Setup & user guide.

Everything you need to go from download to live products. Setup takes about 30–60 minutes.

Before you begin

ArtDrop™ connects several services together. You'll need accounts with each one before starting setup. Have them open in your browser — you'll be copying keys from each during the wizard.

Step 1 — Print Providers

Connect ArtDrop to the print providers you want to use. You need at least one. ArtDrop supports 16 providers — connect any combination. Below are setup instructions for the most popular ones; the Settings wizard covers all 16 with inline guidance.

Gelato

In Gelato: click your profile icon → Developer → API Keys → Generate Key. Copy the full key. ArtDrop will automatically find your stores once you paste the key in.

Printful

In Printful: go to Settings → API → Generate Token. Copy the token. Your Store ID is the number in the URL when you click on your store in the Stores section.

Printify

In Printify: go to My Account → Connections → Generate API token. Copy the token. Your Shop ID is in the URL when you visit your shop — looks like /shop/12345678/dashboard.

Step 2 — Storefront

Connect your Shopify store so ArtDrop can publish products there.

Store URL

Use your .myshopify.com address, not your custom domain. Example: yourstore.myshopify.com. Find it in your browser bar when logged into Shopify admin.

Access Token

In Shopify admin: go to Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps → Create an app. The wizard tells you exactly which permissions to check. Copy the access token — it starts with shpat_ and is shown only once.

Required API scopes

When configuring your Shopify app, make sure the following scopes are enabled:

read_products write_products read_collections write_collections read_files write_files read_online_store_navigation write_online_store_navigation

The navigation scopes are needed because ArtDrop automatically adds new collections to your store's navigation menu when products are created — so customers can browse by artwork category right away.

Targeting a different menu

By default, ArtDrop adds new collections to the main-menu. To target a different menu, set the SHOPIFY_NAV_MENU_HANDLE environment variable to your menu's handle. You can find the handle in Shopify under Online Store → Navigation — it's the slug shown in the URL when you click on a menu.

Step 3 — Storage

Connect your Backblaze B2 bucket. ArtDrop uploads your artwork files here so your print providers and store can access them.

What you need from Backblaze

• Key ID and Application Key — create these at App Keys → Add a New Application Key in Backblaze. The Application Key is shown only once.
• Bucket Name and Bucket ID — found on the Backblaze Buckets page.
• Endpoint URL — click your bucket in Backblaze to find this. Looks like https://s3.us-west-004.backblazeb2.com.

Step 4 — AI

Connect the Anthropic API. This is the AI that analyzes your artwork and writes all your product titles, descriptions, SEO copy, and alt text.

API Key

Go to console.anthropic.com → Create Key. Copy the full key — it starts with sk-ant-. Make sure your account has credit loaded ($5 is plenty to start).

Copy Generation options

This step also lets you choose how the AI writes your product titles and descriptions. By default, the AI writes everything. You can also switch individual fields to use your filename or a custom template instead.

Step 5 — Templates

Templates define what products ArtDrop creates for each image you drop. Each template is one product type — a poster, a canvas, a phone case, etc. Every image you drop creates one product per active template.

Gelato templates

Each row needs a Name (what you call it, like "Fine Art Poster") and a Template ID (found in the URL when you edit a template in Gelato). The wizard explains exactly where to find these.

Printful templates

If you connected Printful, you'll see a section for Printful templates. Each row needs a Name, one or more Catalog Variant IDs (comma-separated), a Placement (usually "default"), and a Price. Find variant IDs in the Printful product catalog — the wizard links you directly there.

Printify templates

If you connected Printify, you'll see a section for Printify templates too. Pick a product from Printify's catalog, enter its Blueprint ID and Provider ID, then click Lookup — ArtDrop will find all available sizes for you. Select the sizes you want and hit Add.

You can add, edit, or remove templates any time from the Templates page. Changes take effect on the next drop — no restart needed.

Step 6 — Voice & Identity

This step tells the AI who you are and how you want your products described. It's what makes the AI copy sound like your brand instead of generic filler.

Store Identity

Fill in your name, store name, what kind of art you make, and how you make it. The more detail you give, the better the AI writes about your work. Example placeholder text shows how a portrait studio might fill this in.

Copy Rules

Optional but powerful. Set the tone of voice, tell the AI what to focus on, give it examples of good copy, and list words you never want used. Leave any field blank to use ArtDrop's defaults.

Voice Trainer — the easier way

Don't know what rules to write? Use the Voice Trainer instead. It's a separate page in ArtDrop (click "Voice" in the sidebar) that teaches the AI your style through conversation, not form-filling.

