Switching from another customizer

Moving a customizable range between apps is a rebuild, not an import: no customizer exports templates another one can read. The good news is that a rebuild in Pixel Wrangler is quick. Most stores have their first template live in an afternoon, and the migration is mostly deciding what to keep. This page is the checklist, in the questions merchants ask us.

What should I capture from my current customizer before I start?#

Before touching anything, take an inventory. For every customizable product you have today, write down:

• The print areas (front, back, sleeves, wrap) and the printable size of each
• The inputs shoppers get: text fields (with fonts, colors and character limits), image uploads, clipart or stickers, background choices
• The output spec fulfillment receives: format, dimensions, DPI and filename pattern
• Pricing rules for extra sides or options
• The blank images (product photos without artwork), font files and clipart

Export what the old app lets you export (asset libraries, fonts, any order artwork you still need) while you still have access.

How do I rebuild my templates?#

One template per distinct layout, not per product. If ten tees share the same print areas and inputs, that's one template linked to ten products, and variants handle the color swap. Products with different canvases or different inputs get their own template.

Build in this order, per template:

1. Upload the blank as the base image and draw the canvas over the printable area only, not the whole product photo.
2. Add sides for every print area (front, back, sleeves, wrap). See Sides and output files.
3. Drop in the placeholders from your inventory and set their rules.
4. Set the output to the spec your fulfillment already expects.
5. Hit Preview, design as a shopper would, and fix what's awkward.
6. Save and link the products.

Start from a starter template rather than a blank canvas; the tour of the template builder shows where everything lives, and the Quickstart is the five-minute version.

How do placeholders map across?#

Customizers use different words for the same slots. The mapping is usually one-to-one:

In your current app	In Pixel Wrangler
Text field, text option, engraving text	Text placeholder, with fonts, colors, a character limit and lock-position
Image upload, photo option, file upload	Image placeholder: JPG or PNG up to 10 MB, drag, resize and rotate inside a box
Clipart, graphics, icons	Stickers (your artwork, placed by the shopper), or icons inside a text placeholder
Background color or pattern option	Background placeholder: a palette of colors or a set of images
Photo shape, crop, frame	Mask on the same layer as the image placeholder
Print area, view, side	Side
Add-on charge for an extra side	Per-file surcharge (Shopify Plus) or a priced variant

Two things don't map, on purpose. Dropdowns that change the SKU belong in Shopify variants, not the template; Pixel Wrangler reads the variant the shopper picked. And free-form "any text anywhere" has no equivalent: every text placeholder has a bounding box, which is what keeps names on the print area. The placeholder docs cover the rest.

How do I match the print files my fulfillment already expects?#

Set the output to what they get today, so nothing downstream has to change:

• Format: PNG (transparent background) or PDF
• Dimensions: pixels, inches or millimeters
• DPI: 300 for DTG and DTF, 150 for sublimation, 600 for fine art. The value is embedded in the file
• Naming: a per-template prefix, variant identifiers for size and color, and the output name (Front, Back). If fulfillment sorts by a code, put it in the variant identifiers

Then place a test order and open the file in the software that will print it. The full spec, including color mode and bleed, is in Print-ready files.

Can I run both apps during the cutover?#

Yes, product by product. Pixel Wrangler's Customise button is a theme block on a product template, so you can stage the migration:

1. In your theme editor, create a second product template (for example product.pixel-wrangler) and add the Customise Button block to that one only. Steps in Installing Pixel Wrangler.
2. Move products to the new template as you finish each Pixel Wrangler template, from the product's Theme template setting in Shopify.
3. Leave the old app's products on the original template until they're moved.

Once the last product is across, remove the old app's blocks or scripts from the theme, then uninstall it, but not before the last order it rendered has been fulfilled, or you may lose its artwork.

What do I tell fulfillment?#

Give them three things before the first Pixel Wrangler order lands:

• The signal to watch. Orders carry the tag px-artwork-ready when files are ready, the file URLs sit on the px_customization.artwork_files metafield, and there's a Download Artwork action on the order page. Bulk and continuous pulls use the Artwork Export API.
• The filename pattern, and what each piece means.
• What the file contains: one PNG or PDF per side at the agreed DPI, transparent PNGs with no product photo baked in.

Send them a test order's files before go-live; Order flow has the full lifecycle, including failed renders.

How long does it take?#

Most brands are live in an afternoon. A template takes minutes once blanks and fonts are to hand, and linking products is a search and a save; budget by the number of templates, not products. On Scale, concierge onboarding means we do it with you. On every plan, hey@pixelwrangler.io answers within a business day, and plans are on the pricing page.

What's next#

• Build the first one: Quickstart
• Match the output: Print-ready files
• See how an apparel brand sets up multi-side products: Custom apparel on Shopify