Merch Table

Every brand ends up on merch: a mug, a pennant, a tote. Today the whole class takes finished sticker art and puts it on a 3D mug in Illustrator, then renders it and exports a product mockup. The mug body and handle are already built for you. You place the sticker art, add it as a graphic, wrap it onto the mug, shrink it to fit, switch on Ray Tracing, and export. If you finish early, a bonus bends a slogan onto a pennant.

Shortcuts are written Windows / Mac. Example: Ctrl+G / Cmd+G. On a Mac, Option is the key some Windows lists call Alt.

We build together. Follow along step by step. When you finish a step early, wait at the check line or try the bonus at the bottom.

What we build today

You work on one small mug document for the core steps. The pennant bonus is its own document.

The sticker art

Steps 2 to 4

A supplied 1800 by 1200 SVG. You place it, resize it, and add it as a single graphic

The 3D mug

Steps 3 to 8

A pre-built mug. Click the art onto it, shrink it, render, recolor, export

The pennant (bonus)

Bonus and optional

A mockup on a locked layer. Draw a shape, then bend a slogan into it

What your files should look like

The mug is a real Illustrator export. The pennant example was drawn by a script to show the target look. It is an approximation, not an Illustrator file.

Midpoint and final example

Steps 6 and 8 (your mug color can differ)

Bonus pennant example

After Optional A (drawn by a script)

The class palette

The starter mug is Ceramic. In Step 7 you recolor it. To recolor, select the mug, double-click the Fill box at the bottom of the toolbar, type the hex code, and click OK. Pick Mug Navy, Mug Orange, or Mug Green.

Quick refresher: Photoshop to Illustrator

You have mocked up products in Photoshop. Here is how today's ideas map over.

Class plan

Steps

Step 1

Open the mug and save

about 6 min

1. Unzip MerchTable_StudentFiles.zip. In Illustrator choose File > Open (Ctrl+O / Cmd+O), go to the unzipped folder, and open MerchTable_Mug_Starter.ai. A mug appears on a white artboard.
2. Choose File > Save As. Set the format to Adobe Illustrator (ai). Name the file LastName_MerchMug.ai and click Save. Click OK in the options box. Do this before anything else so you never change the starter.
3. Open the 3D panel with Window > 3D and Materials. Leave it open on the right. If panels cover the artboard, close the ones you do not need with their X.
4. Click the mug with the black arrow (the Selection tool, V). The 3D panel shows the mug's settings. Press Ctrl+Shift+A / Cmd+Shift+A to deselect.

Check your work: Your file is saved as LastName_MerchMug.ai, the mug is on the artboard, and the 3D and Materials panel is open.

What you should see: A gray-blue mug with a handle and a plain body, and the 3D and Materials panel docked on the right.
If not: If the mug looks flat or missing, you opened a different file. Close it and open the starter again. If the 3D panel is greyed out, click the mug with the black arrow.

• Save As first. The starter file stays clean for the next student.
• Close extra floating panels. They cover the mug.

Step 2

Place the sticker art

about 8 min

1. Choose File > Place (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P). Go to the unzipped folder and click MerchTable_Sticker_Art.svg. Make sure Link is unchecked at the bottom of the dialog, then click Place.
2. Click once on the artboard. The sticker art drops in at its natural size, which is far bigger than the mug. That is expected.
3. With the art selected, open the Properties panel. Click the Width box, type 450, press Tab, and check that Height reads 300. If the lock between the boxes is off, click it and type again. Press Enter.
4. With the art selected, type 310 in X and 270 in Y in the Properties panel, pressing Enter after each. This puts the art in the middle of the artboard, over the mug, where you can see it. After the resize it can land off the artboard. Its exact spot does not matter: you delete it in Step 3.

Check your work: The sticker art is on the artboard at 450 by 300 pixels, selected, with a cream background and orange slogan letters.

What you should see: A cream rectangle with the slogan MIDTERM ZOMBIE in orange letters with a navy outline, sitting over or near the mug.
If not: If the art covers the whole artboard, you skipped the resize. Select it and set Width to 450. If the control bar says Linked File, undo, place again with Link unchecked.

• The Link checkbox remembers its last setting. Check it every time.
• An SVG places as an editable group. No Embed button is needed.

Step 3

Add it as a single graphic

about 8 min

1. Make sure the sticker art is still selected (click it with the black arrow if needed).
2. In the 3D and Materials panel, click the Materials tab at the top. Then click the Graphics sub-tab (next to Materials).
3. Click the plus button in the Graphics area. Choose Add as Single Graphic.
4. A thumbnail of your sticker art appears in the panel under Your Graphics. It is a copy: changing the art later does not update it.
5. Click the sticker art on the artboard and press Delete to remove it from the artboard. The thumbnail stays in the panel.

Check your work: The Graphics area shows a thumbnail of the sticker art, and the sticker art is gone from the artboard.

What you should see: A small cream thumbnail with orange letters in the Your Graphics area. The artboard shows only the mug.
If not: If there is no thumbnail, nothing was selected when you clicked plus. Select the art, click plus again. If the plus menu does not offer Add as Single Graphic, the art is a linked image: delete it, place it again with Link off.