How it works:

1. Drop an image — upload any artwork, or pick one from your archive
2. See the AI copy — ArtDrop analyzes the image and generates a title, description, SEO tags, and alt text using your current rules (or defaults if you haven't set any yet)
3. React in plain English — type what you'd change: "too flowery", "shorter sentences", "never say whimsical", "I want a more direct tone"
4. See it refined — ArtDrop revises the copy based on your feedback and shows you a side-by-side comparison with changes highlighted
5. Keep going — refine as many times as you want until it sounds like you
6. Save the rules — click "This sounds like me" and ArtDrop extracts concrete rules from the conversation. You review each one with a checkbox before saving.

The saved rules feed directly into the voice and content fields on this page — so they apply to every future drop automatically. You can always come back to the Voice Trainer to refine further or test on different images.

Step 7 — Analysis Rules

This step teaches the AI how to categorize your images. Think of it as creating the buckets your artwork falls into — these categories feed directly into product titles and tags.

How it works

You define a classification system for your art. For example, a portrait photographer might create categories like "Close-up", "Half-body", "Full-body", and "Group". A landscape photographer might use "Mountain", "Ocean", "Forest", "Desert". The AI uses your definitions to sort each image into the right category.

What to fill in

• Classification Label — what you call your categories (e.g. "Shot Type" or "Style")
• Valid Values — the categories themselves, separated by |
• Definitions — describe each category so the AI knows what to pick
• Color Rules — how you want the AI to name the dominant colors
• Stats — extra details the AI should note (like number of subjects, lighting type, mood)

Every field has placeholder text showing an example. Leave fields blank if a category doesn't apply to your work.

Step 8 — Test

The final step tests all your connections. ArtDrop checks every service you configured and shows you a green or red status for each one.

• Anthropic and Backblaze must pass — they're always required
• At least one print provider must pass (any of the 16 supported providers)
• At least one storefront must pass (Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, or others)

If something fails, the error message tells you what's wrong. Go back to the relevant step, fix it, and test again. Once everything is green, click Finish Setup and you're ready to drop your first file.

Dropping artwork

1. Click Start Worker on the Dashboard — the status dot turns green
2. Drag and drop your artwork files directly onto the Dashboard, or use the file browser
3. Watch the live log — it shows every step as it happens
4. When complete, your products are live in your store

Supported formats: PNG JPG JPEG TIF TIFF

Minimum resolution: 300 DPI at your largest print size. For 24x36" that's 7200x10800px.

Status indicators

Common issues

File drops in but nothing happens

• Make sure the Worker is running — click Start Worker on the Dashboard
• Check the file format is supported (PNG, JPG, TIF)
• Check the live log for any error messages

Shopify connection fails

• Access Token must start with shpat_
• Store URL must be yourstore.myshopify.com — not your custom domain
• Make sure your Shopify app has the right permissions enabled

Collections aren't appearing in the nav menu

• Your Shopify app needs the read_online_store_navigation and write_online_store_navigation scopes — check your app's permissions under Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps
• If those scopes aren't available, you can still add collections to the menu manually in Shopify under Online Store → Navigation
• If you're targeting a custom menu, make sure SHOPIFY_NAV_MENU_HANDLE is set to the correct menu handle (default is main-menu)

Gelato products aren't being created

• Verify your Gelato API key is correct and hasn't been revoked
• Make sure you selected a store from the dropdown
• Template IDs must match valid templates in your Gelato account

Printful products aren't being created

• Verify your Printful API token is correct and hasn't expired
• Store ID must match an active store in your Printful account
• Catalog Variant IDs must be valid — check the Printful product catalog
• Printful rate limits to 120 requests per minute — large drops may take a moment

Printify products aren't being created

• Verify your Printify API token is correct
• Shop ID must match your shop — find it in the URL when viewing your shop
• Blueprint and Provider IDs must be valid — use the Lookup button to verify

Backblaze upload fails

• Key ID and Application Key are two different values — make sure you have both in the right fields
• Bucket must exist and the key must have Read & Write permissions
• Bucket name is case-sensitive

AI copy doesn't sound right

• Check your Voice & Identity settings (Step 6) — the more detail you give, the better the output
• Add examples of good copy in the "Good Examples" field — the AI matches your style
• Use the "Never Use" and "Never Mention" fields to block words you don't want
• You can always edit any description in your store after publishing

License & machines

Your license covers up to 2 machines. To move to a new computer, open ArtDrop on the old machine → License tab → Transfer Machine. Then activate on the new machine with the same key.

If you can't access the old machine, email support@getartdrop.com and we'll reset it for you.

Still have questions? See the FAQ for common setup and compatibility questions.