As many of you will know, I’ve been working as a solopreneur since 2005. During that time, I’ve tried a lot of different business models, but one of my favorites has to be Print on Demand. Print on Demand is a great side business as it allows you to sell a wide range of products with zero inventory and with zero upfront costs.

With Print on Demand (PoD), you only have to supply the artwork or design (say, of a t-shirt), and, when one of your designs is purchased, it is created and delivered by the platform (say, Amazon). PoD platforms usually offer a range of products, such as t-shirts, mugs, phone cases, and books. The PoD platforms that do this include: Amazon Merch On Demand (tshirts and more), Amazon KDP (books only), Spreadshirt, (tshirts and more) RedBubble (tshirts and more), Teepublic (tshirts and more), etc.

Recently, I’ve been using Midjourney for my Print on Demand images. Midjourney is a great AI image generator that offers a variety of services for PoD creators, including Amazon Print on Demand t-shirt designs, Amazon KDP coloring books, and other book covers.

You can start using Midjourney for free. Unfortunately, you have to use a chat app called Discord to communicate with the Midjourney bot. Even though I’d used Discord before, I found it hard to get started. You’ll have to persevere with this one. But, once you’re in you’ll be greeted with the craziness that is the Midjourney server.

You can go to one of the “newbie” channels (see above) and start prompting for images. Remember, start all your prompts with /imagine … Get a feel for it! Trust me, it’s one of those things that gets better with practice.

After you’ve played around a bit and you want to start using Midjourney for reals, you’ll have to shell out. As long as you pay $10/month for the Basic Plan, you’ll be able to use the images commercially on PoD platforms.

As you can see, I’m on the Standard Plan. That’s because 200 image generations a month weren’t enough for me!

Today, I want to share my best Midjourney prompts for Print on Demand, broken down into four main categories:

If you’re interested in creating coloring books for Amazon KDP, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Create a coloring book based on a specific and obscure theme. Don’t pick of a theme such as “mandala coloring book”, “dog coloring book”, or “children’s coloring book” – they’re far too general – you’ll be competing against a great number of already successful titles. Instead, niche down within the theme to a more obscure niche. Also, think carefully about your target audience and what kind of designs they might be interested in, for example, simple coloring pages for children and more complex coloring pages for adults.

Use ChatGTP for PoD ideas. For example, ask ChatGTP to give you “a list of types of mandala” and then look on Google or Amazon to validate the demand and quantify the competition.

OK, you’ve got your coloring book idea. It’s time to make it! Here are my Midjourney prompts that can help you get started with creating coloring books for Amazon KDP. Firstly the actually coloring pages (do about 30-50 of these).

You see, you’ve got to keep it fairly simple. Midjourney is a natural language AI, so use natural language! You’re doing a coloring book so ask for one! If you’re doing a coloring book for children then say that in the prompt:

And what’s with the --ar 17:22? That’s the aspect ratio. I do most of my coloring books in the largest size available on Amazon KDP, 8.5 inch by 11 inch, also known as Letter Size in the US. You can’t use decimals so twice 8.5 is 17; and twice 11 is 22. That’s why I use those numbers. If you don’t specify an aspect ratio you get a square size which is fine if you’re doing a 8.5 x 8.5 inch book which some of them are.

The book cover is often the first thing potential customers see, so it’s important to create designs that are eye-catching and compelling, so you’ll want to make sure it stands out from the crowd. Again, first you need to research the competition and see what kind of obscure niches are not adequately represented on Amazon. And check out the book cover designs of successful books and try to emulate them.

I make a lot of planners on Amazon KDP. Usually planners have some sort of background design rather than a photo on the cover, usually a floral design. Here is a Midjourney prompt for creating planner or journal covers:

Have a look at these prompt in action in my YouTube video showing Midjourney prompts for coloring books and low content Amazon KDP books.

T-shirt design is one of the most popular Print on Demand categories, and it’s easy to see why. T-shirts are a versatile and popular product that can be sold to a wide range of customers.

First, of course, we have to research the niche. Niche-down within niches to something less popular and less saturated on the PoD platforms. And then research on Amazon and Google to get ideas and see if your choices aren’t over-saturated.

It’s probably better if I just give you a list of useful words and expressions to go in your prompts followed by a few prompt examples with their resulting images. Here are the words and expressions to explain the type of image we want for our Merch designs first:

Here is a prompt where I’ve used some of the above commands and the resulting image options

Notice I’m not using an aspect ration command for these prompts. That’s because no aspect ratio command will get you a square image which is fine for t-shirt design. The actual dimensions for t-shirts on Amazon Merch by Demand is 15 inch by 18 inch, which isn’t far off a square.

And, the words white background or in a circle will help you isolate the image in order to put it on a transparent background in a graphics editing application such as Photoshop or Affinity Photo.

The following prompts and their resulting images are using --niji 5 which is an alternative mode to Midjourney’s normal mode and produces anime style images which is useful for t-shirt design.

And here’s another, using the “cute” or “kawaii” side of anime style imagery.

Here is my video to show you how I use these Midjourney prompts to create great Print On Demand t-shirt designs.

PopSockets were introduced over 4 years ago to the Amazon Merch family of products and quickly gained popularity. PopSockets are small accessories that attach to the back of a phone or tablet, allowing users to grip their device more easily. The beauty of the Popsocket design specs is that the image doesn’t have to be that big which means you can use the Midjourney image without bothering to upscale the image’s resolution.

Here is a Midjourney prompt for creating a mandala. It couldn’t be more simple!

As you can see one of the above images would look quite good on a PopSocket.

Whether you’re creating coloring books, book covers, t-shirts, or PopSockets, there are plenty of Midjourney prompts that can help you create successful designs. Just remember to research the sub-niches and create designs that are high-quality and eye-catching. Good luck!

Is it worth persevering with AI? Will it become saturated? Are there opportunities, as there always is with new technology?

And, as ever, please let me know what sort of content you would like me to produce next.

Plus a list of my 12 favorite resources for online business

May 2, 2023 Filed Under: Artificial Intelligence, Artwork, Making Money Tagged With: ai, aiart, merch, merch by amazon, midjourney, passive income, print on demand