How do I create personalized embroidery products?

Written by

Lena Murphy

Note

This feature is currently available to a limited number of merchants.

Make every item unique by offering embroidery personalization—perfect for adding names, initials, or special dates. Depending on your sales channel, you can choose between:

Automated Personalization (Pop-Up Store and TikTok Shop) – customer input is automatically applied to the design.
Manual personalization – you’ll update the text for each order yourself.

Either way, you’ll give customers the chance to create truly one-of-a-kind embroidery pieces.

In this article:

Before you begin
Automated Personalization
Manual personalization
Best practices

Before you begin

Personalization is, currently, text-only (no image uploads).
Most designs need to be digitized before they can be embroidered. This process is free but may take up to 36 hours.
For Automated Personalization, if you use our design templates with pre-digitized fonts (in the specified sizes), digitization can be skipped.
Some fonts may not pass digitization and might require adjustments.
All personalized designs must be reviewed and approved by you before production.

Tip

For the best results and to prevent unexpected delays, we recommend placing a sample order with your chosen font and example text to ensure it passes digitization and meets your expectations.

Automated Personalization (Pop-Up Store and TikTok Shop only)

Step 1: Choose an embroidery product

Go to the Catalog and choose an embroidery product. Click Start designing to open the Product Creator.

Step 2: Add the personalizable text layer

Click Personalize to insert a customizable text layer. You can either add your own sample text or choose one of the available personalization templates, which include both a personalizable text layer and fixed text (in the example below, “Twenties” is the personalizable text).

Tip

Our templates use pre-digitized fonts in the specified size, so customer personalization won’t require additional digitization—helping to speed up the production process.

Step 3: Adjust your personalization instructions

Review and update the personalization instructions as needed (the toggle is enabled by default). Instruct customers to share their custom text in the order note or message.

You can also set a character limit to prevent unexpected issues.

Step 4: Publish the product to your store

Publish the product to your store. When a personalized order is placed:

You’ll receive a notification to review the design before production.
After the design is approved, it will be digitized once the order is submitted.

Manual personalization (other sales channels or advanced control)

Step 1: Choose an embroidery product

Go to the Catalog and choose an embroidery product. Click Start designing to open the Product Creator.

Step 2: Add your design

In the Product Creator, add text to your product. You can use a placeholder such as “Custom Text Here” or enter a realistic example, like the one shown below.

Step 3: Enable personalization

Switch on personalization and add clear instructions for buyers when setting up your product listing. This ensures that orders are paused for manual editing before production.

Step 4: Publish the product to your store

Publish the product to your store. When an order comes in, manually update the design to include their text.

Click Review to open the product in the Product Creator, then manually edit the design.
Click Approve personalization and then Submit to send the order to production.

Best practices

Use simple, readable text to reduce the risk of digitization issues.
Use basic fonts and clean alignment.
Avoid small sizes or complex letter shapes.
If you considerably change the size of the text provided in the template, it may require digitization.
Familiarize yourself with the embroidery guidelines.

For help reviewing, editing, and approving personalized orders, see How can I manage orders with personalized products?