How to Create an NFT: A Guide to Stamping Your Own Digital Artwork
Thousands of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are available on the market today. Part of what makes this possible is that it is relatively easy to make these NFTs.
Anyone can create an NFT, but it takes work. Thanks to the magic of blockchain technology and its permanent digital ledger, creating (also called “minting”) an NFT allows creators to always receive historical credit for its creation. It allows any NFT creator to set a fee or royalty when someone sells that asset.
The process of creating an NFT is simple, so let’s look at the most common methods.
How to create an NFT
- Select NFT format.
- Find out the content and availability of your NFT.
- Find a place where you can make NFTs.
- Open a crypto wallet and add cryptocurrency.
- Create your account and connect to your wallet.
- Follow the necessary instructions to produce the NFT.
- Publish the NFT and choose how you want to sell it.
Select NFT format
The first step in creating an NFT is to decide which format to use. NFT creators often choose to create their creations from audio files, videos, images and other digital documents.
It is worth thinking about this because an NFT’s format dictates how people can use it. Some of the most popular formats include:
What format can I use for my NFT?
- The PNG file format. This option is an image format useful for art. People can view PNG files in any browser, and they are usually of a higher quality than JPEG files.
- TIFF or Tagged Image File Format. This choice is best for printable items. Including a TIFF in an NFT can make it more valuable. TIFF can be printed and displayed in art galleries or public spaces. It can also be displayed on mobile and desktop screens, as it supports both lossless and lossless compression.
- The MP4 format. MP4s are popular as a video format because they are easier to compress, making them smaller and therefore more portable.
- The MP3 format. If you’ve ever owned an iPod or listened to digital music, you’re already familiar with MP3 files. It is a very popular format for audio files because, like MP4s, they are smaller and more portable. In comparison, the FLAC and WAV formats are higher audio formats and therefore larger in file size.
Regardless of the format, an NFT creator must choose one that is easy to support for an NFT marketplace. So you need to understand the limitations. For example, some marketplaces limit the size of the NFTs on their platforms. For example, the OpenSea marketplace limits NFTs to 100MB, while Rarible has a maximum size of 30MB.
Find out the content and availability of your NFT
After choosing a format, creators must consider the content of their NFTs. Serious artists will consider what the public might want or find valuable in a digital artwork. They may also consider making only a limited number of NFTs to make their product offering rare. Just as in the world of tangible art, content, messages, limited editions, historical significance and intentions are important in digital art.
Find a place where you can make NFTs
Part of how to create an NFT involves finding a suitable platform on which to create it. The same sites that sell and promote NFTs also allow creators to create those NFTs. These marketplaces have the technology necessary to add media to a blockchain – like Ethereum and others – which is an important step when creating NFTs.
Finding and using a reputable NFT marketplace does not require technical knowledge. Open sea is one of the most popular of all NFT marketplaces based on trading volume, so it’s an excellent place to start. It is many other marketplaces to exploresuch as Axie Marketplace, Rarible and Mintable.
NFT marketplaces operate with different standards, including:
- Which blockchain it supports. Ethereum is the most popular for NFTs, although Polkadot and Cosmos are also supported on some sites.
- Which file format is supported. Not all NFT markets support all file formats.
- What the costs are to mark your NFT. Assume a budget of $50 to $500 to mint an NFT.
Open a crypto wallet and add cryptocurrency
Digital money requires a digital wallet. Therefore, once an NFT is created, the next step is to open a crypto wallet. The process for opening and using a crypto wallet varies, however in most cases, users can download and install wallet software for free. Any website that offers a wallet should provide the necessary instructions for use.
For users who require additional security, a hardware wallet should work. This is a device that physically connects to a computersimilar to a hard drive, used to store cryptocurrencies offline.
Like regular wallets, crypto wallets also require funds. Users can add currencies by connecting them to a crypto exchange and choose how much they want to buy. A bank transfer or a credit card purchase is required. The currency required for NFT creation will vary from NFT platform.
There should be enough currency in the wallet to cover NFT fees. For example, every NFT transaction on the Ethereum platform will incur one gas tax. This is the fee that Ethereum charges users to pay for the computation required to add a transaction to the blockchain. These fees may change based on the size of the transaction, its complexity and the amount of network traffic involved. Gas fees can be higher and take longer to calculate than expected, so users should be patient and have enough money in their crypto wallets to cover the fees.
Create your account and connect your wallet
The next step is to create an account with an NFT marketplace. The account may contain links to a personal website or to a social media page with details of the currencies accepted for payment.
Finally, NFT creators need to connect their crypto wallets to the NFT platform. Although websites can generally read both desktop and mobile wallets, mobile wallet users are often prompted to scan a QR code to connect it.
Follow the necessary instructions to produce the NFT
Once you have taken all these steps, you can now create an NFT by uploading the files and coming up with creative names. For his first ever NFT, Kevin McCoy chose the name “Quantum.”
Then you list the royalties for future NFT sales. Most royalty fees are 5 to 10 percent.
Publish the NFT and choose how to sell it
After minting, the last step that NFT creators must take is to set initial prices. NFTs can be sold either at a fixed price or through an auction. Time auctions allow potential buyers to bid on NFTs for a limited period of time, with the highest bidder getting the NFT and paying the final bid.
A final word about NFTs
The process of creating or minting an NFT is not complicated. It requires some money, artistic vision, an investment of time and a willingness to learn a few key tools in the digital realm. Anyone can learn how to do it. The challenge with digital art is no different than in the world of tangible art: trying to find out What will sell for millions of dollars.
