Website product design software/modules etc.

[Ucase Ltd]

After losing around £2k on a custom solution that never really worked I now use Fancy Product Designer - http://fancyproductdesigner.com/

Mainly because it has a lot of back-end options for customization and you can add in limitation for minimum picture quality etc.

I wouldn't say it's a perfect solution but it does the job.

[Post]

We are building our own custom application. We found the flash designers very buggy, oldschool and produce low quality output. Also other solutions were either too expensive or have too much functionality. I could not find any software which would be easy to use for my online customers (simple and clean interface) and could produce print-ready output.

Our current goal is a simplified version of FancyProductDesigner, but with a strong focus on high-res, directly printable output. For example our output is PDF which can include spotcolors and vectors. So it we do not need to do manual DTP work for print-n-cut orders. The user interface would be more like caseapp.com. And best of all, no backend.

The software is built so that it can be used in a simple website (standalone) or in a CMS such as Wordpress. We are planning to make a integration plugin for Wordpress with WooCommerce. But it could be used for a small website with just one or a handful products using for example Paypal checkout.

The only thing is, making the templates has a learning curve. But as long as you have Illustrator, a text editor and the basic knowledge to use them, you are good to go. The template only needs to be made once.

Can you be more specific in features you require?

[Justin]

I've had a few quotes and actually found a solution which is pretty much what I need. That said, it's more than I want to spend at this time and the price reflects a new build not existing solution. I have just had a much lower quote for the same thing so will take a closer look.

Pretty much after the same thing as you're talking about Post, simple, quick, clean interface, nothing too fancy. I work in OpenCart and would prefer to stay with this.

[Justin]

After losing around £2k on a custom solution that never really worked I now use Fancy Product Designer - http://fancyproductdesigner.com/

I had seen demos of this but wasn't impressed. That said there are a couple more on the link you've sent and it does look much better. The glass example is really good, the mug not so but I assume you can set up your own templates?

It does seem to run really well, only issue I've had was a limitation on photo size, maybe this can also be changed?

[Ucase Ltd]

I had seen demos of this but wasn't impressed. That said there are a couple more on the link you've sent and it does look much better. The glass example is really good, the mug not so but I assume you can set up your own templates?

It does seem to run really well, only issue I've had was a limitation on photo size, maybe this can also be changed?

Some of those demo's are not great.

Yes it's had a few updates in the last month.

- Appearance will be as good as your template which you set-up in layers.
- You set your own limits on photo size, I have a minimum size set for each individual product so for example, if it's a pet tag, that has a low requirement but if it's an a4 product then I set it much higher. As long as you allow for transferring from 72 - 300 DPI you should be fine.

If you want a real life life example feel free to play with one of mine :http://ucase.co.uk/shop/dual-protect-ip ... e5s-black/

I'm still using the old version. The latest update eliminates the sidebar and uses sliders. It does look much better, I just haven't got around to it yet.

When it domes to downloading the image there are options for PDF, JPG, PNG, SVG.

[Ucase Ltd]

We are building our own custom application. We found the flash designers very buggy, oldschool and produce low quality output. Also other solutions were either too expensive or have too much functionality. I could not find any software which would be easy to use for my online customers (simple and clean interface) and could produce print-ready output.

Our current goal is a simplified version of FancyProductDesigner, but with a strong focus on high-res, directly printable output. For example our output is PDF which can include spotcolors and vectors. So it we do not need to do manual DTP work for print-n-cut orders. The user interface would be more like caseapp.com. And best of all, no backend.

The software is built so that it can be used in a simple website (standalone) or in a CMS such as Wordpress. We are planning to make a integration plugin for Wordpress with WooCommerce. But it could be used for a small website with just one or a handful products using for example Paypal checkout.

The only thing is, making the templates has a learning curve. But as long as you have Illustrator, a text editor and the basic knowledge to use them, you are good to go. The template only needs to be made once.

Can you be more specific in features you require?

Would be interested in seeing this in more detail along with pricing.

It's difficult to be too specific as if you're creating a product to appeal to the masses it needs to have the right amount of function for novice customers yet sophisticated enough for all kinds and sizes of products.

Don't want to hijack this thread but for me personally:

1) Building in layers with transparency options on each layer
2) Set minimum image size for each individual products
3) some front-end customisation options to enable me to match the look and feel of my website.
4) Mobile responsive
5) Direct to print would be awesome and save a huge amount of time. If you could simplify this by allowing me to input product size and have the screen version scale automatically (or even just clear instructions in the template builder on scaling) - also option to say which layers should be included/exluded in the final print.

[Justin]

Thanks Ucase, Certainly ticks a lot of boxes and the latest updates really do add value. I think I'll buy it and have a play around, if nothing else it will start to identify exactly what I need so I can move forward

[Ucase Ltd]

Thanks Ucase, Certainly ticks a lot of boxes and the latest updates really do add value. I think I'll buy it and have a play around, if nothing else it will start to identify exactly what I need so I can move forward

No Probs - I should have mentioned I am using the Woocommerce version. I can't speak for the others but I'm guessing they're similar.

[Justin]

Just downloaded and installing on OpenCart. Your WooCommerce seems to work very well

[Justin]

Install was painless Just setting up a product and getting used to the system, working very well...just getting my head around it! Not getting to add to cart right now so I must be off with a setting