Whether you sell books, apparel, apps, or tote bags, you need to show examples in order for people to purchase.
As a veteran of the publishing and advertising industry, I know that it’s easier to get people to buy a product if they can see themselves using it.
PlaceIt Review
TL;DR Summary
PlaceIt is an important part of my design toolbox. Although it won't replace the gold standards like Canva, it is well worth the price.
When you create promotional images, you want to use models and related body parts like hands and faces to indicate relative sizes.
Other than hiring models and a photographer, setting up elaborate scenes, and scheduling a photo shoot, how can you accomplish this task?
Your answer . . . Placeit.
Placeit bills itself as the “one-stop-shop for mock-ups, logos, design templates, and animated videos.”
For the non-designer (as well as designers), Placeit offers a service for you to create brand mockups, design templates, videos, and even logos. No design or Photoshop skills needed.
Having a system where you can create professional-looking, branded graphics and videos to promote your offerings is priceless.
In this review, I’ll go through the inner workings of Placeit. And let you know if it’s worth the investment.
Who is Placeit for?
If you sell apparel (T-shirts, mugs, hats, leggings, etc), you can benefit from using Placeit. Ecommerce merchants as well as most business owners who promote their business can use Placeit. That covers a lot of people.
Placeit has over 36 thousand templates to use to show off your products.
As you can see, they have a template for just about any product you can think of. Plus, they have technology templates for the app market.
One complaint is that Placeit lacks diversity in the models they showcase. I can see why people would say that. Even though they do have lots of different models performing different activities.
They could break down the ages, activities, and age-related situations better.
However, if you search for a bit, you can find usable mockups that represent your audience.
Pricing
Placeit doesn’t really have a free plan, but they do have an area where you can “Play around with all of Placeit’s tools and see just how easy it is!” When you’re ready to subscribe, here are your options:
Subscription: $19.95 a month or $99.95 a year, you have unlimited access to all of Placeit’s mockups, design templates, video templates, and logo makers. There’s no minimum.
Single Purchases: Pay for what you download. Each downloaded item has a fee associated with it:
- Mockups: $7
- Video: $9
- Logo: $40
- Design template: $3
All in all, these prices aren’t bad, whether you choose the single purchase or go with the subscription.
When I started using Placeit in 2017, they were charging $29 per month for the “Casual plan.” That plan only allowed you to download 9 images per month. And you had to sign up for at least 3 months.
I’m glad they are offering more affordable plans now. I’m pretty sure that buyout by Envato had something to do with it.
How to Use Placeit
Ok, now comes the fun part, creating the promotional items.
In the footer of the website is a section that guides you through how to use the website. It covers everything from designing your T-shirt to creating a Baby Onesie mockup.
Running your mouse over any of the mockups shows you, in real time, what a design will look like on the product. You can totally go down a rabbit hole using this feature.
It’s really easy to create the product you want. Let’s look at the main functions Placeit offers.
Placeit’s Mockup Generator
I chose to create a Sweatshirt mockup.
1. Choose the model that best relates to your audience. Use the column on the left to make your choices.
2. On the next screen, you can customize your design. Here, you can change all aspects of the design, the model, and the color.
Once you upload your graphic and set the other configurations, you can download the image or save it as a draft.
Scrolling down the page gives you more choices of designs showing the same model.
Scroll down more and you’ll see other models in different situations wearing or showing the same product. This is a neat feature.
Design Templates on Placeit
Placeit has expanded their design section since I first discovered them a couple years ago.
Now you can access designs for everything from a Facebook cover to an iPhone case.
Let’s design a Facebook cover. They have a lot of options
1. Choose the template you want to work with.
2. As with the Mockup Generator, you’re brought to a screen where you can configure your design.
3. Scrolling down the page brings up the design configured for other platforms and in other sizes.
Logo Design on Placeit
When you click on logos, a screen comes up and asks you to enter your business name.
I used my name to test it out.
Next, you are asked to select your industry. I didn’t see exactly what I wanted, so I selected “YouTuber.” That’s close enough.
On the next screen, they present your choices. You’re not stuck with what they show you, everything can be changed.
I must say, some of the choices were hilarious, like the “horror” styled logo on the right. But others were ok, like the CrossFit logo on the left.
How did they know I love CrossFit?
You can configure more options on the next screen.
Unfortunately, the logo design isn’t included in your monthly subscription. But you get 50% off the regular price.
Placeit shows you how your logo looks when placed on objects. However, the objects may not match up with the correct industry.
My logo fell into the architectural category. The pictures they presented related to architecture and construction. I think the algorithm got that totally wrong.
Not a deal breaker though, I like to look at all kinds of categories when I’m designing.
Creating Videos with Placeit
Since videos are everywhere, it makes sense that Placeit would offer the service. The videos are included in the subscription. However, there aren’t that many videos to choose from.
I chose to create an Instagram story. There are 147 templates to choose from. The designs are just ok.
Once you select a template, you’re taken to the configuration screen.
Here you can add or delete slides, change colors and preview your changes before you download or save the draft.
One thing I did like is that they have a library of music to choose from.
Placeit Pros
- Thousands of templates to choose from for mockups
- Wide range of graphics and designs for all categories
- Models are shown in a variety of activities, ethnicities, and age ranges
- Everything happens in the browser, no software to download
- The mockup generator is easy to use with it’s drag and drop functionality
- The logo designer gives you lots of choices
- No design skills necessary
Placeit Cons
- The library of models could be more diverse in age and activities shown
- The rendering of the designs as well as the downloads can be a bit slow
- Logo templates aren’t as unique as having your logo designed by a pro (but they’ll do)
- The biggest complaint that I found during my research centers around money. Users warned that their accounts were still being charged after they cancelled, so make sure you follow the correct steps to cancel your subscription.
Is Placeit Worth the Investment?
I say YES! Placeit provides you with a platform where you can create mockups of your products pretty quickly.
In addition, you can design promotional videos and graphics with little or no design skills and start using them on social media right away. All this for a reasonable price, when compared to setting up a photo shoot that can be costly.
PlaceIt
Pros
- Thousands of templates to choose from for mockups
- Wide range of graphics and designs for all categories
- Models are shown in a variety of activities, ethnicities, and age ranges
- Completely browser based
- Very easy to use
Cons
- The library of models could be more diverse in age and activities shown
- The rendering of the designs as well as the downloads can be a bit slow
- Logo templates aren’t as unique as having your logo designed by a pro (but they’ll do)
