How to Improve your Online Business with Mockups

Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I will earn a small commission should you click through and make a purchase following one of my recommendations. 

With an ever increasing trend towards e-commerce and digital branding, it is important for designers to have a unique, realistic set of mockups in their arsenal.

Whether you’re pitching your design to a client or trying to uplevel your Etsy shop, a realistic mockup template can help you outshine the competition.

Put simply, the right mockup can help your customer / client visualise what the end product will look like with more clarity.

But Mockups are not just for designers. They are the best way to showcase your products like ebooks, online courses, prints, greeting cards, logos, tshirts, fabric (…) in a professional way. Even your freebies will look much better and more appealing with their help.

And: mockups save you money! No need to buy your own products or print everything and spend hundreds on it before making sales.

Our friends over at DesignCuts have a very special deal right now! Get the Amazing Designer’s Mockup Arsenal for just $29 instead of $420.

In this blog post, I’ll give you a few tips on how to use standalone PSD files with Smart Objects.

Smart Objects are extremely helpful when using mockup templates. I won’t get into any techie talk now, you use google and YouTube if you want to know more about that part.

Smart Objects isolate the original artwork you are trying to place within the scene from the rest of the visual effects that are applied to it, which makes it look real.

Let’s jump to learning how to use a mockup template in 3 easy steps.

1 Find mockups for your business and download them

You will find plenty of different mockup files to work with around the web, both free and paid items.

As far as paid mockups are concerned, our friends over at Design Cuts have an entire category devoted to them.

Check it out if you’re looking for templates that are unique, professional and easy to use.

Before we start, it’s important to get used to the folder structure of a professional mockup template. When you download a PSD mockup, it is typically saved as a zipped file. Once you extract its contents, take a close look at what the seller has included.

Ideally, it should possess the following files:

• .psd file of the mockup, which is the source file you will edit

• .jpg file of the mockup, a preview of the template in action

2 Open and Locate the Smart Object

You will often find a .jpg preview, a .psd source file, and some kind of documentation about the product.

The next step is to open the .psd file in Adobe Photoshop and study its layers. What you will find depends on how complex and detailed a mockup is.

Understanding how the layers work on the template you’re using is important because you are eventually going to replace its default elements with your custom content.

If you are facing any difficulty while locating a particular layer, then you can click on the EYE icon (????) to toggle visibility. The next step is to locate the Smart Object and open it.

3 Place Your Content

The last step is to replace the template’s mockup content with your own custom content. To do so, just click the Smart Object icon of the layer. Doing so will open a new Photoshop window displaying only the artwork that you are going to replace.

Just have your desired artwork ready and drag it into the Smart Object window you just opened. Hit the save button once you’re done.

Now go back to the original PSD file and you’ll find the new changes in place.

Using mockup templates is quite easy. All you have to do is follow these three basic steps and your job is done. How often do use mockups for your design projects? Let me know.

Don’t miss out on Design Cut’s special deal right now! Get the Amazing Designer’s Mockup Arsenal for just $29 instead of $420.