Digital Products for Your Desktop Publishing Business
Digital products are a natural extension of your desktop publishing expertise. While service delivery requires your direct time, digital products let you package your knowledge, templates, and design systems into assets you sell repeatedly without additional effort per sale. For a desktop publishing business, this means leveraging the processes, templates, and design solutions you’ve already created for clients—and selling them to other designers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs who need professional results without hiring you directly.
The key advantage: you create once, sell many times. Your profit margin improves dramatically, and you build a passive income stream that scales without proportional increases in your labor.
Digital Product Ideas Specific to Desktop Publishing
InDesign Template Bundles
What it is: Pre-built, professionally designed InDesign templates for common publishing projects—business cards, brochures, newsletters, annual reports, or product catalogs. Buyers download the template, customize text and colors, and have a finished design immediately.
Who buys it: Small business owners, freelance marketers, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs who need professional layouts but can’t afford custom design work or lack the design skills themselves.
How to create it: Take three to five successful templates you’ve already created for clients (with permission or by redesigning similar ones), strip out client-specific content, and set up placeholder text and color swatches for easy customization. Save them as editable InDesign files with clear instructions. Package five to ten related templates into one bundle for higher perceived value.
Where to sell it: Etsy has a large marketplace for design templates; Creative Market specializes in design assets; Gumroad works well for direct sales; you can also sell bundles directly from your own website to build customer relationships.
Realistic income: $15 to $40 per template bundle. With 10 to 30 sales per month per bundle (realistic with proper marketing), you’re looking at $150 to $1,200 monthly per product. Multiple bundles can stack to $2,000 to $5,000 monthly once you have several established listings.
Design System and Brand Guidelines Templates
What it is: A complete, customizable InDesign template for brand guidelines documents. This includes color palettes, typography standards, logo usage rules, imagery guidelines, and layout specifications—everything a business needs to maintain visual consistency.
Who buys it: Startups and small agencies that want professional brand guidelines but can’t afford a full branding consultant; internal marketing teams at growing companies.
How to create it: Design one comprehensive brand guidelines template in InDesign, building in sections for logo specs, color codes, font families, usage examples, and do’s/don’ts. Include master pages and paragraph styles so buyers can easily swap in their own branding. Create a PDF version as well for sharing.
Where to sell it: Gumroad and your own website are best here—this appeals to a more sophisticated buyer who values direct relationship and personalized support. You can also list on Design Bundles or Creative Market.
Realistic income: $29 to $79 per sale. With 5 to 15 monthly sales, expect $150 to $1,200 monthly. This product has higher perceived value and longer shelf life than basic templates.
Typography and Font Pairing Guide
What it is: A PDF guide or downloadable workbook showing professional font pairings, how to use them in InDesign, sizing recommendations, and real-world examples. Include combinations for different industries (corporate, creative, nonprofit, e-commerce).
Who buys it: Graphic designers improving their skills, non-designers managing in-house design, content creators building social media templates, and small business owners learning design basics.
How to create it: Document the font pairings and typographic principles you use across client projects. Screenshot examples from your own work (or create fresh examples), explain the “why” behind each pairing, and provide InDesign-specific instructions for implementing them. Design it as an attractive, readable PDF with clear hierarchy.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, and LinkedIn are ideal. This product also works well as a lead magnet—offer a shorter version free to build your email list, then upsell the comprehensive guide.
Realistic income: $17 to $47 per sale. With 15 to 40 sales monthly, you can generate $250 to $1,900 monthly. Lower price point means higher volume potential.
Print Production Checklist and Specification Guides
What it is: A downloadable PDF or editable template checklist covering print specifications, file setup, color modes, bleed and margin requirements, paper recommendations, and printer communication templates. Save clients and designers from costly printing mistakes.
Who buys it: Freelance designers, small print shops, marketing managers, and anyone handling print projects who want to avoid production errors and understand printer requirements.
How to create it: Compile the technical knowledge you use in every project—file setup standards, common printing pitfalls, color space guidance, finishing options. Make it practical and reference-friendly. Include checklists for different project types (cards, brochures, large format, packaging) and a template for documenting custom printer specifications.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, and design-focused communities like Designer Hangout or indie design forums. This is also strong content for an email course or upsell from a free mini-guide.
Realistic income: $9 to $27 per sale. This is a lower-ticket item with broad appeal, so volume is key—50 to 150 sales monthly is realistic, generating $450 to $4,000 monthly.
Instructional Course: Mastering InDesign for Publishing
What it is: A structured video course (5 to 15 modules) teaching InDesign fundamentals specific to publishing work—setting up documents, working with master pages, managing long documents, preparing files for print, and professional workflow practices.
Who buys it: Aspiring designers, business owners wanting to DIY simple projects, content teams learning design basics, and professionals switching from other design software.
How to create it: Record screencasts walking through your actual InDesign workflow. Break content into focused modules: document setup, typography, working with images, building templates, print preparation. Keep videos between 5 and 15 minutes each. Write supporting materials and project assignments so students apply what they learn.
