35+ Printables to Sell to Make Money (2024)

Selling printables is the perfect way to make a passive income right from the comfort of your couch. These are products you can create just once and sell over and over again, without any extra work. You can make an income even while you sleep; how great is that?

Printables are just like they sound: an item you can print out and be used by buyers, or can be used digitally as well. There are so many different types of printables that you can create and sell, but here are a few printable ideas:

• Planners (calendars, project planners, meal planners, financial planners)
• Trackers (for paying debt, weight loss, saving money)
• Stickers
• Journals
• Workbooks
• Templates
• Coloring pages
• Stationary

The options really are limitless, but these are just a few of the more popular printable ideas that you can sell. So now, how do you get started? Let’s cover how to make printables to sell!

How to Make Printables to Sell Online

The great thing about selling printables is you don’t have to be a design expert or computer wiz to create them! The tools that you need are very affordable, and many are even free to use. And since it is a passive income, you only need to create this product once. After that it sells itself!

The first step is doing some research or brainstorming to decide what type of Etsy printables you want to make and how to format it.

You want to be sure you aren’t copying someone else’s idea, but it is important to get an idea for what is out there and how to present your printable.

Next, it’s time to actually start creating printables. You have a few options for what you can use to create your printables:

• Canva: perfect for creating invitations, party games, or stickers
• Excel or Google Sheets: create trackers or planners
• PicMonkey: similar to Canva, and great for making templates and teaching matterials
• Adobe Acrobat: create workbooks and journals

Take into account the size and type of printable you’re creating. If you’re using a spreadsheet for an 8 ½ X 11 printable, be sure to stay within the columns and rows for that size. If you’re designing a planner, you may want to make a variety of sizes to fit the most common planners, such as A-5 (5.8” X 8.3”), classic (5.5” X 8.5”), and personal (4.25” X 6.75”).

It is also smart to test print your printable to make sure it appears correctly on the printed page. If you’re creating printables that people will punch holes in to put in a planner, make sure you’ve left enough room for the holes without cutting the design.

Next, you will have to decide on a price for your printable. Get an idea of what other people are charging for their printables, and price yours similarly. You don’t want to price yours much higher, but you also don’t want to be a lot lower as you want to be sure you still make a profit and have value to your product.

Once you have your printable created, it’s time to start selling! But feeling stuck on what type of printable sell? We’ll give you a few ideas!

Unique Printables to Sell

Want to stand out from the crowd? Here are a few unique printables to sell.

Business card templates

Although a lot of people go onto a website like VistaPrint to choose a business card design, others may want something more unique in order to make their card stand out from the crowd.

It is also a way for them to save money and even print it themselves. So make an easy, personalizable template that buyers can use to easily fill in their business details.You can make a fillable business card in Canva and then make it a fillable PDF in Adobe.

Crochet or knitting patterns

Have a really creative eye and some experience with crocheting or knitting? Why not sell patterns! Creating these items are very time-consuming, so why not make it less time intensive for customers by creating a digital pattern.

They can easily find your pattern and use it instantly, rather than having to search for one at a craft store or ordering online and waiting for that physical pattern to come in. Create patterns for stuffed animals, sweaters, purses, scarves, etc.

Sewing patterns and instructions

Again, if you have some sewing experience and a knowledge of pattern making, you can also sell printable sewing patterns with instructions! People will appreciate not having to run to a craft store any time they want to make something new. Make your pattern something new and different, and give buyers an easier way to get creative.

Flash cards or teaching materials

Another great option for your Etsy printables business is teaching materials, such as flash cards or worksheets. Whether you are listing on Teachers Pay Teachers or Etsy, you will find teachers looking for new materials on both platforms!

With more homeschooling and online learning happening, you will find more need for helpful and unique teaching resources. So create items that are easy for teachers to print and laminate and start using instantly!

SVG graphics

While these products are printables, they can be created in the same software that printables are made in. SVG’s are graphics that can be used with a cutting machine, like the Silhouette or the Cricut. This type of graphic could potentially be used for t-shirts, on mugs, wall decals, etc. Basically, it can be used for more items that you can apply vinyl to.

Sell these digital files to those that want to create these items but don’t have the artistic ability. This is a great opportunity to sell to a huge crafting market.

Clipart

If you have a love for drawing or even just designing, why not create designs that can be used for clipart! Clipart can be used in so many different ways: to create other printables, on t-shirts, for fabrics, etc. But it can be difficult to find ones that are unique and stand out. Creating clipart that you either draw physically or digitally can be another unique printable or digital item to sell.

