20 Tips for Creating NFTs
Like DeFi coins, and ICOs before them, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are the latest crypto craze as articulated over at runrex.com. Despite the short-term hype, however, many artists and analysts believe that NFTs do have long-term viability. However, the concept of NFTs is still so foreign to many people out there, and the majority of the people who would benefit from creating them don’t know where to start. Through the following 20 tips, this article will look to highlight what NFTs are and all you need to know about creating them.
What are NFTs?
As is explained over at guttulus.com, fiat cash is fungible, which means that a $100 bill is completely interchangeable with any other $100 bill. Similarly, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether are fungible, which means 1BTC is interchangeable for 1BTC. On the other hand, NFTs, which rely on special token standards like ERC-721 to ensure uniqueness, are non-interchangeable and verifiably unique and scarce courtesy of blockchain technology.
Types of NFTs
NFTs can be used to tokenize just about anything as articulated over at runrex.com. So far, some of the most popular NFT use cases are:
Digital art
Digital music
VR wearables
Gaming assets
Event tickets or attendance receipts
Subscription badges
Blockchain domain names
Tokenized luxury goods such as wine
Tokenized insurance policies such as yEarn’s yInsure tokens. And many others.
Who can make an NFT?
Just like NFTs can be used to tokenize almost anything, anyone can make an NFT. As pointed out by the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, this includes artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, companies, and platforms.
What is the value of creating NFTs?
One of the reasons why the groups mentioned in the previous point, in particular, are looking to create NFTs is because of the value they bring to them. NFTs are great for demarcating intellectual property and creative works that otherwise would easily be copied and disseminated online. NFTs also allow you to add royalties which means that you will earn a commission every time your asset is sold.
Process of creating NFTs
The following tips outline the process of creating an NFT:
Consider the blockchain
Before you start, the first thing you need to do is decide on which blockchain you want to issue your NFTs to. Ethereum is currently the leading blockchain service for NFT issuance. However, there is a range of other blockchains that are becoming increasingly popular, such as Binance Smart Chain, Tron, Flow by Dapper Labs, Polkadot, Cosmos, WAX, and EOS.
Self-service platforms
The next step when it comes to creating NFTs is choosing the NFT marketplace on which you are going to issue your NFT. There are two types of marketplaces, and the first type is self-service platforms. As explained over at runrex.com, these marketplaces let anyone create an NFT. All you need to do is upload your photo, audio, or video file, and fill in what percent royalty you want to charge for each sale. Rarible and OpenSea are the most popular examples of self-service platforms.
Curated platforms
These platforms, as per the gurus over at guttulus.com, only let approved creators mint NFTs. These platforms usually focus on NFTs for high-quality digital art versus simple collectibles. You have to be pre-approved by the platform or the community to mint NFTs on these platforms. SuperRare and Foundation are the most popular examples of curated platforms.
The downside of each platform
The above-discussed platforms each have obvious upsides, but they also have downsides as discussed over at runrex.com. The downside when it comes to self-service platforms is that they often have copycats and fakes while the downside for curated platforms is that they usually have higher transaction fees (15% vs 3%) as well as less flexibility in your royalty percentage – typically fixed at 10%.
What is minting?
When looking to create NFTs, you will come across the term “minting” and I’m sure you will be wondering what it is. Well, minting is the process of turning one’s work into an NFT, and it refers to the act of creating a new token on the blockchain that will forever be attached to that content.
What do I need to start creating NFTs?
The good news when it comes to creating NFTs is that you don’t need extensive knowledge of crypto to create an NFT. Having said that, there are several tools that you will require to get started with creating NFTs and they are a crypto wallet and Ethereum.
Blockchains and token standards
When deciding which blockchain to issue your NFTs on, the gurus over at guttulus.com point out that each blockchain has its own separate NFT token standard, compatible wallet services, and marketplaces. For example, if you create NFTs on top of the Binance Smart Chain, you will only be able to sell them on platforms that support Binance Smart Chain assets, which means you won’t be able to sell them on something like VIV3 – a Flow blockchain-based marketplace – or OpenSea, which is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace.
Selecting your content
Before you create NFTs, you need to first select the content that you will tokenize as an NFT. From discussions on the same over at runrex.com, the most popular NFT category is digital art – typically a PNG, GIF, audio clip, or video clip. However, creators have also made NFTs for everything from domain names to virtual gaming items.
Setting up an Ethereum wallet
As already mentioned, you will need to create a crypto wallet where you will securely store the cryptocurrency that you will use to create NFTs. The wallet also allows you to safely sign in and create accounts on NFT marketplaces. Examples of crypto wallets you can set up as outlined over at guttulus.com include Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, and Rainbow.
Purchasing ETH
Since Ethereum has the largest NFT ecosystem, you will probably need to purchase ETH to create NFTs. This is because, on most marketplaces, there are fees associated with turning your content into an NFT, which means that you will need to purchase some ETH to cover the costs of creating your first NFT. The Rainbow and MetaMask wallets mentioned in the previous point both allow you to purchase crypto right inside your wallet while the Coinbase Wallet requires you to make the purchase from a separate exchange and transfer it to your wallet.
Connecting your wallet to an NFT marketplace
Once you have set up your wallet and purchased some ETH, the next step is to choose a marketplace where you want to create an NFT and list your work. Here, you will have a choice between self-service platforms and curated platforms as already discussed. For creators just getting started, it is recommended that you choose a self-service platform like Rarible to start with. Connecting your wallet to the marketplace of your choice is pretty easy as all you have to do is head over to the site and then look for and click on the “Connect” button – usually in the top-right corner of the screen.
Creating NFTs
Creating an NFT on most marketplaces starts by heading over to the “Create” button, hovering over it, and selecting “My collection” as explained over at runrex.com. You will get a window that will allow you to upload your artwork, add a name, and include a description. Once you have assigned an image for your collection you will then need to add a banner image after which you can upload your NFT image, audio, GIF, or 3D model.
Special traits
On OpenSea and many other marketplaces, you also have the option to include special traits and attributes to increase the scarcity and uniqueness of your NFT. According to guttulus.com, creators even have the opportunity to include unlockable content that can only be viewed by the purchaser. This can be anything from passwords to access certain services to discount codes and contact information.
How much does it cost to make NFTs?
While it costs nothing to make NFTs on OpenSea as covered over at runrex.com, some platforms charge a fee. With Ethereum-based platforms, this fee is known as “gas”. Ethereum gas is basically an amount of Ether required to perform a certain function on the blockchain – in this instance, adding a new NFT to the marketplace.
Factors determining the cost of gas
The cost of gas varies depending on network congestion. This means that the higher the number of people transacting value over the network at a given time, the higher the price of gas fees, with the opposite also being true. You should note that Ethereum gas fees are significantly cheaper on average during the weekend when fewer people are transacting value over the network. This can help keep costs down if you are listing multiple NFTs for sale.
How many NFTs can I release?
Most platforms allow you to create an unlimited number of NFTs. However, you should think through how many editions of the same NFT you want to issue:
1-of-1 – You only issue one copy of the NFT, making it more valuable.
Edition – You issue many copies of the same NFT. This is like releasing a merch drop where you have a limited amount of the same hoodie, for example, to create scarcity and hype.
Hopefully, the above discussion will help you know what goes into creating NFTs, with more on this wide topic to be found over at the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com.