Links:
TESSCheck – Free Trademark checker that works directly with USPTO: gumroad.com/l/tesscheck
T-Shirt Revolutionaries: shirtrev.katharyne.com
Talk to me in our free Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/katharynetreasure
Love this? Check out my new class, ‘T Shirt Revolutionaries’ at shirtrev.katharyne.com – with over 15 hours of content, it includes a full beginner to advanced Photoshop course, plus lots more ideas you can create using Canva, a walkthrough of creating a t-shirt website and much more!
Amazon’s Merch program is the perfect solution for anyone wanting to make shirts for resale, t shirts for their band, church group, school – or just as a hobby. But design can be a sticking point for many.
The pro method for designing shirts involves Photoshop, Illustrator and/or GIMP – but I wanted to show that you can actually get a decent and saleable result using Canva which is simple enough for non-designers and artists to use. It’s also nice because it has so many great design templates ready to use. In this video, I design two shirts from scratch.
Notes: I use Canva for Work which is the paid version of Canva. The reason I use this is because it has the option to save files with transparent backgrounds. You could probably get away with using the regular version of Canva and use another app like Fotofuze, Clipping Magic or similar.
Merch by Amazon (MbA) has a waiting period. If you are not approved, get your application in now but you can work on your designs while you’re waiting. You could also consider selling your designs on Zazzle, TeeSpring, Sunfrog, Cafepress or similar.
If you enjoy this video, please come and join my free group ‘Treasure Hunting’ at facebook.com/groups/katharynetreasure.
** Update about fonts, designing with Canva **
Lots of misinformation going around about Merch and Canva, so I’m here to bring good news 🙂
Here’s an official response from the horse’s mouth.
“Whether or not you may sell items featuring your design depends on what elements you use. If your design only uses elements that you uploaded and created yourself, then you may print it on items for resale, such as postcards and t-shirts.
If your design uses only free elements from our library, they are subject to the terms of our licenses. The Extended license, being one of them and the one with the least restrictions, allows you to download your design and use them on items for resale. You do not need to purchase the Extended license for free elements. It is automatically provided.
If your design uses any paid elements from our image library, you would need to purchase them under the Extended license to be able to use it on products for resale. However, you may print your design on items like postcards and t-shirts which are used for promotional or other purposes, as long as those items are not sold. The same rule will apply if you have both free and paid elements in your design.”
I asked them if I could use their fonts and simple elements such as squares, circles on t-shirts that I intend to resell.
This is my understanding of their response:
* You CAN use Canva to design products for resale without paying for a license, no problem.
* You CAN use any images or fonts you upload on products for resale without paying for a license, no problem.
* Free images, fonts and other elements are automatically covered by their extended license…. BUT THE GREAT NEWS is you do NOT need to purchase the extended license to use these for resale, they are automatically licensed under the extended license – so it is FINE to use these for your products for resale. (However you are bound by other terms of the extended license – such as not reselling them in a fonts or graphics package, obviously).
* If your design uses any paid elements, you will need to purchase an extended license to use these on items for resale.
One more thing about Merch. I often see people saying they got a rejection for a design using a picture from Canva/Pixabay/whatever.
When Merch rejects your shirts, nine times out of ten it’s actually because your TITLE, BRAND or FEATURES include a trademarked term, not because of the design. They usually only pull designs once someone reports them, however they’ll automatically reject shirts where you’ve used a trademark in the text.
Disclaimer – I’m not a lawyer.
Canva have watched and enjoyed this video. (see the comment from them on the video) 🙂
*** Heads up – You can no longer use the name ‘Mark Twain’ safely on Merch as it has been registered as a trademark for shirts ****