Party Printables to Sell

Items to be used for parties is a popular printable that you will see on Etsy, as well as other platforms. What you can find in a store is very limited for invitations or decorations, so more people are looking online for items they can print out themselves and save money.

Party printables on Etsy have more variety and uniqueness and buyers want that!

Here are some ideas of party printables to sell:

• Party games: this can be for bachelorette parties, kid’s birthday parties, bridal showers, baby shower games, etc.
• Invitations: including wedding invitations, birthday invitations, etc.
• Greeting cards
• Save-the-dates
• Banners
• Food labels
• Cupcake/cake toppers
• Signs
• Favor bag labels
• Gift tags

Christmas Printables to Sell

Printables created specifically for Christmas is another great opportunity for passive income. There really is a wide range of options for seasonal printables, and you can even think of ideas not on the list that can be unique and something new!

Here are a few Christmas printables to sell:

• Party invitations
• Budget/savings trackers
• Gift tags
• Christmas cards
• Shopping list
• Games
• Wine bottle labels
• Coloring pages
• Candy wrappers
• Gift/wish list
• Thank you cards
• Gift card holder

These are just a few ideas of printables that you can sell that are Christmas-themed and can be used during the holiday season. You can turn these templates into products for other seasons once they are created.

Prepare these by the summer and have them ready for those early planners!

Best Place to Sell Printables

Once you decide on a type of printable you want to sell or have your design ready, where can you sell your printables? There are a few options for you!

Teachers Pay Teachers

Are you interested in selling teaching materials? Then selling these on Teachers Pay Teachers may be the best option for you! Creating an account is free on TPT, and if you make a sale you will get 55% of the sales price and be charged a $.30 fee. This is a way to get familiar with the platform, but if you want to make a larger income you’ll want to upgrade your account.

Signing up for the Premium account means you’ll get 80% of all sales and includes a $.15 transaction free for sales under $3. So having items over that price means no transaction fee!

Etsy

Even if you are wanting to sell teaching materials, you can still use Etsy to sell your printables. It is a platform that has a high quantity of digital products and printables, so it is the perfect place to sell printables you create.

Etsy is known for DIY projects and helps bring in the traffic, rather than having to worry about having to grow your audience. But, it does include fees on your orders. You will pay a listing fee, transaction fee, and a payment processing fee for each item you sell.

Having an Etsy printables shop is a great way to bring your items to a marketplace with a lot of traffic. Running an Etsy shop for printables will allow you the passive income that you’re looking for!

On Your Website

Another option for selling printables is on your own website or blog. If you don’t already have a blog or website, this does involve the extra work of creating a website and finding a way to host a store.

If you have a website already, this can be a simple add to your site using a shop plugin like WooCommerce or by using Shopify.

WooCommerce is a free plugin that you add to your WordPress site. Some of the extra features are part of the paid plan, but they may be worth taking advantage of. Because it does take a lot of plugins to run WooCommerce, you will need a subdomain to keep your website from running slowly.

There are other options if you want to use a plugin for your site, but WooCommerce is the most popular.

You can also choose to use Shopify which isn’t actually hosted on your own website, but you can choose a custom domain. You can link your shop from your website to keep it connected and the branding the same.

The basic plan for Shopify is $29/month and it means an easy-to-set-up shop and a customer service line you can use with any technical issues.

Printables to Sell on Etsy

As we mentioned above, Etsy is one of the best options for selling printables. Buyers go to Etsy seeking specific digital products and yours could be the perfect one they’re looking for. The only problem is finding a way to make your printable stand out from the rest.

This might mean making a very unique type of printable that isn’t widely known on Etsy, maybe for a very specific buyer. Or just finding a way to make something popular like invites or planner pages into a very unique and desired product.

Want to jumpstart your printables business? Our E-Printables course has taken thousands of people through the ins and outs of creating and selling printables on Etsy.

Best Printables to Sell on Etsy

Still feel stuck on what printables to sell on Etsy? Here are some ideas!

Coloring pages

Both kids, as well as adults, love to color and printable coloring pages can be great for all ages! For young kids, you can create large designs that are easy to color in and have very simple designs. Older kids may want something with their favorite movie or tv show character, or a favorite animal. Create pages for adults with inspiring quotes or intricate and beautiful designs.

