Getting the most out of DesignMate

With the release of the Sawgrass Exchange, we launched our newest design tool, DesignMate.  We have heard your opinions on what should be in a design tool and how it should function.  We thank you for the feedback you have offered and hope that DesignMate meets your needs and you can see that your comments were heard and applied.  We feel that DesignMate puts creative tools in your hands in a way that is intuitive and user friendly.  

Before I jump into some features that I feel are key to getting the most out of DesignMate, I want to discuss some features that I think you’ll see are much improved in the program.  In our original version of Creative Studio, a great feature of the program was that you could change the colors in images quite easily. With DesignMate, you’re able to change the colors of any of our pre-loaded designs and design elements.  If you load SVG files, you’ll be able to change colors in them as well.  

There have also been great improvements in features like grouping, ungrouping, duplicating, and adjusting layers.  We have also made great strides in producing a custom canvas where you have control over the size and shape of the canvas.  I won’t spend much time on that feature here, but there is another blog post on the topic, so make sure and check it out!

Now, for those features that I think are key to getting the most out of DesignMate.  The first thing to understand is the difference between My Store and My Studio.  One of the newest offerings in the Sawgrass Exchange is MarketMate, our digital selling platform.  With DesignMate, you can create two types of projects:  those that you want to post for sale in your MarketMate Store, and those that you are printing for personal use or selling outside of the MarketMate.  

Anytime you make a design in the design tool, hitting the “Save” button at the top right will bring you to Product Detail Page.  It’s here that you prepare the product for your store or printing.  If you want to sell an item in MarketMate, you’ll give the design a name, a description, set the price, choose a display image, and choose what can be personalized.  We’ll have future blogs on this topic, and you can learn more in the Academy.  Once all of your details are set, you can add the item to “My Store” by clicking “Post for Sale.”  

If you are printing your design and not adding it to your MarketMate storefront, then the two things you need to do on the Product Detail page is give your project a name and a description. The description will be helpful if you ever put the design up for sale in your MarketMate store, but it also can help you by making it more searchable and you can also use this area to remind yourself about details about the design, or product you are pressing it on to.  Once you have added this, you are able to save and print.  If you save your design, it is added to “My Studio.”  

From your profile page, you’ll be able to access projects in My Studio, and in My Store.  To move a design between the two, just click on the projects three dots and choose “Manage Post Details.”  Like before, you can save and print, or “post for sale.”  

While your designs can be located and edited from My Studio and My Store, you can also access this from your Galleries.   You may have noticed, that when you hit save from the design tool, you are required to give the file a name and then add it to a gallery.  This is different than the name and description you give your project on the Product Detail Page.  This initial time that you give the project the name and category, is for accessing it in your Galleries.

You’ll find your Galleries in the design tool, on the left option panel.  In “My Gallery,” you’ll find your saved projects, images, backgrounds, and fonts.  For images, backgrounds, and fonts; My Galleries is all about how you name and organize them.  With your designs, My Gallery is one place where you can access them to make changes to the design or to the product you are using it on.  Changing the product is as simple as clicking the design to open it, and then choosing the product menu from the left option panel to select a new product to use with your design.  

Galleries are similar to folders in CreativeStudio, but with a lot more opportunity to make changes.  You can move items from one category folder to another.  You can also change the names of both individual items and the categories themselves.  You can also delete both items and categories.  Caution: if you delete a category folder, you delete everything that is inside of it.  

You may have noticed that when you upload an image of your own, you’re asked to assign it to a category.  This is for use in the Gallery.  Add Categories that will make it easier to find your images when you need them in the future.  Don’t worry though, as we mentioned before, you can move images between categories later through the tools in the Gallery.

When you are done with a design and select continue, you’ll be asked to give the project a name and assign it to a category.  These categories are a different set than the ones you used if you uploaded an image; these categories are where you’ll find your designs in your Gallery.  

Another important way to get the most out of DesignMate is to become a DesignMate+ Member.  DesignMate+ is a subscription, paid for either by the month or annually, that gives access to all of the designs, backgrounds, elements, and fonts in DesignMate.  New content is added each month, and a portion of this is exclusively reserved for our DesignMate+ members.  With DesignMate, for the first time we are adding elements and fonts to our subscription offerings. Plus content is identifiable by the diamond icon on it.  Anyone can add these items to see how they look, but you will not be able to print or add to your MarketMate Store without upgrading to a DesignMate+ Membership.  

You can upgrade from right in the Design Tool, or if you click on your profile, you can find enrollment under your Account Settings.  

That’s my list of the most important things to take advantage of in DesignMate.   If you have questions, or there are other features you’d like to see, there are several ways you can get that request to us here at Sawgrass.  First, you can submit a ticket to our Care Team.  You can do this from right in DesignMate by clicking on the Help Button in the bottom right corner.  On the DesignMate inspiration page or on your profile page, you can click on the Lightbulb and submit Feedback there as well.  This Feedback can be about any aspect of your Sawgrass experience.  

We hope that you find DesignMate to be easy to use and a great tool in your arsenal whether you are making sublimation projects for yourself or to sell!