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How to create an NFT in Photoshop

Wondering how to create an NFT in Photoshop? I imagine you’re someone who doesn’t live under a rock. Maybe an artist, designer, photographer, musician, videographer or creator of sorts. You’ve heard of NFTs, did some research, are generally curious and now want to get in on the trend. I’ve got some bad news. 

Whether you’re completely new to the idea of NFTs or have some knowledge under your belt it’s important to convey that you can’t create an NFT in Photoshop. Because Photoshop does not create NFTs. It’s a raster based image editing platform. Let me explain.

I’m being silly here but trying to illustrate a point.

To make an NFT you create a smart contract. That smart contract contains an asset which is typically an address to a location. The location is contains all the information relating to the asset attached to the smart content. In this case it’s art. But, before we dive in let me explain a few things.

How to make an NFT

If you’re here for tutorials I’ve created quite a few. Head over to my YouTube channel or check these out:

EZPZ guide to using Photoshop on making NFT arte.
An over the shoulder look at the NFT creative process in Photoshop.

What is an NFT?

First, I’ll take a moment to touch on things from a high level and provide some clarity. You can’t actually create an NFT in Photoshop. What you create is some sort of a digital asset. In this case, art. That asset gets output and uploaded to a marketplace.

When you upload a file to most marketplaces you input information that gets passed to a contract template. The info is then parsed, compiled, deployed and verified to become a non-fungible token or NFT. 

To sum things up an NFT is the combination of a contract plus a unique asset that provides proof of ownership and rules which govern the ownership of said asset. In Photoshop you simply create art.

Photoshop and Content Credentials

If you don’t know, Photoshop is a raster based software that allows users to edit photos and manipulate images. Raster graphics are pixels that live in a grid viewable in screens. With Photoshop you can adjust pictures to improve their quality or restore them, create illustrations, digital works of art, assets for mediums like print or web and so much more. 

Photoshop has been around for a long time and used in numerous ways.

Recently in news articles Adobe announced a new feature in beta called Content Credentials. Soon you’ll be able to attach meta information to your creations directly through Photoshop. 

Based on the help forums it looks like the following information will be included:

  • Produced by: name of person who exported content
  • Produced with: editing application used
  • Edits and activity: actions taken by the producer
  • Signed by: owner and or creator
  • Signed on: date signed by the signer

This information is helpful for creators of NFTs as it ensures who created the content and when.

How do I create an NFT then?

While it would be neat if there was a way to connect to marketplaces and mint directly from Photoshop there isn’t. I could see a future where you connect your wallet, create your art, input info and then output right to somewhere like OpenSea. For now however we have to do things the old fashioned way.

To create an NFT you need art.

This is what I mean jelly bean.

What you’re seeing online and in the news regarding NFTs is associated with art, digital or other. Art is an expression via a medium. In this case a representation of an idea in a digital format that’s final output and intention is meant to be consumed digitally. Therefore the key ingredient will be some form of digital art.

If you are one of the aforementioned creatives then you might already have some work. 

If you don’t, choose a path you want to go down. Meaning pick a style of art you want to explore or already know how to create. I started with a collage style expression of self and created a series of artworks called He Waited. That expression led to an exploration.

Exploring the space and learning more I formed ideas around what was possible. 

Becoming more introspective around my own creative processes I began to find tutorials on generative art. Which is a style that uses self-governed autonomous systems to compile compositions. Constraints must be set around the creation process in order for it to work. The artist must instruct the computer to follow those rules. As a result new works are produced.

By taking the first step and creating something based off of what I already knew I was able to unlock new doors of creativity in my mind and began to see how I could go further. 

In the article, How to create an NFT step by step, I wrote a full tutorial on how I began using Photoshop to create layers which were then output individually to create a series of completely unique generative artworks. In my tutorial series Create an NFT collection on OpenSea I go deeper into the entirety of what it takes to create the art, the nuances of an entire collection, outputting the artwork for upload, to getting setup with a wallet and then finally creating the collection on the OpenSea marketplace. 

Which later led me to discover a plethora of nuances and problems I had to fix with my artwork and uploading art one by one on OpenSea. That frustration brought me through a series of tutorials which covered topics like minting, dApps, smart contracts and more. Ultimately leading me to create another entirely generative art collection called Warskullz_Reboot.

Therefore, if you want to create an NFT in Photoshop, focus on the art and let it evolve.

But seriously . . . 

If you want to create an NFT here it is in a nutshell. You need to be unique, have a way to stand out, identify an audience, build a community, figure out what part of the market you can address, lay a foundation, have a plan for scale, have a plan for marketing, consistently execute on that plan, tweak and adjust as you go a long, keep adding value, interact and engage with the community, share and provide insight, nurture your relationships, reach out for help where needed and always stay focused on your goals no matter how hard they might seem.

Because an NFT is a product and people who purchase products expect value.

Concluding thoughts

Although this article was titled how to create an NFT in Photoshop it doesn’t exactly cover that. Reason you don’t actually create an NFT in Photoshop and I wanted to shine light on the fact. You do create digital artworks that get coupled with contracts to then create an NFT but inherently that’s not known. 

I feel it’s important to mention because as an artist and designer passionate about crypto people need to be educated and understand what they’re dealing with. If you want to join in on the NFT craze then by all means hop on board. The more people that get involved and realize the power far beyond digital art, the more people to continue to help disrupt and innovate.

I create content to share and inspire you to do the same. Be sure to follow up with the second part of this article.


Need help with smart contracts or NFT collections?

If you’d like to collaborate on a project or are interested in assistance feel free to reach out.

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