Worksheets or activity books

Create worksheets that parents can use in the summertime to continue their children’s learning and include writing practice, counting, or learning shapes. Create a full activity book and include activities like mazes, word searches or connect the dots.

Bachelorette party games

Creating printable party games for a bachelorette party makes planning easy. Offer products that are unique and stand out from the many others already on Etsy.

Chores and reward chart

Many parents use chores or reward charts as a way to keep their children responsible, and a printable would be a great way for parents to easily find what they need and print it instantly.

Photo booth props

Photo booths are popular for weddings and other events, and props are a great way to add a fun touch. Especially if these printable photo booth props can be customized for an event, buyers will want to take advantage of this printable!

Save the date cards

Just as you can create invites to sell on Etsy, you can create and sell save-the-date cards. With the changes to events lately, you can even create “change-the-date” cards.

Daily checklists

Help someone organize their daily life, like a busy mom or an overwhelmed professional. Create something to keep track of tasks easily.

Wedding planner

Planning a wedding can be stressful and there are a lot of details to remember. So why not create something to help keep track of all the important details and give less stress. Include timelines, checklists, and guides for planning.

Self-care printables

Self-care is so important for relieving stress and taking a step back. Include a checklist to track habits, or include a gratitude journal, or some type of self-love workbook.

Meal planners

Keeping track of meals for the week can be hectic, so create a printable to organize meal plans and help plan out the shopping for the week.

Budget planner

Another great printable to sell on Etsy is a budget planner to help your buyer keep track of their finances and more easily budget their money.

Art and decor

A big part of Etsy is their marketplace for art and home decor items. So create printables that can be framed and used in different rooms of the house.

Cleaning checklist

Keeping track of cleaning in the house can be overwhelming. Creating a daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning checklist can help organize a routine.

How to Create Printables to Sell on Etsy

You have other options to choose from as well, but find which platform fits what you are wanting to create.Once you have your printable ready to go, here are a few things to consider for selling your printables on Etsy.

File delivery

When someone purchases a digital printable from you, the files are automatically available to them to download in their account. You don’t have to worry about sending them anything, which is what makes it such a great passive income!

When you upload your listing, you can include up to 5 files with your digital downloads. PDF is the best format, as it is the most difficult for someone to modify and resell. But if you can give options for different formats for your file, that is the best way to go.

Naming your files

When you finish creating your file and are ready to upload it to Etsy, be sure to name it correctly so it is easily identifiable for your customers.

You want it to be simple for your customers to find it after they download it. For example, if you are selling a budget tracking worksheet, then when you go to download your file, name it as “BUDGET-TRACKING-WKST”. Just make it as simple as possible!

Include detailed download instructions

Something to think about with selling on Etsy, is that buyers often don’t read the fine print. So to combat having to answer constant messages on how to use your printable, create very detailed download instructions.

This can start in your listing description, or listing images, and include everything your customer needs to know. You can include it in your message to buyers. Here are a few things to include:

• That it is NOT a physical item
• File type and size
• The ideal printing size if applicable
• Details on refunds
• Commercial use details
• Printing suggestions

There may be other details you want to include so just take time to think of anything your customer may want to know!

Include a file with your download that gives the instructions again and you can even title it, “READ FIRST.” This way they are reminded again how to use the file.

Use mockups

Selling a printable should not mean just simply uploading the front page of the product into your listing images.

Your product will be best displayed on a mockup. You can find mockups on different platforms like PlaceIt, Creative Market, and even on Etsy.You can also create your own in Canva.

Find one that best displays your product and use this for your listing on Etsy!

Selling Printables on Amazon

Besides selling on Etsy, you can also sell printables on Amazon. The positive of this is that they will market the printables, print them and send it to the customer. They will also take the payments and deal with the customer service.

The only thing you need to do is create the printable, upload it to the KDP website, have it approved, and then collect the payment when Amazon sells it.

You will just need to create an account and add things like payment details and tax information. Then once you have your account created, you can start adding your details, like the title, author, and a description to find the printable.

Next, you will add a manuscript and a cover. Turn your manuscript into a formatted file and make sure you have a captivating cover. And finally, you will finish with the rights and pricing.

This is just another way to get your printable out there and make more passive income!

Final Thoughts

If you have something in mind that you think can help others and provide value, then creating a printable to share is a great opportunity to bring in more income!

Create your printable once and continue to sell it over and over again, even while you sleep. Get started creating your perfect printable and making passive income today!

Find our guide on 65+ ideas for seasonal printables ideas here!