What is product personalization on Printify?
Product personalization on Printify lets you sell customized products, such as items with names, custom text, or images. It enables buyers to add a personal touch to products, helping you offer more unique and higher-value items in your store. Personalized products on Printify can be set up in different ways—from simple text inputs (like adding a recipient’s name) to fully custom designs made by you based on buyer instructions.
In this article:
- How does personalization work on Printify?
- Manual vs automated personalization
- Which option should I choose?
- Available features by sales channel
- Learn more about setting up personalization
- FAQs
How does personalization work on Printify?
You can create products with placeholder text and/or images that buyers customize when placing an order. When the order is imported, you can alter the design in the review step, changes made to the design in the order won't affect the original product.
All personalized orders are held before production, giving you a chance to review them. For manual personalization, you’ll need to create or adjust the design yourself. For automated personalization, the buyer’s input is applied to the design automatically, and you only need to review and approve the final result before sending it to production.
Manual vs automated personalization
Depending on your setup, personalization can be handled manually or applied automatically. Each with different behavior for buyers and sellers:
| Manual | Automated |
| Available for all sales channels | Available for Pop-Up, Etsy, Shopify and TikTok |
| Set up by enabling the personalization toggle when publishing | Set up by adding personalizable layers in Product Creator |
|
Pop-Up Store, Etsy and TikTok:
Other sales channels:
|
Pop-Up, Etsy and Shopify:
TikTok:
|
| You’ll need to manually adjust the design based on the buyer’s request when reviewing the order | The buyer’s input is automatically applied to the design, you only need to review |
| Personalization can be enabled or disabled at any time, can be optional for the buyer | Personalization can’t be turned off, personalization becomes mandatory for the product |
Which option should I choose?
You don’t need to choose a single personalization strategy for your entire store. Personalization is configured per product, so you can mix different approaches depending on your goals.
Automated personalization is best suited for scaling order volume while minimizing time spent on order review. It works well for simpler uses, adding custom text or allowing buyers to upload images that are automatically applied to predefined layers of the design.
Manual personalization is better suited for higher-value or more complex products. It allows you to offer advanced customization, including fully custom designs created based on buyer requests—whether designed manually or generated using AI. This approach requires more effort per order but enables greater flexibility and premium offerings.
Available features by sales channel
Personalization capabilities vary by sales channel. The table below provides an overview of what’s supported in each channel, so you can understand how personalization is collected, processed, and presented to buyers.
| Sales channel | Manual | Automated text | Automated image | Buyer preview | Text options |
| Etsy | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Shopify | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| TikTok | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Pop-Up Store | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Other sales channels | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Manual
Manual personalization is supported. Personalized orders will import as drafts for to review and customize.
Automated text
Personalizable text layers are supported. Buyers can enter custom text that will automatically be applied to the product design.
Automated image
Personalizable image layers are supported. Buyers can upload images that will automatically be applied to the product design.
Buyer preview
Buyers can see a mockup preview of the product with their customization before ordering. You also have the option to skip the manual review step, letting orders go straight to production.
Text options
In addition to providing custom text, buyers can also select text colors or fonts you've enabled through dropdown menus.
Learn more about setting up personalization
- Manual personalization: How do I set up product personalization?
- Automated personalization:
- How do I review personalized orders?
- What are the personalized order submission settings?
FAQs
Which products support personalization?
All products in the Printify Catalog support personalization. Embroidery products have some limitations, learn more here.
Where can I find my personalized products?
Products with personalization enabled display a Personalizable label in My Products and appear under the Personalizable filter for easier access.
How do I collect personalization requests?
Depending on the sales channel there may be an input field on the product page that is imported to Printify, or you have to collect the details manually (e.g., via email or order notes). Learn more in this article.