Summary: Here is an overview of uploading to earning to get you started.
Please note: When you have finished this article, your next step is to review our upload methods to understand the specialized pathways that may be available if you are submitting lots of items (bulk uploading!) or contributing items to Envato Elements. If that’s not needed, check out how to get through review so that you can best prepare for success!
1. Get your item ready for selling on Envato
Not everything you create is ready to be an Envato item. Give your item the best chance at success by ensuring you have followed any Technical and Quality Requirements for your item type. We use ZIP files to compress and deliver your items to customers and depending on what you are creating, there may be additional files you need to include in your ZIP (like documentation, if you have a complex item).
2. Where Do You Upload Your Item?
Once you’ve signed up as an author, you are dropped into the dashboard of your chosen marketplace, such as:
- ThemeForest for Web Themes & Templates
- VideoHive for Video Templates & Stock Video
- GraphicRiver for Graphics, Fonts, Logos, Icons, Templates and more
- CodeCanyon for Code and Scripts
- 3DOcean for 3D Print Models and CG Textures
For Audio and Photo authors:
- AudioJungle for Audio & Music - As of Monday 24 May 2021, we have paused our intake of new authors for AudioJungle. Existing accounts will not be affected. To express your interest for future opportunities, please complete the author sign-up process as normal here. Your new account will be considered an expression of interest for selling on AudioJungle, and we’ll contact you once the new process is open.
- PhotoDune for Stock Photos - you will need to be an Approved author for Envato Elements first. This is because all PhotoDune authors are also on Envato Elements, which means more earning opportunities for you! Apply to be a photo Author here!
Once you are in your Author Dashboard, you can now begin the upload process by clicking on Upload an Item.
Some item types have specialized pathways to make things easier and quicker (especially if you have a lot of items to upload) or if you are contributing them to Envato Elements or Placeit, please review our upload methods article.
3. Adding Your Item Presentation & Item Information
Once your item is approved for sale, it becomes available immediately. Because of this, uploading your item and filling in your item information or metadata (for your item page) are part of the same step.
Check out our handy Item Presentation and Item Information articles for everything you’ll want to have ready to go in more detail.
To give you a quick snapshot, these are some of the top things to have in mind as you look through these:
- Item Category / Subcategory
- Item Title
- Item Description
- Set a Price
- Item Thumbnail
- Cover & Preview Images / Video
- Tags
- ZIP File
You’ll pick your Item Category first and this will determine exactly what fields you’ll need to fill in for your item page. Some item types have additional fields.
Your Item Title is next and we’ve got some tips and guidelines for choosing wisely. Generally, your title should be no more than 100 characters including spaces and using English characters only. It’s the first thing potential customers see, so it's important to include the most relevant information only.
When it comes to your Item Description, you have a few options. Many authors use this section as a way to present the features of their item, highlight use cases or present customer feedback. It uses a full HTML editor so you can add images (hosted on your own server), markup your text with bold, italics, and a variety of sizes.
Our top tip is to use an HTML or text editor to prepare your item description and then copy and paste it into your item description field. This way, you’ve got a saved copy you can edit later. Setting your purchase price includes three separate amounts. There is your fee, the buyer fee and the author fee. The author fee is set by Envato and is a percentage of your item price.
For exclusive authors, this becomes less over time as your sales increase. The buyer fee is a flat fee that is set by Envato. Every category includes a recommended purchase price but you are free to set the item price to whatever you would like.
There are three different sizes of images you will need for your item. A thumbnail image, preview image and cover image. In some cases, it might make sense to have multiple preview images to show off your item. Likewise, some preview assets are created automatically for authors by our system, depending on the content-type.
Finally, there are tags. These are additional keywords you can add to describe your item and help customers find it through search and discovery.
Once you’ve completed all the required information fields, your item is ready for review. Click Upload and your item will be on its way!
4. From Upload To Review
Once uploaded, every item submitted to Envato is reviewed for quality and integrity. We’re looking for great items that work well for customers and follow our rules.
It can take some time for our review team to get to your items and sometimes, it can even take a few rounds of feedback to get things right. This doesn't mean that your item isn’t good, but that it might not be Envato-ready.
We’ve created detailed review guidelines to help you understand what gets through the review process and why, so that you know how to best prepare for success!
5. Earn sweet money!
Once your item has been reviewed and approved, you will receive a notification on the review outcome and it will become available for sale on Envato Market immediately. Customers will be able to buy it, and you'll earn money from sales! Remember to fill in your Tax forms and review how to get paid.
Items for sale on Envato Market can also be considered for other Envato sites with approval, such as Elements; apply here.
- Earning on Market: You will have set your item price in the upload step. When your item starts selling, your cut of the earnings (after any fees and taxes) will be sent straight into your account balance. Seem more at Introduction to Earnings
- Earning on Elements: Your earnings will be made up of a Subscriber Share which is based on how much your items are downloaded. Please read Understanding Earnings on Envato Elements for more information.
6. I’ve Published, What’s Next?
Keep an eye on your item and watch the money roll in! You should also become familiar with the tools available to manage your sales on Envato, so that you can track and optimize your effort going forwards. We also have lots of resources available to help you make better content, that customers want, and make more money.
- Market Dashboard: Log into your Market Dashboard to see earnings, balance, sales and view/download your statements. To get to your Market Dashboard, just click log-in on your marketplace (ie. VideoHive) and then go through your profile in the top right corner. Read more about the Dashboard at: Managing Your Sales at Envato
- Author Hub: Our Author Hub is focused on all things Author, including all the latest current and emerging trends within the marketplace and industry, business development resources and Author interviews.
- Envato Forums: Check out the Forums. We use these forums to announce any news, competition and to answer questions you and other members of the community may have.
You should also check out the below if you have been approved for Envato Elements (congratulations!);
- Elements Dashboard: The Elements Dashboard is where you can check your earnings & item performance once customers start downloading your items. This is also where payment details are entered for your Envato Elements earnings.
- Envato Author Dashboard: Once you’ve started publishing regularly, you’ll be able to view a detailed earnings report on your Envato Author Dashboard. This dashboard will help you to better understand your Envato Market and Envato Elements income, and the top-performing items in your portfolio. It includes detailed earnings data for your top 100 performing items, custom filters, and a historical view of your income.
- Elements Forums: For Envato Elements Authors, we run a private access-only forum group. We use these forums to announce any Elements-specific news and to answer questions you and other members of the community may have.
Read more about the Elements Dashboard and Envato Author Dashboard at: Managing Your Sales at Envato.
Uploading FAQs
I've uploaded my items, but they aren't available for sale, why?
How Do I Contribute and Select my Items to Sell on Envato Elements?
How Do I Upload Graphics Items to Envato Elements?
Help! I’m Having Issues Uploading Using FTP - Troubleshooting.
---------- and more! Check out more Uploading FAQ’s