How to Design a Comic Art Postage Stamp at Zazzle

Yes, it’s true. If you’re a comic artist or any other kind of artist, you can now legally customize your own sheet of 41-cent postage stamps for friends, family and potential customers at several online services including Stamps.com (the originator) and Zazzle.

Personalized postage has been around since 2004. While this is a big step for artists and photographers, note that these online services adhere to postal service image standards. For example, you can’t create and market a comic art stamp where Adolf Hitler and Jenna Jameson are dancing naked.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Internet connection
• Artwork
• Zazzle account
• Image editing software like Photoshop

How to Design a Comic Art Postage Stamp at Zazzle

1. Go to Zazzle’s Custom Stamps webpage (see Resources below). Decide which of your comic images would make a good original postage stamp. Open the images in Photoshop. Make sure that the image size won’t be too large for Zazzle. Double-check stamp sizes on Zazzle’s Custom Stamps page. Resize your image if need be.

2. Click “Create Postage” button on Zazzle page. A Get Started box will appear. Click the “Select Image” button.

3. An Upload Images box will appear. Click the “Browse” button to access comic art files stored on your computer hard drive. Find and select an image file. Click on the “Select Image” button on the bottom of the Upload Images box.
   
   Note that Zazzle-compatible image files can only be in JPEG, GIF or PGN file formats. If your selected comic art file is another format, go to Photoshop and “save as” one of the acceptable formats.

4. The Get Started box will reappear. You will now have the option of adding a text caption to your design. To do so, enter caption inside the text box. Click the “Make It Now” button.

5. You’ll go to a preview page of your stamp design. On this page, there are a series of tools that allow you to move the text on the image, resize the font, choose a new font and a new font color, or you can delete the text completely.

6. Go to the preview of your stamp image (click “change image” text link). On this preview page, there are also a series of tools that allow you to move and resize your image, or delete it completely.

7. Click “Post for Sale” button on the bottom of the page. The Post for Sale to the Public Marketplace page will appear. Click the “Post It” button on the bottom of the page.

8. A member login window will appear. If you aren’t already a Zazzle member, click the “I’m not a Zazzler Yet” button and register.

9. If you’re already a member, login. At this point, you’ll want to set up a public gallery page, but this is for another discussion.

Resources

• “Personal Postage gets a Corporate Stamp”, Justin Berton, San Francisco Chronicle
• Zazzle's Image Standards
• Zazzle’s Custom Stamps webpage