Choose Premium packaging when you want eligible unframed prints to ship flat with a sleeve and chipboard backing. Choose Retail-Ready when each print needs its own size-matched sleeve and backing for retail display or resale.
Retail-Ready is optional. An order that qualifies can keep its existing packaging.
What's the difference?
Packaging | How your prints are packed | How the upgrade is charged |
Standard | Ships flat or rolled, depending on print size. | No packaging surcharge. |
Premium | Ships flat with a sleeve and chipboard backing. Materials are sized to the shipping mailer, so the chipboard may extend beyond the print. | One Premium charge per order, based on the eligible prints sharing the package. |
Retail-Ready | Each physical print is individually packaged with a sleeve and chipboard matched to its size, ready for retail display. | Per physical print in each selected item, including prints within sets. |
Premium suits direct-to-customer print-on-demand orders. Retail-Ready suits orders intended to stock a shop or sell in person. These upgrades are available for eligible unframed paper products and supported sizes. Framed products, canvas, and standalone picture frames are excluded.
Choose Premium for a one-time product
Click Add products, then Create one-time product.
Choose your catalog product, select Unframed Prints, and configure the paper and size.
In Packaging, choose Standard or Premium. Standard is selected by default. The Premium card shows the charge for that configuration.
Continue to add your designs and finish adding the product to your order.
If Premium is unavailable, the selector explains why. Changing the product or size can return an unavailable Premium selection to Standard. Premium does not require the five-unit minimum used for Retail-Ready.
The Packaging section shows Standard and Premium. Retail-Ready is selected later, on eligible order items.
When does Retail-Ready become available?
Your order needs at least five eligible ordered units in the same size group. The units can be on one row or spread across several rows. You can combine different designs of the same supported size.
Individual prints and same-size sets count toward the same size group. Each ordered set counts as one unit, regardless of how many prints it contains. Mixed-size gallery walls are grouped by their named layout and require supported Retail-Ready sizes for every print in the layout.
Example order | Does it qualify? |
One 8×10 print, quantity 5 | Yes. |
Five separate 8×10 items, quantity 1 each | Yes. Each row can be upgraded separately. |
Three 8×10 prints and two 11×14 prints | No. Neither size group reaches five. |
Two sets of three prints | No. This counts as two ordered units. |
Five same-size sets of three prints | Yes. This counts as five units for eligibility and 15 physical prints for pricing. |
Five matching gallery wall layouts | Yes, if all print sizes in the layout support Retail-Ready. |
Framed products, canvas, ignored items, and items without an assigned Artelo product do not count. Unsupported sizes do not qualify, even if you order five or more.
Add Retail-Ready at checkout
Add your products and set their quantities.
For each eligible item, look for Add retail-ready packaging at the top right of its row.
Select the checkbox on the rows you want to upgrade. The amount beside it is the Retail-Ready surcharge for that row's entire quantity.
Review your updated order total before placing the order.
The selection applies to every unit on that row. You can upgrade some qualifying rows and leave others as Standard or Premium. You do not have to upgrade every unit that helped the size group qualify.
This example has five 8×10 prints on one row. Selecting the checkbox upgrades all five and adds the storefront icon. Prices shown in screenshots are examples; use the current amount displayed on your order.
Review packaging for connected-store orders
Retail-Ready Holds lets you review qualifying imported Etsy and Shopify orders before production. The setting is enabled by default and gives you a choice; it does not automatically buy Retail-Ready packaging.
Open your connected store in Integrations.
Go to Settings → Order Import.
Find Retail-Ready Holds below Order filtering.
Choose whether to hold qualifying orders, then click Save changes.
Keep the checkbox selected to review packaging on newly imported qualifying orders.
When an order is waiting for packaging review:
Open Orders and click Hold for Retail-Ready review on the order.
In the review window, find the Packaging column beside Artelo Product.
For each eligible row, choose Retail-Ready or keep its current Standard or Premium packaging. Ineligible rows have no Retail-Ready option.
Review the charges and click Send to production.
You can release the review hold without upgrading. Any other order requirements, such as fixing an address or assigning products, still need to be resolved.
The Packaging column appears in Retail-Ready review, rather than ordinary fulfillment dialogs. If you want this opportunity for future connected-store orders, keep Retail-Ready Holds enabled.
Changing the setting affects future imports. Enabling it does not place earlier orders on hold, and disabling it does not release orders already waiting for review. Store refreshes, address corrections, and payment updates do not dismiss an existing packaging review. After you complete the review, the order is not held again solely for Retail-Ready.
How packaging charges work
Premium is charged once per order. When at least one active item uses Premium, eligible Standard and Premium prints share the Premium packaging group. The charge uses the highest applicable Premium rate in that group. A larger eligible Standard print can therefore affect the charge. Ordering more copies does not multiply the Premium fee.
Retail-Ready prints are excluded from the Premium group. Ineligible Standard prints are packed separately. If no active item remains selected as Premium, the Premium charge is removed.
Retail-Ready is charged per physical print. Its row surcharge includes the ordered quantity and every print inside a set or gallery wall. Five sets of three produce 15 individually packaged prints, so the surcharge covers 15 prints.
An order can include both Premium and Retail-Ready charges. Packaging surcharges are included in production costs and normal tax calculations. Wholesale and custom product discounts do not reduce the packaging surcharge.
Change or remove a selection
If you clear Retail-Ready, the item returns to its previous Standard or Premium packaging. If that previous option is no longer available, it returns to Standard.
Artelo checks eligibility again when you change quantities or products, remove items, or mark them ignored. If a group falls below five eligible units, Retail-Ready is removed from affected items and the prices update. Check your packaging selections again after changing an order.
These rules apply to saved carts and unpaid, editable orders. Paid orders and orders already in production keep their recorded packaging and charges.
Check packaging on your order
An open-package icon identifies Premium. A storefront icon identifies Retail-Ready. Hover over an icon to see its label. Standard has no packaging icon.
This order contains Retail-Ready 8×10 prints and a Premium 11×14 print. Each row shows its selected packaging icon.
The order also shows a Retail-Ready flag whenever at least one active item uses it. Removing Retail-Ready from all active items removes that flag.
If you cannot see the Retail-Ready option, check the size group, quantities, product assignments, and product type. For connected orders, make sure you are opening Retail-Ready review. Contact Artelo Support if you need help choosing packaging for an order.