Applies to Cmsmart Product Designer (NBDesigner) 2.18.0-dev · Updated October 2026. This chapter covers WP Admin > Cmsmart > Settings > General — the screen with the biggest effect on day-to-day support load.

In short

  • Outcome: get the editor layout, output resolution, download permissions and notification emails right once, so fewer orders need a manual check before they reach production.
  • How it works: one long settings tab (General Settings, Notifications, Application, NBD Pages, Tools, Customization) holds the switches that shape what every shopper and every admin sees.
  • What it takes: five minutes in WP Admin, a decision on your DPI standard, and a shared inbox for admin notifications instead of one person's address.

WooCommerce Product Designer General Settings control how the online editor behaves, who gets notified when a design changes, and what customers can download — get them wrong and every order needs a manual check before it reaches the press.

What's the real cost of leaving General settings on their defaults?

Cmsmart Product Designer ships with sensible defaults, but "as installed" is rarely "as your shop needs it." Leaving the output resolution, download permissions and notification routing untouched quietly moves work onto a human: a staff member re-checking files, a customer emailing to ask where their download went, or a reprint nobody budgeted for.

Every manual step between "save" and "ready to print" adds friction — industry-wide, an average of 70% of ecommerce carts are abandoned before checkout (Baymard Institute, 2025), and a slow or confusing customization step is a common reason buyers stall.

In a print shop or POD operation, the same friction shows up after the sale: a Default output resolution - DPI left too low for a wide-format job, a Recipients field pointed at someone who left the company, or Allow customer re-design or re-upload design after order left open past proof approval. None of these are bugs — they are settings nobody revisited since install day.

What does a properly tuned product designer look like?

Picture Cmsmart Product Designer tuned to your shop: the editor opens in the layout your team actually tests, every saved design pings a shared production inbox, and only the file formats your press can use are offered for download. Nobody has to remember a rule — the setting enforces it.

Example scenario: A print shop's production lead gets one digest email an hour listing every design saved or changed, sent to a shared production inbox rather than a single employee's mailbox. A shopper who ordered a poster can download their proof as a PNG but not as a press-ready PDF, since that format is reserved for the studio's own export. A buyer who already approved their artwork can no longer edit it and quietly invalidate the print file. None of that took custom code — it is four General-tab settings, agreed once and left alone.

Talk to an ecommerce expert if you'd rather have someone configure this once than learn every field yourself — get help tuning your settings.

How does Cmsmart Product Designer organize the General settings screen?

Cmsmart Product Designer groups General settings into six panels on one scrolling tab: General Settings, Notifications, Application, NBD Pages, Tools and Customization. Each panel controls one layer of the buyer and admin experience, from the editor itself to the emails your team receives.

Cmsmart Product Designer plugin row in WP Admin Plugins screen showing version 2.18.0-dev active
Cmsmart Product Designer 2.18.0-dev, WP Admin > Plugins — the active row confirms the version these settings apply to.
  • General Settings — editor layout, output resolution, measurement unit, and what a customer may save, share or download.
  • Notifications — who on your team hears about a saved design or an approval, and how often.
  • Application, NBD Pages, Tools, Customization — site-wide switches, designer pages, maintenance actions and CSS/JS tweaks; this chapter's capture stops at the end of Notifications, so the next chapter covers these four field by field.

Further along the same menu, the Output tab feeds the print-ready PDF that matches the order, rendered through Cmsmart Cloud, while Printing Options sets the price matrix buyers see at checkout. Get the resolution and download rules right here, and the rest of that chain has less to compensate for.

Cmsmart Product Designer License and activation screen showing plugin version 2.18.0-dev
Cmsmart Product Designer 2.18.0-dev, WP Admin > Cmsmart > License & activation — the Plugin info panel repeats the version if Plugins is hidden from your role.

What's the business value of getting General settings right?

Cmsmart Product Designer's General settings turn one-off decisions into standing policy: the right DPI protects print quality, the right notification routing keeps a design moving even if staff are out, and the right download rules stop tickets before they start.

BenefitHow it shows up in your businessKPI to track
Fewer rejected print filesOutput resolution matches your press's minimum instead of a generic defaultReprint rate per 100 orders
Faster response to new ordersA shared inbox gets the admin notification, not one person's mailboxTime from design saved to first staff review
Fewer download-related ticketsDownload permissions and file types are decided once, not improvised per orderSupport tickets tagged download per month
No late artwork changesRe-design after order closes once a proof is approvedOrders reprinted after approval

Quick worksheet: minutes per recheck × orders needing one × your hourly staff cost is the monthly cost of leaving General settings on their defaults — money these settings can give back without touching a single product.

