This guide walks you through your first personalizable product from start to finish. You pick a starting point, decide what shoppers can change, choose how it appears on your store, and publish it. It is written for a new merchant who has connected their Shopify store and wants to ship one product live. Each step links to a deeper guide if you want more detail.
Pick a starting point
Every product starts the same way: you choose where the base item comes from. Composerie gives you three paths. The print provider catalog is the recommended start because the product is ready to sell and the print and ship details are already set up.
Open New product
From the dashboard home, click the New product button. You can also open the Products page and start a new product from there. During onboarding, the Pick your first product step shows the same three choices as cards.
Choose one of three paths
Pick the path that matches your product:
- Browse the catalog (recommended): thousands of print provider products ready to customize, filtered to your categories.
- Use a template: a curated starter you tweak to fit your brand.
- Start from scratch: a blank custom product you build on your own canvas.
Browse the catalog
When you open a new product, the catalog browser loads by default. You see a grid of print provider products. The sidebar also has a custom product entry, and a Templates entry once your workspace has templates saved.
Pick a product and continue
Select the item you want, then continue. This becomes the base your shoppers will personalize.
Design what shoppers can change
Next you open the Design Studio. This is the canvas where you place text, images, and shapes, then mark which of them a shopper can change. A field you mark as editable becomes part of the customizer your shoppers see on the storefront. Anything you leave fixed stays the same on every order.
Open the Design Studio
From your product, open the Design studio. The canvas opens with your product surface ready to edit.
Place your elements
Add the text, images, and shapes you want on the canvas. For example, add a text layer for a name, or an image slot for a photo.
Mark what a shopper can change
Choose which elements a shopper can edit, such as a name field or a photo upload. These are the fields your customers fill in when they personalize the product.
This is the heart of your product, so it is worth learning the canvas well. For the full tour of layers, fonts, and effects, read the Design Studio overview. To control which fields shoppers can edit, see make fields customer editable.
Choose how it shows on your store
When you publish, you choose how the product appears on your storefront. Composerie asks this in the publishing wizard, on the step titled “How should this look on the storefront?” There are three modes. Each card explains what it does and what it suits.
Start the publishing wizard
Open your product and start the publishing wizard. Step through it until you reach the mode step.
Pick a storefront mode
Choose one of the three options:
- Linked: your storefront looks exactly the same and Composerie works in the background. Best for designs that do not need customer changes.
- Embedded: the customizer lives right on your product page, with no redirect. Best for products with a few options where customers want to order fast.
- Full page: a button leads customers to a dedicated customizer page. Best for products with lots of design options.
Confirm your store and mode
Confirm the store and the mode you picked, then move to the final step.
Publish and check it on your store
Now you finish the wizard and see the product live. Always open the product on your own store and try it as a shopper would. That is the fastest way to confirm the customizer is in the right place and the fields behave the way you set them.
Finish the wizard
Complete the publishing wizard to publish the product to your storefront.
Open the product on your store
Go to the product page on your Shopify store and confirm the customizer is there.
Personalize it yourself
Fill in the fields the way a shopper would. Check that the live preview updates and the product adds to cart.
If the customizer does not appear, your theme block may be switched off. See switch on the customizer in your theme, or read customizer not appearing to work through it. If you get stuck, contact support.
Which starting point should I choose first?
Start with the print provider catalog. The product and its print setup are ready, so you can publish the same day. Templates and blank products are useful once you want more control.
Do I have to mark fields as editable?
Only if you want shoppers to change them. Anything you leave fixed stays the same on every order. Mark a field editable to turn it into a customizer field.
Can I change the storefront mode after publishing?
Yes. Reopen the publishing wizard for the product and pick a different mode. The storefront modes guide explains the trade-offs.
Why is the Linked mode grayed out?
Linked shows no customizer on the product page, so it is unavailable when your product has editable fields. Choose Embedded or Full page instead.
Next
You have a product live. To learn the publishing wizard in full, read publish a product to your storefront.