Where to sell it: Teachable, Thinkific, or Kajabi (course platforms with built-in payment handling); Udemy reaches a large student base; or sell direct from your own website using a learning management system.
Realistic income: $37 to $147 per course enrollment. With 20 to 80 monthly enrollments, expect $740 to $11,760 monthly. Course prices vary widely—lower prices drive higher volume, premium pricing targets serious professionals.
Brand Launch Workbook and Planning Guide
What it is: An interactive PDF or Notion template guiding users through brand strategy, naming, visual identity decisions, and collateral planning. It bridges strategy and execution, preparing them for a designer or DIY design work.
Who buys it: New business owners, entrepreneurs launching side businesses, and startups preparing for design work who want clarity before hiring professionals.
How to create it: Design a fill-in workbook with sections for brand purpose, target audience, competitor analysis, visual direction preferences, and collateral needs. Include examples from successful brands. Provide it as an interactive PDF or export it as an editable Google Doc or Notion template for flexibility.
Where to sell it: Your own website is best here, combined with email marketing to new entrepreneurs. Gumroad also works; consider partnering with business coaches or startup communities for cross-promotion.
Realistic income: $19 to $49 per workbook. With 10 to 30 sales monthly, expect $190 to $1,470 monthly. Position it as a lead magnet for higher-ticket consulting or design services.
Print Project Templates for Specific Industries
What it is: Industry-specific InDesign templates—real estate agent brochures, medical practice newsletters, restaurant menus, automotive dealer postcards, fitness studio schedules. Each bundle is tailored to industry conventions and pain points.
Who buys it: Small business owners and marketing professionals in those specific industries who need professional materials quickly and affordably.
How to create it: Choose three to five industries where you have existing client work. Redesign templates specifically for those industries, including relevant layout conventions, typical content sections, and industry-standard specs. Create a five-template bundle per industry.
Where to sell it: Etsy performs especially well for industry-specific templates; Creative Market; or your own site with targeted social ads reaching those business owners.
Realistic income: $25 to $65 per bundle. With 8 to 20 monthly sales per industry bundle (higher than generic templates because of niche targeting), expect $200 to $1,300 monthly per bundle. Three industry bundles could generate $600 to $4,000 monthly combined.
Stock Design Elements and Graphics Library
What it is: A downloadable library of InDesign-ready design elements—icons, patterns, borders, textures, layout blocks, and graphic elements in a cohesive style. Buyers use these components to speed up their own design work or template creation.
Who buys it: Designers building templates, small business owners creating marketing materials, and agencies looking to speed up initial design concepts.
How to create it: Develop a consistent visual style across 50 to 200 design elements. Save them as InDesign assets (symbols, graphics, swatches) organized by category. Package them as an InDesign library file and a PDF catalog showing all available elements and how to use them.
Where to sell it: Creative Market, Design Bundles, Etsy, or Gumroad. Stock element libraries also sell well on your own website positioned as a designer toolkit.
Realistic income: $12 to $39 per download. Higher volume potential—30 to 100 monthly sales are realistic—generating $360 to $3,900 monthly.
Getting Started With Digital Products
- Start with templates you’ve already created. Audit your past client work and identify three to five projects that represent your best work and most requested services. These are your fastest path to a first product—you’re not starting from scratch.
- Create your first product: a simple template bundle. Choose one of your proven templates, remove all client-specific content, add clear placeholder instructions, and save it as a clean InDesign file. This takes 4 to 8 hours and requires no new skills you don’t already have.
- Prepare a PDF guide or cheat sheet as your second product. Document one specific process you use repeatedly—file setup, color management, typography rules, or print specifications. These are faster to create (6 to 12 hours) and appeal to a broad audience.
- Choose one sales platform and launch. Start with Gumroad (simplest setup) or your own website. Don’t spread across five platforms initially—master one, then expand.
- Write clear, honest product descriptions. Explain exactly what buyers get, what they need to know to use it (software, skill level), and what it solves for them. Include sample screenshots or previews.
- Gather initial sales and testimonials. Offer your first product at a reduced price to get early buyers and feedback. Ask permission to share their results or quotes.
- Build a simple email list. Offer a free template or checklist in exchange for email addresses. Use this to announce new products, gather feedback, and stay connected to buyers who might buy again.
- Create your third product based on what you learn. After your first two products gain traction, you’ll know what resonates. Build the next product solving problems you see in buyer questions and feedback.
Pricing Your Digital Products
Price your digital products based on the value they save your buyer and the market rate for similar products, not on your creation time. A $40 template that saves someone 12 hours of design work is a bargain—even if you spent 10 hours creating it. Look at competitive products on Etsy, Creative Market, and Gumroad to understand pricing norms in each category. Templates typically range $15 to $65; courses $37 to $197; guides and checklists $9 to $39. Price higher if your product is specialized, comes with personal support, or includes multiple components. Price lower if you’re building volume and list presence. Consider offering bundles (multiple products at a slight discount) to increase average order value and perceived value.