How to make a custom pillow design with Picmonkey

Remember how I was talking about just starting, and working with what you have? I think a lot of us run into stumbling blocks when we just don’t know how to do something. I wanted to share with you how you can make a custom pillow design with Picmonkey with your own images and upload them to a site like Society 6.

(This is not a sponsored post, I just thought you would like to know how to do this.)

I know many of us are designers at heart, or we want to be able to make custom furnishings, or open a shop, and just don’t know where to start! I wanted to give you a head start by showing you you can start with something like Picmonkey, and you don’t need to know a fancy Photoshop or editing program. I am not an expert, but this is how I started before I used more complicated programs to make art and graphics. Also, when using imaged and graphics, always make sure they are copy-write free, and you are not using anyone else’s stuff but your own to avoid copy-write infringement and intellectual property issues. If you are using vintage images, that’s something else together that has it’s own set of rules.When I use fonts in my artwork, if it’s not my own handwriting, I buy them with  a commercial license from a font site. This can cost anywhere from $5 to $25 a font, but this will give you the piece of mind you need! I am not an expert on this my any means, so always check the laws and restrictions before you use!

To make pillows,  you are going to want to have your image ready to use. How to you do that? If it’s handmade artwork, you can either scan it, or take a high-res picture of it with your camera, on the largest file size possible. The bigger the image, the better the result will be. You can use your image right off your camera, but I always find something is a little off, like the color, so I tweak it first. You can also do that in Picmonkey under edit.

You can use  a JPG or  PNG. If you want to be able to change the background colors, and just have the image showing, you are going to need to make it a PNG. You maybe able  do this in some really basic photo programs already on your computer. I have a program called Preview on  mine, and I am able to crop around my image.

Once you have your image, go to Picmonkey and sign up for a free account if you don’t already have one.

At the top it will ask you what your project is. Go to design at the top.

To make the pillow, it has to be 4000 x 4000. That’s also the highest it will go.

Click on the butterfly to the left and click it.That will bring up the overlays windows for you to add your own graphics.  Where it says add your own, click the arrow box and it will bring a drop down window down.  Then you an grab your image from where ever, your computer, another drive, or even Facebook. Click the image and it will upload.

Once it’s on your “pilow square”, be aware of sizing. Don’t over-size your image to fill the entire space or it will be too big on your pillow. You have to give allowance for the pillow curve when it has the insert in it and is filled. You can always leave your Picmonkey window open, upload your image, and then if it’s too big, go right back and resize. It’s an easier way to make a custom pillow design with Picmonkey.

Once you have you image where you want it, save it in the upper left hand corner to make a custom pillow design with Picmonkey.

It will bring you to the save screen.

Make sure to name your design and that the settings are on Sean.

That’s the highest setting. I save all of my graphic images to a flash drive so it doesn’t eat up space on my hard drive.

Also double check that your dimensions are 4000 x 4000, or they won’t unload for a pillow.

After that you can use the design to upload to lot’s of sights Society 6, Redbubble to sell to the public or even Photobucket ( if you are making it just for yourself !). Even with  Walmart photo  you can upload to make things like mugs.So even if you want to make a personal gift for someone, or you’ve always dreamed of starting your shop. This is a great way to get your feet wet. Stop waiting and use what you have!!

And guess what? All the graphics for this post I made in Picmonkey!