PixCustom Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is PixCustom?
PixCustom is a product customization tool that allows customers to upload images, add text, and preview their designs directly on your product page before purchasing.

What types of products can I customize?
You can use PixCustom for apparel, drinkware, gifts, accessories, and more—any product that supports image or text personalization.

Do customers see a live preview?
Yes. Customers can instantly see how their design looks on the product in real time before adding it to their cart.

Image Uploads

What file types are supported?
PixCustom supports common formats like PNG and JPEG.

What’s the difference between PNG and JPEG?

• PNG is best for images with transparency (like logos or cutouts).
• JPEG is best for full-background photos.

Will my image quality be preserved?
Yes. PixCustom processes uploads in high quality to ensure your final product looks sharp when printed.

Is there a file size limit?
Yes. File upload limits vary by plan:

• Free: Up to 5MB per file
• Growth: Up to 15MB per file
• Pro: Up to 30MB per file

File Handling & Output

What file format will my downloads be?
PixCustom automatically selects the best file format for each design to ensure high quality and accurate printing results.

Will backgrounds stay transparent?
Yes. Designs that require transparency, such as cutouts or custom shapes, will preserve transparent backgrounds in the final files.

Why are some files larger than others?
Files with transparency or detailed graphics may be larger to maintain print quality and visual accuracy.

Will the printed product match the preview?
Yes. The final files are generated directly from the same design shown in the live preview.

Can I get high-quality files for printing?
Yes. PixCustom generates files optimized for both quality and production-ready printing.

Customization Features

Can customers resize and rotate images?
Yes. Customers can resize, rotate, and reposition images within the print area.

Can customers add text?
Yes. Customers can add multiple text layers, choose fonts, apply effects, and adjust colors.

Can customers have some product variants customizable and others non-customizable?

Yes. Customers can opt to not make a variant customizable by unchecking "Customers can customize this variant" on the PixCustom Settings page.

What do the dashed lines mean in the editor?

• Black dashed lines: Your design is fully within the print area
• Black and orange dashed lines: Part of your design is outside the printable area

Can customers customize multiple sides (front/back)?
Yes. Growth supports front and back product customization, while Pro supports up to 5 customizable sides depending on your product setup.

Orders & Downloads

How do I access customer uploads?
You can view and download customer designs directly from the order details in your admin dashboard.

Can I download all files at once?
Free and Growth plans allow file downloads per order line item. Pro includes the ability to download all customization files for an order at once.

Are the files print-ready?
Yes. Files are generated to be production-ready, helping streamline your fulfillment process.

Performance & Security

Are uploads secure?
Yes. PixCustom uses secure upload handling to protect customer files and data.

Will this slow down my store?
No. PixCustom is optimized for fast performance and minimal impact on your storefront speed.

Plans & Features

What’s included in each plan?

Free – 1 customizable product, rectangle and square print areas, full image and text editing tools, and up to 25 customer uploads per month.

Growth – Unlimited customizable products, front & back customization, additional printable area shapes, unlimited customer uploads, and a full uploads dashboard.

Pro – Everything in Growth, plus custom-shaped printable areas, up to 5 customizable sides, bulk file downloads per order, and priority support.

Can I upgrade later?
Yes. You can upgrade your plan at any time as your business grows.

Support

Do you offer support?
Yes. Our team is here to help you with setup, customization, and any questions you may have.

How do I get started?
Install PixCustom from the Shopify App Store and follow the setup guide to enable customization on your products.

Developer / Technical Integration

Why can files exist while order properties are empty? 
PixCustom uploads the rendered files before adding the customized cart item. It separately associates those uploads with a cart token. Our order webhook uses that token to associate files with an order, so the files can appear in Customer Uploads even if the final purchased line is missing customization properties. A theme or alternate purchase path can add a plain item, and later cart edits can also affect properties. File presence alone does not establish an exact purchased line-item match. Shopify's underscore prefix makes properties private; it does not make them checkout-only. [Shopify Cart API](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/ajax/reference/cart#private-properties-and-attributes)
 
What is `_cp-id`? 
It is the unique identifier generated for a customized add-to-cart operation. It groups that customization's uploaded files and distinguishes separate designs of the same product variant. It is not a Shopify order ID, Shopify line-item ID, or individual uploaded-file ID. Submitting the design again generates a new identifier.
 
Is `_text-design` the complete customization JSON? 
No. It contains serialized text layers grouped by side, including text, font, placement, rotation, and styling. It is omitted for image-only designs. It does not contain the complete image-layer composition or a complete editable design document. PixCustom currently stores rendered files and upload associations, not a separate complete design JSON record.
 
How should a fulfillment integration retrieve customization data? 
For orders whose customization properties were preserved, read Shopify order line-item customAttributes through the Admin GraphQL API. For existing REST-shaped order payloads, read line_items[].properties. Preserve the Shopify order ID, line-item ID, and _cp-id together. Use the per-side URLs below to retrieve the rendered files. If _cp-id or a required print file is absent, flag the line for review rather than guessing which uploaded design belongs to it. [Shopify LineItem API](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/objects/LineItem)
 
5. Which integration fields are available?

 
Properties exist for the sides generated by the design; a side without customization content may have a preview but no print-ready file. If a preview upload fails, its preview property can point to the saved print file instead. Current file links use /api/image/<imageId>, which redirects to a fresh storage URL while the stored record and file remain available. Follow redirects when downloading, and retain the original PixCustom URL rather than the temporary storage destination.
 
 The current implementation has no merchant-facing order-customization JSON API, outbound PixCustom fulfillment webhook, or order metafield containing this full data set. Its orders/create handler is an incoming Shopify webhook used for internal file association. The storefront association endpoint is not an external fulfillment lookup API. Supporting complete design JSON or a separate authenticated order-manifest API would require additional development.
 
Is there a setting to copy properties into paid orders? 
No such setting exists in the current implementation. PixCustom sends the properties when it adds the customized item to the cart. Preview display labels and app embed visibility do not control whether they are attached to the paid order.