I’m creating mockups for my POD (Print-on-Demand) mugs in Photoshop and have several mockup templates set up. However, I want to ensure that the design on my mockups closely matches the shape and proportions of the actual printed mug.
The first image is the official mockup of the mug that will be printed and sold.
The second image is my design.
The third image is the blank mug I want to use for my new mockup.
Right now, I’ve been manually overlaying the first image onto my mockup template and using warp tools to match the design’s shape and placement. While this works, it’s time-consuming, and I’d love to find a way to automate this process.
Is there a Photoshop plugin, script, or technique that can help automatically warp my design to fit the mug in my new mockup while maintaining accuracy? Any workflow suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Hey @aislinganna97, I don’t know of how you could automate this in Photoshop, but the newest version of Illustrator has a mockup feature that allows you to put a design on any object easily with perfect warping and all. I haven’t used the feature myself, so don’t have specific knowledge of how it works, but you can take a look at this quick tutorial if needed.
@Smurf2 Yeah, like you said, but only cause of the recent new feature in Illustrator - in the past, Illustrator was of no help - it’d have to be done manually in Photoshop (good tutorials definitely needed for that!) or one would have to do a search for a good PSD mockup available in the desired style of the item needed.
I’ve done it in Illustrator for many years with absolutely zero issues, with the tools in Illustrator.
Sure, there’s a new feature in Illustrator, but doesn’t mean it can’t be done without it.
Not everyone has the newest versions either, I know plenty who haven’t even gone to Creative Cloud and use pre-subscription software.
You can absolutely 100% do it in illustrator without the lastet tool.
You can also do it in Illustrator/Photoshop CS (not CS1, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS6, CC 2013-2022) with the tools already in the software.
How do you think people did mockups before software made it a one click solution?
@Smurf2 Thanks for clarifying - I wasn’t aware that Illustrator was used for image based mockups before this feature - I thought it was only used for vector based mockups/templates - good to know!! I really don’t know how mockups were done before software made it a one click solution - but i was taught how to do the manual process in Photoshop, not Illustrator, so wasn’t aware…
Adobe Dimension is included in Adobe’s Creative Cloud, and it has more capabilities than Illustrator for this kind of thing. However, for those more comfortable with Illustrator, a simple cylinder wrap is pretty easy, but it involves using tools that most Illustrator users never use.
Sorry @efmgdesign sometimes I wear my heart on my sleeve, and it’s a pet peeve when someone reiterates the same advice - don’t know it just irks me terribly.
Of course new tools bring easy ways to do things that old grumpy pros have done for years. What used to be a skill is now a click.
With Affinity from Serif you can combine image data merge (aka mail merge) with warp tools.
To do this you must have at least two of the three Affinity programmes. But you can do everything in Affinity Publisher.
If this ends up in your own online shop, you could look for a solution where the warping happens online.
@Smurf2 Totally agree, learning techniques over using features is definitely better. I value the skills required to create mockups from scratch and love using well-made ones. It’d be great if there was a more comprehensive course that teaches manual mockup creation in all the possible tools.
I understand it may irk you when people reiterate the same advice as you - that’s why I read through what others share before responding to ensure that I’m not sharing the exact same thing - you hadn’t shared the specifics of the mockup feature in Illustrator, so I thought it was fine to share.
Thank you for coming back with kindness and understanding in your message, it’s highly appreciated. I’m new to design, as many in this forum are, and I’m happy to learn what I don’t know - please teach and support us newbies.
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I have ended up using Photoshop and Bulk Mock Up generator.
I do have a question though prior to what I said about the warp technique I’m using.
The first product in my OP is the mockup image generated by the POD service I’m using. Do the designs on the mugs in the mockup pictures have to be the exact same shape, width and height etc like the the ones on the mugs the print on demand service generate?
I can warp the designs to match the original mockup the print on demand service generate, however I’m worried the differences will be noticed by customers.
