To connect Printful to Shopify, install the official Printful app from the Shopify App Store, log in or create a Printful account, and authorise the connection.
Then, set up your fulfilment preferences, create products in Printful, and publish them directly to your Shopify store. Orders from Shopify will automatically sync to Printful for fulfilment.
If you’re looking to start a print-on-demand business, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Printful and Shopify.
Connecting the two platforms is one of the easiest ways to launch a brand without holding any inventory.
I’ve gone through this setup multiple times across different stores, and I’ll walk you through the full process. I’ll also share the mistakes I made along the way, and how to avoid them.
Why Use Printful with Shopify?
Printful is a print-on-demand fulfilment platform. It lets you create custom products like t-shirts, mugs, posters, and ship them straight to your customers — no inventory, no packing, no hassle.
Shopify is your storefront. It’s where your customers browse, buy, and check out. When you connect Printful to Shopify, everything syncs: your products, orders, fulfilment, and even tracking.
Here’s why Printful + Shopify is a popular combo:
- No upfront costs for inventory or equipment
- Automated order fulfilment directly through Printful
- Wide range of customisable products in Printful’s catalogue
- Fast integration that takes less than 30 minutes to set up
- Trusted by hundreds of thousands of store owners
This setup is ideal for solo entrepreneurs and small teams. Once you connect the two platforms, you can launch your store in less than a day.
What You Need Before You Start
Before we get into the connection steps, make sure you’ve got the basics ready.
| Requirement | Description |
|---|---|
| Shopify account | You’ll need an active Shopify store. If you don’t have one yet, you can start with a free trial. |
| Printful account | Create an account at printful.com. It’s free to sign up. |
| Product ideas or designs | Optional for setup, but useful if you want to publish your first product right away. |
I also recommend having your brand assets ready, such as logos, colour palette, and design files. These will speed things up when you start creating products.
Step-by-Step: How to Connect Printful to Shopify
Let’s walk through the setup process from scratch. It’s simple, but skipping even one step can break the sync between Printful and Shopify.
I’ve had issues before where products didn’t publish properly or orders didn’t flow through, and 99% of the time, it came down to a setup mistake.
Follow these steps in order, and you’ll avoid the usual headaches.
1. Install the Printful App in Shopify
The first thing you’ll need to do is install the Printful app inside your Shopify store. This is how the two platforms communicate with each other.
Here’s how to do it:
- Log in to your Shopify admin dashboard
- Click Apps in the left-hand navigation menu
- At the bottom of the Apps page, select Visit Shopify App Store
- In the search bar, type “Printful”
- Click on the Printful: Print on Demand app
- Select Add App, then follow the install prompts
Once you complete the installation, you’ll automatically be redirected to the Printful website where you can either log in or create an account.
Important tip: Double-check that you’re installing the official Printful app, not a third-party tool that mimics its functionality. The official one has Printful listed as the developer.
2. Authorise and Link Your Printful Account
Once you’ve got the app installed, the next step is to link your Printful account to Shopify. This connection allows Printful to:
- Sync your products
- Push product updates
- Receive orders from Shopify
- Send tracking info back to customers
You’ll be prompted to either:
- Log in to an existing Printful account, or
- Create a new Printful account
After logging in, you’ll be asked to confirm the authorisation. Grant access so Printful can communicate with your Shopify store.
If you operate more than one Shopify store, make sure you’re linking the correct one. It’s easy to connect the wrong account if you’re moving quickly — I’ve done it before, and it’s a pain to untangle later.
Once connected, you’ll see your Shopify store listed inside the Printful dashboard > Stores section.
3. Configure Your Settings
Now that Printful and Shopify are connected, you’ll want to fine-tune your store’s fulfilment settings. These settings affect how orders are processed, how customers are charged, and how you get paid.
Here’s what I recommend configuring first:
- Currency: Set this to match your Shopify store (e.g. GBP, USD, EUR). If they’re different, you’ll run into pricing issues later.
- Shipping: Choose whether you want Printful to use live rates or flat rates. You can also customise shipping rules in Shopify.
- Order Fulfilment: Decide if you want orders to be sent to Printful automatically or if you prefer to manually confirm each one. Automatic is ideal if you want a hands-off operation.
- Payment Method: Add a credit card or PayPal account. Printful bills you each time a customer places an order.
If you skip this step, orders won’t go through properly, or worse, they’ll stay pending without you realising it.
Creating Products in Printful for Your Shopify Store
After you’ve connected everything, the next big step is adding your products. This is where your designs come to life.
Printful gives you access to hundreds of base products — from classic t-shirts to hats, leggings, mugs, posters, and phone cases.
Each product you create in Printful gets pushed directly to your Shopify store — with images, mockups, descriptions, prices, and variants.
How to Add a Product
Here’s how to create your first product and publish it to Shopify:
- Go to your Printful dashboard
- Click on Stores, then select your connected Shopify store
- Click Add Product
- Browse the product catalogue and choose your item (e.g. unisex t-shirt, tote bag)
- Upload your design or use Printful’s built-in design tool
- Adjust placement, size, and alignment
- Choose available colours, sizes, and mockup styles
- Set your retail price (Printful will show your cost and margin)
- Click Submit to Store to publish it on Shopify
Your product is now live inside Shopify and ready for customers to buy.
