Digital Products for Your Custom Framing Business
Digital products let you generate income beyond your labor-intensive framing services. Because custom framing requires hands-on work, selling templates, guides, and educational content to other framers, designers, and DIY enthusiasts creates a second revenue stream that doesn’t require you to be physically present. A single digital product can sell repeatedly with no additional production cost, making this an efficient way to leverage your expertise.
Six Digital Products You Can Create
Custom Framing Design Templates
What it is: Digital templates for common frame combinations, mat layouts, and spacing calculations that customers or other framers can download and customize. These include specific measurements for standard artwork sizes, recommended frame profiles, and mat color pairings.
Who buys it: Other custom framers who want to speed up the design process, interior designers who want to present framing options to clients, and serious DIY framers who want professional-looking results.
How to create it: Document your most successful frame and mat combinations in a spreadsheet or PDF format with dimensions, color codes, and visual mockups. Include variations for different art sizes and styles. You can use Canva, Adobe InDesign, or even Excel to build these templates systematically.
Where to sell it: Sell on Etsy (where framers and designers actively search), Gumroad (with a direct link from your website), or your own framing website with a dedicated downloads section.
Realistic income: $500–$2,500 per month if you create 3–5 templates and price them at $15–$45 each, depending on complexity and audience size.
Framing Pricing Guide and Cost Calculator
What it is: A comprehensive spreadsheet or downloadable tool that helps framers calculate material costs, labor time, overhead, and markup to determine profitable prices. Includes formulas and scenarios for different frame types, sizes, and complexity levels.
Who buys it: New framers who struggle with pricing, side-business framers who lack business systems, and small frame shops looking to optimize margins.
How to create it: Build an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheet that accounts for your material suppliers’ actual costs, labor hours, and profit margins. Create multiple tabs for different frame styles and add instruction notes explaining how to adjust for their own costs and labor rates. You can also export this as a PDF guide with screenshots and examples.
Where to sell it: Gumroad is ideal for this—it allows instant delivery of files and easy pricing tiers. You can also sell on your website or through framing industry communities on Facebook and forums.
Realistic income: $1,200–$4,500 per month with consistent sales at $25–$60 per download, especially if you market it within framing groups and business networks.
Framing Business Startup Course
What it is: A video course (5–15 modules) teaching the fundamentals of starting a custom framing business, covering tool selection, supplier relationships, studio setup, pricing strategy, marketing, and customer service.
Who buys it: People considering a framing business, career changers, and hobbyists wanting to turn skills into income.
How to create it: Record yourself demonstrating your process, setup, and business practices using your phone or a simple camera. Organize videos into logical modules and upload to a platform like Teachable, Thinkific, or Kajabi, which handle hosting and student management. Write brief lesson notes and create downloadable worksheets for each module.
Where to sell it: Host on Teachable or Kajabi, then market through your website, YouTube, framing blogs, and social media. You can also bundle it with the pricing guide as a complete package.
Realistic income: $2,000–$8,000 per month once established, with course prices ranging from $97–$297 depending on depth and your reputation.
Custom Frame Design Software Tutorials
What it is: Video tutorials or PDF guides showing how to use popular design software (Canva, Adobe InDesign, or specialized framing software) to create frame mockups and present options to clients visually.
Who buys it: Framers wanting to offer digital mockups to clients, interior designers who frame artwork in client projects, and business owners who want to visualize framing before ordering.
How to create it: Record step-by-step tutorials on your screen using free tools like OBS Studio or Loom. Cover specific workflows—creating mat layouts, color testing, adding text, exporting files. Bundle 4–8 tutorials into a downloadable product or drip-feed them as a mini-course.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, or platforms like Skillshare (which pays creators per student watch time).
Realistic income: $400–$1,800 per month depending on reach and pricing ($15–$35 per tutorial bundle).
Framing Industry Resource Library
What it is: A curated collection of supplier lists, wood-frame profile databases, mat samples, color matching guides, and industry checklists bundled into one downloadable resource package updated quarterly.
Who buys it: New framers building their supplier relationships, established framers wanting current resource lists, and framers relocating to new areas.
How to create it: Document your best suppliers, frame manufacturers, wholesalers, and vendors with contact info and specialty notes. Create a master mat color chart with swatches and codes. Compile worksheets for frame selection, client consultation, and quality checklists. Package everything into a PDF or simple website login area.
Where to sell it: Sell on your website as a subscription ($10–$20 per month) or as a one-time purchase ($40–$75), or on Gumroad with quarterly updates.
Realistic income: $600–$2,500 per month as a subscription product, depending on subscriber count and renewal rate.
Custom Framing Client Questionnaire and Consultation Template
What it is: A customizable PDF or Google Form template that helps framers capture client preferences, artwork specifications, and style information to ensure faster, more accurate project completion and fewer revision cycles.
Who buys it: Solo framers and small shops wanting to streamline customer interactions and reduce miscommunication.
How to create it: Design a fillable PDF or interactive form covering artwork dimensions, frame style preferences, mat color, budget, timeline, and special requests. Include sections for before/after photos and delivery notes. Test it with a few customers to refine questions.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, Etsy, or your website (even offered free as a lead magnet that drives customers to your in-person shop).
Realistic income: $200–$700 per month if priced at $12–$25, or offer free to build customer relationships and sell higher-margin framing services.
Framing Portfolio Showcase Template
What it is: A pre-designed website template or presentation deck (Canva or WordPress) that framers can use to display their work, build credibility, and attract clients without needing web design skills.
Who buys it: Solo framers building their first website, framers without a web presence, and makers adding framing services to existing businesses.
How to create it: Design a simple, mobile-friendly template in Canva or WordPress focusing on portfolio images, testimonials, service description, and booking links. Create multiple layout variations for different framing styles. Write clear instructions on how to customize colors and content.
Where to sell it: Sell on Etsy, Gumroad, or Creative Market. You can also offer it as a one-time template purchase ($25–$50) or a monthly subscription to updated designs.
Realistic income: $400–$1,500 per month with consistent sales.
Getting Started With Digital Products
- Start with templates first. Create your custom framing design templates or pricing guide—these require the least production time and leverage work you’ve already done. Export as PDFs and have them ready within a week.
- Choose one platform and test. Pick Gumroad or Etsy and upload two products. Learn the platform, test pricing, and see what questions buyers ask before scaling.
- Document your process. As you create, record short video clips of your workflow. Save these for tutorials and courses later—they’re raw material you can repurpose.
- Validate demand in communities. Before investing heavily in a course, ask framers and designers in industry Facebook groups and forums what resources they’d actually pay for. Let feedback guide your next products.
- Price competitively but profitably. Research similar products in your niche, but remember your expertise has real value—don’t undercut to the point of burnout.
- Bundle products for higher value. Combine the pricing guide, templates, and questionnaire as a “Framing Business Starter Kit” and price it at $79–$99—higher perceived value with minimal additional effort.
Pricing Your Digital Products
Price based on the problem you’re solving, not just effort. A pricing guide that saves a framer $500 per month in miscalculations is worth far more than an hour of your time—price it at $35–$60, not $10. Templates and tools that solve immediate pain points ($15–$45) sell better than generic resources. Courses justifying higher prices ($97–$297) require clear outcomes: framers should see exactly how the course pays for itself through better pricing or faster design work.
Test lower prices first ($15–$25) to build initial sales momentum and reviews, then raise prices as you gain traction and testimonials. Seasonal pricing works too—offer discounts in slower framing seasons (summer, holidays) to smooth cash flow while maintaining premium pricing during busy periods.