Getting started
Welcome to Custom Designer. This guide is for the people who run the shop: owners, estimators, production, and anyone who talks to customers.
What you can do here
- Run quotes and orders from first mockup through production and payment
- Design AI mockups on the order, share a catalog designer link, or embed the canvas on your website
- Keep clients, artwork, tasks, and a history of changes in one place
- Connect QuickBooks, Stripe, or keep cash / Venmo recording — choose a payments path on the dashboard checklist
- Connect SanMar, S&S Activewear, EasyPost, and Gmail / Voice if you already use them (all optional)
- Send approval links so clients can review and approve quotes from any device
- Share customer online stores for fundraisers and group orders
- Embed chat bots on your site (sales widget) and in Gmail (staff assistant)
- Place purchase orders for blanks and keep costing on the same job
- Use the Gmail & Google Voice Chrome extension to look up a client from the open conversation
Where things live
After you sign in you land on the Dashboard. The left sidebar is Apps (you can hide or reorder them under Settings → Sidebar). Settings stays pinned.
| Area | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Setup checklist, this week’s pipeline, recent quotes and approvals |
| Orders | Quotes, jobs, invoice, artwork, approval, online store |
| Clients | Customer records, tax-exempt flags, portal invites |
| Schedule | Calendar by start date, due date, or both |
| Items | Your shop’s product and service catalog |
| Tasks | Shop-wide to-dos, assignees, board or list (often under More) |
| Quick Quote | Internal pricing calculator (customers never see this page) |
| Purchase Orders | Supplier POs, tracking, spend history |
| Settings | Company, statuses, taxes, integrations, team, emails |
Notifications (the bell in the header) are mainly task-assignment alerts.
Some apps (Reports, Artwork gallery) stay hidden until you turn them on under Settings → Sidebar.
Typical first week
- Complete the dashboard setup checklist (or the desktop guided tour).
- Set order statuses so they match how your floor actually talks.
- Add taxes and payment methods.
- Optionally connect S&S, SanMar, QuickBooks, Stripe, or EasyPost under Settings → Integrations. Choose cash, check, Venmo if you collect payment offline.
- Create a client, then New Order, add garments on the Invoice tab, attach artwork, and Send for Approval.
Quick links
| Area | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Feature guides | Quote to cash |
| Orders | Orders |
| Online stores | Customer online stores |
| AI design | Design & AI mockups |
| Chat bots | Chat bots |
| Settings | Settings |
| Connecting tools | Integrations |
| Gmail & Voice sidecar | Gmail & Voice extension |
Print shop vs creator
- Print shop workspaces (you chose I'm a Print Shop when you signed up) get this order-management sidebar.
- Creator workspaces get the product builder, gallery, and store catalog. Print shops can still open the Design tab on an order for in-app mockups.
Need help?
Email hello@customdesigner.ai or ask your workspace admin.