Add personalization to an existing product with a POD provider.

Last updated: October 8, 2026

If you’ve already created a product listing in Shopify—with its image gallery, description, and variants—you can add personalization and use a Print on Demand (POD) provider without rebuilding the listing.

This guide shows you how to connect that listing to a POD product and add a Design that shoppers can personalize. Customily automatically creates the Template and Option Set needed to power the personalization.

Before you start

  • Have your product listing already created in Shopify.

  • Connect your POD account to Customily so personalized orders and print files can be sent to your provider for fulfillment. See the connection instructions for your provider in the Print on Demand section.

  • Make sure the POD product you plan to use supports all the variants offered in your Shopify listing.

  • If you want to use your own Design, create it before starting this flow. See 📄 How to create a new Designfor instructions. You can also choose a ready-made Design from Customily’s Design Library.

Note

If your existing listing is already connected directly to a POD provider, disconnect that connection before using Customily to fulfill its orders. Otherwise, the provider may receive two orders: a personalized order through Customily and a non-personalized order through the original connection.

1. Choose the product from your store

Open the flow to add personalization to an existing product, then select the Shopify listing you want to use.

  • Go to Home and click Set Up Personalization for Existing Product.

  • If you have multiple stores connected, select the correct store.

  • Use Search to find your product.

  • To narrow the list, select Not linked to Customily from the filter.

  • Click the product to continue.

2. Choose the POD provider and product

  • Select Print on Demand Providers.

  • Choose your provider.

  • Browse or search the provider’s catalog.

  • Select the product that corresponds to your Shopify listing.

Choose the correct product model and make sure its available colors, sizes, and other options cover the variants in your listing.

3. Match your variants and choose the print area

Variant matching tells Customily which POD variant corresponds to each variant in your Shopify listing. Complete every match so personalization works correctly across your product.

Match the variant names

On the left, you’ll see the variant names from your Shopify product, such as Color and Size. On the right, use each Choose an option dropdown to select the corresponding variant from the POD product.

For example:

  • Match your listing’s Color variant to the provider’s Color variant.

  • Match your listing’s Size variant to the provider’s Size variant.

The names don’t have to be identical, but they must refer to the same type of variant.

Match each variant value

Once you’ve matched a variant name, use Choose a value beside each option to select its POD equivalent.

For example, match White to the provider’s white color and S to the provider’s small size.

Repeat this for every value under every variant.

Note

Match all variants so orders can be fulfilled correctly. Fulfillment won’t work for unmatched variants, and the preview may not update to reflect the selected variant—for example, its color. If you see a warning about unmatched variants, click Let me fix that and complete the missing matches.

Choose the print area

Under Pick the Print Area, select where you want your Design to appear. The available print areas depend on the POD product you selected.

Click Next to continue.

4. Choose your Design

Choose a Design you’ve already created or select a ready-made Design from Customily’s Design Library.

Customily combines the Design with the selected POD product and automatically creates the Template and Option Set for your listing.

Note

You can’t adjust the designs placement during this flow. Customily centers the Design and sizes it to occupy most of the selected print area. To change its position or size afterward, edit the generated Template.

5. Preview the personalization and review your listing

Once setup is complete, you’ll see Preview Your Product Before Publishing. Here you can test the personalization and review your existing listing before finishing.

Test the live preview

  • Select different product variants.

  • Try the personalization options and check how the preview updates.

  • Click Edit Options if you want to adjust the personalization options.

You can also click Save as Product Image to add the personalized preview to your gallery, or Download to save the image.

Review the product images

Under Product Images, review your existing gallery. You can also use Generate mockups to create additional images for the personalized product.

Review the listing details and variants

Check your product title, description, prices, and SKUs. Update anything you want to change before publishing.

6. Publish or save as a draft

  • Click Publish when your personalized listing is ready.

  • Click Save as Draft if you want to finish later.

When you publish, the product opens in a new browser tab. Your current tab stays on the product configuration, where you can continue managing its personalization.