How do you configure WooCommerce Product Designer general settings for your shop?

Cmsmart Product Designer's General tab is configured from WP Admin in a few minutes: open Settings > General, work down General Settings and Notifications, and save — no code or developer needed.

  1. Open WP Admin > Cmsmart > Settings and select the General tab.
  2. Set Default design editor layout to Modern unless you have a specific reason to keep Classic running.
  3. Raise Default output resolution - DPI toward a press-ready value if anything you sell is offset or wide-format printed.
  4. Set Dimensions Unit to whatever unit your production team already uses on spec sheets.
  5. Check Preview design size and Preview template size against how busy your cart, order list and gallery pages actually look.
  6. Decide whether Allow customer re-design or re-upload design after order should stay open past the proof stage, or close as soon as a design is approved.
  7. Choose which formats Design file type download offers, separately for after checkout and inside the editor.
  8. Turn on Admin notifications and point Recipients at a shared production inbox rather than a named employee.
  9. Save, then open a test product on the storefront to confirm the editor layout and thumbnails match what you just set.
WooCommerce Product Designer general settings screen showing default design editor layout, output DPI and dimensions unit fields
Cmsmart Product Designer 2.18.0-dev, WP Admin > Cmsmart > Settings > General — the General Settings group (editor layout, DPI, dimensions unit, preview sizes).

Cmsmart insight: Default output resolution - DPI ships at 150, plenty for on-screen previews. For anything offset or wide-format printed, raise it toward the 300 DPI most print shops treat as the quality floor — missed most often on products set up before the shop agreed its own DPI standard.

Cmsmart Product Designer settings controlling which design file types customers can download after checkout
Cmsmart Product Designer 2.18.0-dev, WP Admin > Cmsmart > Settings > General — download permissions and file-type controls further down General Settings.

Every field below is exactly as shown on this General tab today. "Default" is the value as installed on our demo store; your own install may already differ if someone has changed it.

Field (as shown)What it doesDefault (as installed)Recommended starting pointWhere it shows on the storefront
Default design editor layoutChooses which editor opens for new products: Modern, Visual, or the deprecated Classic.Modern – recommendedPrint shop, POD apparel and B2B: keep Modern; Classic gets no new features.The design editor on the product page.
Default output resolution - DPISets the resolution used when a design is rendered or exported.150Print shop & B2B: raise toward the industry press standard; POD apparel: match your fulfilment partner's spec sheet.Sharpness of exported and print files, not the on-screen preview.
Dimensions UnitSets the measurement unit shown when staff define design areas and sizes.in (cm, mm, ft, px also available)Match what your production team already writes on spec sheets.Unit labels in the editor's size fields.
Preview design sizePixel size of the design thumbnail shown in cart and order pages.300 pxKeep as installed unless thumbnails look soft.Cart and order-list thumbnails.
Preview template sizePixel size of the template thumbnail shown on the gallery page.300 pxIncrease for large-format gallery cards.Gallery picker thumbnails.
Hide design editor on smartphonesSwitches mobile shoppers to an information message instead of the live editor.NoKeep off if your layout is mobile-tested; hide only for very complex templates.The product page on phones.
Allow save design for laterLets a shopper save progress and resume another time.YesKeep Yes for all three business types.Load my design option on return visits.
Allow share designLets a shopper share their design by email or social network.YesKeep Yes unless B2B artwork is confidential.Share buttons inside the editor.
Cache latest design on user browserReloads a shopper's latest design when they come back to the product.YesKeep Yes for all three.Return visits to the product page.
Cache customer uploaded imageCaches a customer's uploaded image links in the browser.YesKeep Yes for all three.Reload speed for uploaded artwork.
Allow customer re-design or re-upload design after orderLets a buyer edit their design after ordering, before it is approved or rejected.YesPrint shop & B2B: turn Off once a proof is sent; POD apparel: Yes suits self-serve correction.Order confirmation and My Account.
Allow download design after checkoutControls whether a buyer can download their design or files after checkout.NoB2B: turn on Complete order for buyers who need their own archive; print shop: usually keep No.Download link after checkout.
Design file type download (after checkout)Which file types are offered for that post-checkout download.none selected, as installedEnable only formats your team can support directly.Same post-checkout download link.
Allow download design in editorLets a shopper download a working copy from inside the editor.YesKeep Yes for all three.Download button inside the editor.
Design file type download (in editor)Which formats the in-editor download offers.PNG, SVG, PDF, JPGDrop JPG if the server doesn't have PHP Imagick installed.In-editor download menu.
Admin notificationsEmails the admin whenever a customer's design is saved or changed.YesKeep Yes so staff see a design before it queues for print.Admin inbox only, no storefront effect.
RecurrenceHow often the admin notification digest is sent.HourlyHourly for a steady queue; daily is enough for low-volume shops.Admin inbox only.
RecipientsWho receives the saved/changed design email.a single placeholder address, as installedPoint this at a shared production inbox, not one person's mailbox.Admin inbox only.
Send mail to admins when approve designsEmails admins specifically when a design is approved.NoTurn on if approvals are handled by a different team than daily notifications.Admin inbox only.
Admin emails who receive notification when designs approvedWho receives that approval email.a single placeholder address, as installedSame data-minimisation rule as Recipients.Admin inbox only.

