the four boxes Shopify basics · Product surfaces · Price & buying · Store & orders — the header tells you which step is open next.
Shape & surfaces — shape and size
Under “Product surfaces” the first surface is already there. Say what it is designed on (the material or a product photo), pick the shape (tile, library or drawn) and type width × height. More surfaces (back, lid, sleeve) come with “+ Surface”.
Result: Every surface has a shape and a size in millimetres or inches — exactly the size that ends up in the production file.
Design area — where customers may design
Per surface, set the area: a margin all around or a drawn region. In the head of the surface card you pick the mode: Design freely, Fill in only or Nothing — and whether the surface is required or optional.
Result: Customers later see exactly this area and may do exactly what you allowed here.
Designs — your offer
Click “Add design” and build in the builder: text, image, QR code. Every element gets a role — Fixed (stays as is), Field (the customer fills it in) or Free (the customer may move it). Then “Save & back”.
Result: With “Fill in only” the design is the customer’s form; with “Design freely” it is the base they keep designing on.
Shopify basics — materials, sizes, variants
Materials: what the customer buys the piece in (oak, walnut …), each with a price. Sizes: the selling sizes. Price & variants: “Sync to Shopify” creates the Shopify variants from them. Set & series only if you sell sets or series.
Result: Shopify now knows exactly the variants material × size with price, SKU and stock. After later changes you sync again.
Price & buying — what customization costs
Decide whether a designed side carries a surcharge, whether it is included in the base price, or charged once per order. The preview shows what the customer pays.
Result: The customer pays the variant price plus exactly the surcharges you set here — at checkout, not as a surprise.
Store & orders — make it visible
Add the product to the Online Store channel and switch on the Customize button (theme embed). Check with “View as customer” how the page looks to shoppers.
Result: Your product page shows “Customize” — shoppers design in the configurator and add the design to the cart.
The first order — download the production file
Under Orders, open the order and download the production file: SVG or DXF for the laser, PDF or PNG for print, true to scale. Without an order, check the export with “Test production file”.
Result: You open the file in XCS, LightBurn or your print software and produce — laser parameters and material stay yours.
What comes next?
The three surface modes in detail, fill-in fields and the six-sided cube example are in the setup guide; questions about production files, machines, pricing and data protection are answered in the FAQ.