Setting Up Your First Batch | The Mockup Factory

What You'll Need

Bulk Made installed and logged in
Your mockup template files (.psd)
Your design files (.png with transparent background)

Set Up Your Folders

Bulk Made needs three folders to work. You can put these anywhere on your computer, but keeping them organised will make your life easier.

Recommended folder structure:

My Mockups/
├── PSDs/           ← Your mockup templates
├── Designs/        ← Your PNG designs
└── Output/         ← Where finished mockups go

PSDs folder – Contains your mockup template files. Each PSD should have a smart object where your design will be placed.
Designs folder – Contains your PNG design files with transparent backgrounds.
Output folder – Where Bulk Made will save your finished mockups. Start with an empty folder.

Prepare Your Designs

For the best results, we recommend using designs exported from your production files with a transparent footprint. This means your design sits within a transparent canvas that matches the shape/size of your product's print area.

💡 Why this matters: When your PNG has the correct footprint, you can use Stretch resize mode and it will work perfectly every time. No cropping, no guesswork.

Select Your Folders in Bulk Made

Open the Bulk Made panel in Photoshop and select your three folders:

Click Select PSD Folder and choose your PSDs folder
Click Select PNG Folder and choose your Designs folder
Click Select Output Folder and choose your Output folder

Choose Your Effect

Select the effect type that matches your product:

Effect	Best For
No Effects	Simple design placement without any material effects
Print	Sublimation & UV Printing on a variety of substrates
Engrave	Laser engraved products like wood, slate, glass, leather, metal

If you choose Engrave or Print, you'll then select a substrate (e.g., wood, slate, glass) and a numbered setting for that substrate. Each setting produces a slightly different look – experiment to find your favourite.

Set Resize Mode

Choose how your design is placed into the smart object:

Stretch – Stretches design to fill the smart object. Recommended if using transparent footprint designs.
Fill – Scales to fill, may crop edges
Fit – Scales to fit inside, may leave gaps
No Resize – Uses original dimensions

✓ Our recommendation: Use Stretch with designs that have the correct transparent footprint. This gives perfect placement every time.

Choose Output Format

Select how your finished mockups will be saved:

JPG (Quality 8) – Recommended for ecommerce. Good balance of quality and file size.
PNG – Larger files but supports transparency if needed.
PSD – Only available with "No Effects". Use if you need to make manual edits afterwards (though this defeats the purpose of bulk processing!).

💡 Tip: For Etsy, Amazon, and most online marketplaces, JPG at quality 8 is ideal. It keeps file sizes manageable while looking professional.

Set File Naming

Choose the order of your output file names. You can arrange three elements in any order:

Design name – The name of your PNG file
Template name – The name of your PSD file
Setting – The effect/substrate setting used

The best order depends on how you work:

Design first – Great for seeing one design across multiple products
Template first – Great for seeing one product with multiple designs

Run Your First Batch

Click Process to start generating your mockups!

⚠️ Start small: Until you're familiar with the settings, we recommend:

1-2 PSD templates
2-3 PNG designs

This lets you check the results quickly before committing to a larger batch.

If your batch would create more than 20 mockups, Bulk Made will show a warning asking you to confirm before continuing. This helps prevent accidental large batches while you're learning.

Quick Reference: Recommended Settings

Resize Mode	Stretch (with transparent footprint designs)
Output Format	JPG, Quality 8
First Batch Size	1-2 PSDs × 2-3 Designs
Batch Warning	Appears at 20+ mockups

Troubleshooting

Design looks stretched or squashed

Your PNG footprint doesn't match the smart object dimensions. Either adjust your PNG to have the correct footprint, or try a different resize mode (Fill or Fit).

No PSDs or PNGs found

Make sure your files are in the root of the selected folders, not in subfolders. Also check that file extensions are correct (.psd and .png).

Effect doesn't look right

Try a different numbered setting for your substrate. Each setting produces a different intensity and style – there's usually one that matches your actual product perfectly.

If none of the settings are quite getting the effect you need, email us – we're happy to add any settings needed.

Still stuck? Contact us at support@bulkmade.com and we'll help you get set up.

Next Steps

Now that you've run your first batch, you can start scaling up! Once you're confident with the settings, you can process hundreds of mockups at a time.