Did you know the print-on-demand industry is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.3%?
Despite this rapid growth, many entrepreneurs and businesses still face challenges in optimizing their design and production processes.
Creators often struggle to produce high-quality designs that capture attention in a competitive market, ultimately resulting in lower sales.
This is where effective design tools can make all the difference, helping you overcome these hurdles and elevate your offerings.
In this article, we’ve handpicked the 8 best design tools for print-on-demand to help you unlock your full potential.
Ready to explore? Let’s get started!
8 Best Design Tools for Print-on-Demand to Improve Your Productivity
Before we dig deeper into our list of POD design tools, here’s a quick sneak preview of each tool’s top qualities and features.
*All pros and cons are based on Capterra, G2, and Software Advice user reviews.
1. Dynamic Mockups
Dynamic Mockups is a robust automated mockup generator tool for POD businesses.
It allows you to generate large quantities of high-quality mockups effortlessly, without the need for manual uploads, saving you valuable time.
Key features:
✨ AI Mockup Generator for Print on Demand
The AI Mockup Generator simplifies the design process and unlocks new creative possibilities by enabling you to add custom backgrounds to your designs easily.
Simply enter a description of your background in the Background Prompt, and see your new design come to life in seconds.
Dynamic Mockups – AI Mockup Generator for Print on Demand
✨ Upload Custom PSDs as Mockups
With our API, you can upload and customize your own Photoshop templates, allowing you to create more personalized and realistic mockups.
✨ Free Mockup Library
A constantly expanding collection of free mockups featuring items like:
✨ Bulk Create
What makes Dynamic Mockups stand out is its powerful bulk creation feature.
You can upload multiple designs and color combinations, and the tool will automatically generate all the variations.
This means you can create 100 mockup variations in just 10 seconds!
✨ Design Library
The Design Library keeps all your designs in one place for easy organization and management. You can quickly find and apply previously uploaded designs to new mockups, streamlining your workflow and saving time.
It also lets you effortlessly reuse design assets across multiple mockups, ensuring consistency and reducing manual effort.
✨ Powerful editing tools for extra customization, including:
- Photoshop blending modes to make your designs more realistic.
- A color picker with integrated Printful and Printify color options for easy color changes.
- The Print Area tool for flexible layouts, letting you move, resize, and perfectly position design elements with automated fitting and post-adjustments.
Pricing
Dynamic Mockups offers a Forever Free Plan and 2 Premium Plans starting at $19 per month.
Additionally, there’s a Mockup Generator API plan that includes 500 renders for $49 per month.
2. Canva
Canva is an online graphic design platform that enables you to create a wide range of visual content, such as social media graphics, presentations, and posters, using a drag-and-drop interface.
It offers a vast library of templates, images, and fonts, making it accessible with varying levels of design experience.
The platform’s simplicity and versatility make it popular among individuals, businesses, and educators.
Key features:
✨ Template Library – Access a wide variety of pre-designed templates and stock images for logos, infographics, prints, photo collages, and social media designs.
✨ Design elements – Enhance your designs with photo effects, image enhancers, cropping tools, a wide selection of fonts and styles, icons, and more.
✨ Brand Kits – Customize your designs by uploading and applying your brand’s colors, fonts, and logos with ease.
✨ Asset management – Organize and centralize all your content and brand assets, with the ability to control access permissions.
Pricing
Canva offers 1 Free Plan and 2 Paid Plans starting at €9 per month.
3. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is an image editing software for everything from photo touch-ups to digital art and graphics.
It provides a wide range of tools for editing photos, combining images, and applying various effects, making it popular among photographers, designers, and artists.
Photoshop features support tasks ranging from basic image adjustments to high-level editing and creative work.
Key features:
✨ Image compositing – Combine two or more images by placing them on independent, transparent layers for creative composites.
✨ Adjustment layers – Make quick, reversible edits like brightening or darkening without altering the original image.
✨ Blend modes – Merge colors and tones between background and foreground for dramatic effects.
✨ Adjustment presets – Apply over 30 presets to change images with one click and create, share, or import custom presets.
Pricing
Adobe Photoshop offers 3 Paid Plans starting at $19,99 per month.
4. Inkscape
Inkscape is a free, open-source vector graphics editor ideal for creating and editing scalable designs such as logos, illustrations, and diagrams.
It offers a range of tools for drawing, shaping, and text editing, making it accessible for beginners and experienced designers.
Compatible with multiple file formats, Inkscape is a popular choice for those looking for a powerful alternative to paid vector design software.
Key features:
✨ Export to multiple formats – Export designs in print-ready formats like PNG, PDF, AI, EPS, and more for seamless production.
✨ Pattern and clone – Generate repeating patterns and arrangements of objects, perfect for designing custom prints.
✨ Color management – Use predefined and custom color palettes ideal for high-quality print designs.
✨ Text on path and shape – Customize text by placing it along a path or within shapes, enhancing typography for print products.
Pricing
Inkscape is free to use and doesn’t have Paid Plans.
5. Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer is versatile graphic design software known for its precision and flexibility.
It empowers you to create everything from detailed illustrations to icons and user interface designs with powerful tools for vector and pixel work.
It’s a popular choice for designers and artists looking for an affordable alternative to traditional design software, and it works seamlessly across Windows, macOS, and iPad.
Key features:
✨ Real-time previews – Enables you to see how changes affect the final output instantly, ensuring that designs are print-ready.
✨ Packaging and resource management – Allows you to bundle projects with fonts and linked images, ensuring that all elements are included for seamless printing.
✨ PDF passthrough – Ensures that the design and layout are preserved precisely when exporting PDF files, essential for maintaining quality in print production.
✨ Scaling control – Provides precise control over image resolution, crucial for high-quality prints in print-on-demand projects.
Pricing
Affinity Designer offers 2 plans depending on your device, starting at €19,99, and 1 universal plan.
6. Kittl
Kittl is an online design platform that provides tools for creating graphics, illustrations, and typography for various projects.
It serves beginners and professionals, offering customizable templates and design elements for print and digital use.
The platform also features a user-friendly interface, advanced text effects, and a community space for sharing designs and finding inspiration.
Key features:
✨ Text effects – Offers a variety of text effects, such as drop shadows, outlines, and glows, to enhance typography and add depth and dimension.
✨ Font and illustration library – A vast library of fonts and illustrations, including modern sans-serifs, elegant scripts, and eye-catching graphics.
✨ Background removal – Remove image backgrounds with just one click using Kittl AI, simplifying editing.
✨ Merchandise design – Create high-quality merchandise designs and convert images into scalable vectors suitable for large print applications.
Pricing
Kittl offers a Free Plan, 2 Paid Plans starting at $10 per month, and a Custom Plan for business teams.
7. Photopea
Photopea is a free, web-based photo editor with advanced image editing capabilities.
It supports many file formats, including PSD, XCF, and Sketch, making it a versatile tool for graphic design and photo manipulation.
With its robust features and accessibility, Photopea is a popular choice for users looking for a powerful editing tool without the need for software installation.
Key features:
✨ Advanced editing – Offers features like layers, masks, blending, and vector editing, which are crucial for creating detailed and professional designs for print.
✨ AI background – Removes backgrounds with one click, making it easy to prepare designs for printing on various products like t-shirts or posters.
✨ Convenient and accessible –Can be accessed from any device, allowing designers to create and edit designs anywhere without installing heavy software.
✨ Wide format compatibility – Supports numerous file formats, ensuring compatibility with the various formats needed for different print products.
Pricing
Photopea offers two types of accounts, Free and Premium, for $5 per month.
8. DesignBundles
DesignBundles is an online tool that offers various digital design resources, including graphics, fonts, templates, and craft files, for designers and crafters.
It provides affordable, high-quality design assets with licenses suitable for personal and commercial use.
DesignBundles also has a user-friendly interface, allowing easy search and download of design assets for various creative projects.
Key features:
✨ No downloads needed – Works entirely in your browser, allowing you to create designs for print on demand from any device without installing software.
✨ Seamless patterns – Easily create seamless patterns that repeat perfectly, ideal for producing large-scale print products like fabric or wallpaper.
✨ Artboards for multiple designs – Artboards help you manage multiple designs simultaneously, making it easier to create consistent product lines and save everything in a single ZIP file.
✨ Photoshop brushes and actions – Supports Photoshop brushes and actions, allowing you to add texture and quick edits, enhancing your print-on-demand designs.
Pricing
DesignBundles offers 3 Paid Plans starting from $11.99 per month.
It also offers a 7-day free trial for Unlimited Plan to access exclusive tools and software.
Conclusion
Choosing the best design tool for print-on-demand can significantly elevate your business.
So, whether you need bulk mockup creation, advanced editing features, or a comprehensive suite for designing and printing, there’s a tool tailored to meet your needs.
If you’re looking for flexibility and creative control, tools like Adobe Photoshop are a great fit, while Canva is an excellent option for those seeking a rich library of customizable templates.
At the same time If you need advanced editing options, try Photopea, and for easy background removal, Kittle is a great choice.
However, if you want a seamless, all-in-one mockup creation experience, Dynamic Mockups offers a complete solution to bring your designs to life with ease and professionalism.
Why Should You Choose Dynamic Mockups?
All of the design tools for print-on-demand mentioned above can assist you at different stages of your POD journey.
But one step separates Dynamic Mockups from the crowd – A mock-up creation.
Mockups are the backbone of your product listings. Without them, there’s no business to showcase.
That’s why Dynamic Mockups is an excellent place to start.
With a user-friendly interface, it handles mockup creation, offers powerful customization features, and seamlessly integrates with platforms like Etsy and WooCommerce.
Ready to try it out?
Sign up for Dynamic Mockups for free and start bringing your ideas to life!
Keep Learning:
12 Best Print-on-Demand Sites To Try in 2024