Product Sync: What’s Automatic and What’s Manual?
When you create a product in Printful and publish it to Shopify, here’s what gets synced automatically:
| Product Detail | Synced to Shopify? |
|---|---|
| Title | ✅ |
| Description | ✅ |
| Product Images | ✅ |
| SKUs | ✅ |
| Inventory Levels | ✅ |
| Pricing | ✅ |
| Product Variants | ✅ |
| Tags | ❌ (Add manually in Shopify) |
| Product Type | ❌ (Edit manually if needed) |
This automatic sync is super helpful. It means you don’t have to upload mockups or write descriptions twice. Just review the product in your Shopify dashboard and make any final adjustments like SEO titles, tags, and collections.
A Few Extra Tips for Publishing Products
- Use Printful’s size guide generator and link it in your product description
- Don’t remove or edit Printful SKUs in Shopify — this breaks the sync
- If you want to sell bundles or multiple designs on one product, use Printful’s variant editor to customise each version
- Add Shopify tags and collections manually for better organisation and SEO
Once your products are live, you can start sending traffic to your store. And the best part? Every order is fulfilled automatically — you won’t have to touch a single product.
Common Issues and How to Fix Them
Even though Printful and Shopify integrate well, a few common issues can trip people up. I’ve dealt with all of these, so here’s how to handle them.
1. Products Not Showing Up
- Check if the product was published during creation in Printful
- Make sure the product is set to Active in Shopify
- Refresh the sync from your Printful dashboard
2. Orders Not Syncing
- Go to Printful dashboard > Orders
- Check if the order appears with a red warning symbol
- This often means a variant mismatch or missing product sync
3. Wrong Shipping or Tax Settings
- Make sure you’ve configured shipping zones in both Printful and Shopify
- Enable tax collection correctly in Shopify based on your location
4. Product Edits Not Updating
- Edits made directly in Shopify don’t sync back to Printful
- Always make changes inside Printful and then re-publish to Shopify
Fixing these issues early will save you hours of headaches later.
Tips for Optimising Your Product Sync
Here are some tips I’ve picked up after launching multiple stores with this setup.
- Stick to Printful’s built-in mockups – they load faster in Shopify
- Avoid manually changing SKUs – it breaks the sync and causes fulfilment issues
- Group products in Printful by category – helps you stay organised
- Use consistent naming – this makes product identification easier across platforms
- Create size guides inside Printful and link them in your product description
Printful also offers branding options like inside labels and custom packing slips. These can give your store a more premium feel.
How Orders Work After You Connect
Once someone places an order on your Shopify store, here’s what happens next:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Customer places order on Shopify |
| 2 | Order is sent to Printful (automatically or manually) |
| 3 | Printful charges you for the item |
| 4 | Item is printed, packed, and shipped |
| 5 | Tracking number is sent to your Shopify customer |
You’ll be notified inside Printful when each step is completed. You can also automate notification emails from Shopify to your customer with tracking info.
How to Set Up Auto-Fulfilment
If you want orders to be 100% hands-off, enable auto-fulfilment inside Printful.
- Go to Printful > Settings > Orders
- Toggle on Automatic Fulfilment for New Orders
- Choose whether you want all orders auto-fulfilled or only from certain sales channels
Auto-fulfilment is ideal for scaling. Just make sure you’ve got funds in your Printful wallet or a valid payment method connected.
Branding & White Label Options
Printful gives you several options to personalise your packaging and make your store look professional.
Available branding services:
- Custom packing slips with your logo and message
- Inside and outside label printing for apparel
- Pack-ins like stickers, thank-you cards (for a fee)
- Return address set to your business name
These features are what separate a random Etsy drop shipper from a legit brand.
You can find branding settings inside Printful > Settings > Branding.
Pros and Cons of Using Printful with Shopify
Here’s an honest breakdown of what I like and what I don’t.
Pros
- Quick setup, no coding needed
- Reliable fulfilment process
- Wide product catalogue
- Seamless Shopify integration
- Quality printing and materials
Cons
- Shipping can be expensive for international orders
- Some delays during peak season
- Limited branding customisation unless you pay extra
- Fulfilment costs are higher than self-manufacturing
Overall, the convenience outweighs the downsides — especially when you’re just getting started.
Scaling Your Print-on-Demand Business
Once you’re live and orders are flowing, think about these next steps:
- Niche down your product line based on what’s selling
- Use Shopify apps for upsells, reviews, and abandoned cart recovery
- Run paid ads using Facebook or TikTok to drive traffic
- Optimise product pages for SEO to get free organic sales
- Outsource customer service as your volume grows
Printful and Shopify can grow with you. You can start as a one-person brand and scale to a six-figure store without changing platforms.
Final Thoughts
Connecting Printful to Shopify is simple, but doing it the right way can save you hours of wasted time and missed sales.
Take the time to set it up properly, test a few products, and get your fulfilment workflows in place.
Once it’s running smoothly, you’ll be able to focus on what really matters — growing your brand, making sales, and delivering great customer experiences.
If you’re planning to go all-in with print-on-demand, this integration is a no-brainer. Just follow the steps above, and you’ll be up and running in no time.