GDPR's data-minimization principle asks that personal data stay "adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary" for its purpose — a shared production inbox in Recipients and Admin emails who receive notification when designs approved meets that bar more easily than one named employee's address.

Cmsmart Product Designer Notifications settings showing admin notification recipients and approval email options
Cmsmart Product Designer 2.18.0-dev, WP Admin > Cmsmart > Settings > General — the Notifications group (admin alerts, recipients, approval emails).
SettingLeft on defaultsTuned for your shop
Default output resolution - DPI150, fine for previews onlyRaised toward a press-ready value for anything offset or wide-format printed
Recipients / Admin emailsOne placeholder or personal addressA shared production inbox the whole team can see
Allow customer re-design or re-upload design after orderOpen indefinitely after the orderClosed as soon as a proof is approved
Allow download design after checkoutOff for everyoneOn, scoped to the formats and order types that actually need it (for example B2B archives)

Going further: custom development on top of your General settings

Cmsmart Product Designer's General tab covers the settings every store shares. When a shop needs rules that vary by product, customer tier or production stage, Cmsmart builds that as custom development on top of the plugin, not as a hidden setting waiting to be found.

  • Per-product or per-category DPI rules — Cmsmart builds logic that raises resolution automatically for wide-format or fine-art products, so reprints drop without one overly conservative global setting.
  • Tiered notification routing — rush orders skip the hourly digest and alert staff immediately, for faster turnaround on your highest-value work.
  • Approval-stage download rules — a download rule tied to approval status instead of one store-wide switch, so pre-approval files stop leaking into production.
  • ERP/MIS sync — the DPI and file-type rules in this chapter push to your production system automatically, one source of truth instead of two screens.

Cmsmart delivers product designer customization the same way for every engagement: discovery, solution design, build sprints, QA, launch and ongoing support — see how that runs in practice on real Cmsmart project case studies.

Get a custom settings review

Why work with Cmsmart on your product designer settings?

Cmsmart has built and supported Cmsmart Product Designer (formerly NBDesigner) since 2012 as a Netbase JSC division, configuring this exact settings screen for print shops, POD brands and B2B sellers.

Cmsmart has delivered 6,300+ client projects and keeps 1,800+ live stores running, with a Trustpilot rating of 4.2 from 404 reviews on the Cmsmart Trustpilot profile.

"Ultra easy installation and configuration," wrote Adrien Darmon in a verified Trustpilot review, adding that support handled a custom theme request quickly when the standard settings weren't enough.

Related chapters: the installation and setup hub, how Dimensions Unit carries through to configuring custom dimensions, and how Printing Options connects to building a price matrix table. See also the product page and the web-to-print solutions hub.

Frequently asked questions about Cmsmart Product Designer general settings

Do General settings apply to every product, or can I override them per product?

Most General settings are store-wide defaults. Default design editor layout is the clear exception: the field itself notes you can specify a layout per product, so a single product can run Classic while the rest of the store uses Modern.

What's the difference between the two Design file type download fields?

One governs downloads after checkout; the other, tied to Allow download design in editor, governs downloads from inside the live editor before checkout.

Why is Default output resolution - DPI only 150 out of the box?

150 DPI keeps cart and order-page previews quick to generate. It's below the 300 DPI most commercial printers treat as a quality floor, so raise it before you rely on exports for anything press-printed.

Who should the Recipients and Admin emails fields point to?

A shared production inbox rather than one person. If that employee leaves, a personal address silently stops every design and approval notification; a shared inbox doesn't.

Where are the Application, NBD Pages, Tools and Customization groups covered?

Further down the same General tab, after Notifications. We haven't published real-flow captures of those groups yet, so this chapter sticks to General Settings and Notifications; the next chapter picks up where this one stops.

Can Cmsmart set up or adjust these settings for us instead of us doing it ourselves?

Yes — Cmsmart builds this as part of its store setup and product-designer customization work for new and existing stores, from a one-time settings review to custom development for rules this screen doesn't offer on its own.