• The graphic is a snapshot. To change the art, edit it, then add it again.
• Select the art before you click plus.

Step 4

Wrap it on the mug and shrink it

about 8 min

1. Click the mug body with the black arrow. Click the round body, not the handle. The 3D and Materials panel shows the mug's settings.
2. In the Materials tab, Graphics sub-tab, click your thumbnail. The sticker art wraps onto the mug body, much too big.
3. A blue circle appears on the mug with four small white squares on it. Drag one of those squares toward the center of the circle to shrink the art. Stop when the label sits comfortably on the front of the mug. Dragging inside the smaller blue box moves the art instead of shrinking it.
4. Drag the art itself (not a handle) to move it up or down on the mug if needed.

Check your work: The sticker art wraps onto the front of the mug body, fully visible, not cut off at the edges.

What you should see: A cream label with MIDTERM ZOMBIE in orange wrapped onto the mug, following the curve of the mug.
If not: If the label is huge and unreadable, drag a handle toward the center until it fits. If the handle got grabbed instead of the body, click the body of the mug first. If nothing happens, the mug body is not selected.

• Click the body, not the handle.
• Drag a handle toward the center. Dragging outward makes it bigger.

Step 5

Render with Ray Tracing

about 6 min

1. Select the mug body with the black arrow. In the 3D and Materials panel, find the Ray Tracing switch: the icon at the top right of the panel.
2. Click the Ray Tracing switch to turn it on. The mug re-renders with real highlights and soft shadows. This takes a few seconds.
3. If you want, set the render Quality to Low in the panel's render settings so it finishes quickly.
4. Wait until the image stops updating before you export.

Check your work: The mug shows smooth highlights and shading, and the label still reads clearly.

What you should see: A smoother, more realistic mug with soft highlights on the ceramic and a shaded label.
If not: If the picture looks grainy, wait a few more seconds. If your computer is slow, set Quality to Low. If the mug looks flat, the Ray Tracing switch is off.

• The first render takes a few seconds on the lab machines.
• Do not click around while it renders.

Step 7

Recolor the mug

about 9 min

1. Click the mug body with the black arrow.
2. Double-click the Fill box at the bottom of the toolbar (the large square). The Color Picker opens.
3. Click in the hex field (the box with a # sign), type 1B365D for Mug Navy, press Tab, and click OK. The mug body changes color live and the label stays.
4. Click the handle with the black arrow and give it the same color the same way.
5. Try one more color if you like (Mug Orange E8731C or Mug Green 2F9E44). Pick the one you like best for your final.
6. Wait for Ray Tracing to settle again.

Check your work: The mug body and handle are the same new color, and the sticker label is still on the front.

What you should see: A navy (or orange or green) mug with the cream label wrapped on the front.
If not: If only the body changed, select the handle and do the same. If the label disappeared, you may have clicked the sticker graphic or changed the wrong object. Undo and click the mug body again. If the new color looks very dark, it is the lighting, which is normal.

• Select the mug body before you open the Color Picker.
• The label color does not change. It is a graphic.

Step 8

Final export

about 7 minturn-in

1. Check that the mug is on the artboard and the label is readable. Wait for Ray Tracing to finish.
2. Choose File > Export > Export As. Set the format to JPEG. Name the file LastName_MerchTable.jpg. Check Use Artboards. Click Export. Set Quality to High and Color Model to RGB. Click OK.
3. Upload LastName_MerchTable.jpg to Canvas. Keep your LastName_MerchMug.ai file. Do not upload it.
4. If you are ahead, continue to the bonus. Otherwise save your .ai with Ctrl+S / Cmd+S and you are done.

Check your work: LastName_MerchTable.jpg shows your recolored mug with the sticker art on it.

What you should see: A white JPEG with the recolored mug and the label.
If not: If the colors look different from the screen, the export used the render. If the file is blank, Use Artboards was off. If the label is cut off at the edge, move it on the mug and export again.

• File name starts with your last name.
• Do not upload the .ai.

Final checklist

Optional steps

Finished early? Do these in any order.

The reference image is a real Illustrator export of the finished mug with the supplied sticker art wrapped on it (Ray Tracing on). Your mug color can differ.

Troubleshooting

What this project was actually about

In earlier sessions you drew flat shapes and type. Today the same artwork goes onto a 3D product. The mug and the Ray Tracing render are how a brand shows a client what the merch will look like before anything is printed. Next week the capstone uses this same flow for a can: you design a label, wrap it, render it, and export a mockup.

Tools used

• File > Open, Save As (.ai)
• Place (Link unchecked) and Properties width and height
• 3D and Materials panel: Materials tab, Graphics sub-tab, Add as Single Graphic
• Selecting the 3D object, clicking a graphic onto it, the circle widget to scale
• Ray Tracing
• Double-click the Fill box to recolor a 3D object
• Export As JPEG with Use Artboards
• Bonus: Layers panel lock, Pen tool, Envelope Distort with Top Object, Edit Contents, Multiply, opacity mask