Applies to Cmsmart Parallax Store 2.0.0 (parent Cmsmart Stores 2.0.0) and Cmsmart Product Designer (formerly NBDesigner) 2.18.4 · Updated October 2026. Store Setup v2 installs it with sample data in guided steps; this guide picks up right after the installer finishes.

In short

  • Outcome: a live, parallax-style WooCommerce storefront for print shops that sell business cards, postcards and marketing print, with the Cmsmart Product Designer already wired into a demo product.
  • How it works: Store Setup v2 installs the theme, sample pages and sample products with placeholder images; you then swap in your logo, colours, products and printing options.
  • What it takes: about an hour of focused admin work once the installer has finished, plus a Cmsmart Fullstore plan or a free 30-day trial key.

A Parallax WooCommerce store setup gives print shops selling business cards, postcards and marketing print a ready-made storefront: full-width photo sections scroll over fixed backgrounds, and the Cmsmart Product Designer sits on every product so buyers upload or design artwork before paying. Install it, spend about an hour on branding and settings, and it opens live.

What does skipping a parallax print-shop storefront cost you?

Every week without a working storefront, your print shop keeps taking business-card and postcard orders by phone, email and PDF proof, which costs staff time on quoting and reprints. Cmsmart Parallax Store moves that catalogue, pricing and proofing online so orders arrive specified and paid for.

Run the cost with your own figures, not an invented number:

  • Quoting time: (quote requests per week) × (minutes to price and reply by hand) × (your hourly staff cost) = what manual quoting costs every week.
  • Reprints: (reprints per month from a misunderstood phone or email spec) × (cost per reprint) = money lost to specs with no proof to check against.
  • Abandoned interest: (enquiries that go quiet after you ask for an emailed file) × (your average order value) = revenue you cannot see.

The common thread: a plain catalogue page does not show your print shop at work, seasonal offers get lost in a product list, and customers needing design help still have to phone or email before they see a price.

What could your print shop's storefront look like instead?

Imagine a customer landing on your home page at 9pm: a full-width photo of your press room, a live discount banner, then sections for your best-selling cards and a "need design help?" block. Cmsmart Parallax Store builds that layout out of the box, with your products and prices already attached.

Example scenario. A visitor scrolls past your hero banner into a "Featured products" section, opens a business-card listing, chooses paper stock and finish, then clicks Start Design. They upload their logo or build a layout in the browser, see the price update live, and check out. Your next morning starts with a specified, paid order instead of an email thread.

Parallax WooCommerce store setup: the Cmsmart Parallax Store home page with a full-width print-shop photo hero and a discount banner
The Parallax Store home page: a full-width photo section over a fixed background, with a live offer banner (live demo).

Want to talk through what this looks like for your own catalogue first? Talk to an ecommerce expert.

What happens before this guide starts?

Cmsmart Store Setup v2 installs the Parallax Store for you: pick the store, download the installer or take the theme files, and the wizard adds WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme and sample data in guided steps, no manual file copying required.

  • From your Cmsmart dashboard, Stores › Store Setup, pick Cmsmart Parallax Store, then download the installer file (about 10 minutes) or take the theme files (about 30 minutes).
  • A Cmsmart Fullstore plan or a free 30-day trial key activates it; check current plans on Cmsmart Pricing.
  • The installer walkthrough, including the parent/child theme structure, already has its own guide — follow Install a Cmsmart Store: WordPress Parent/Child Theme, then come back here for the first hour.

How does the Cmsmart Parallax Store work behind the scenes?

Cmsmart Parallax Store is a WooCommerce child theme on top of the shared Cmsmart Stores parent, with Cmsmart Product Designer bundled in: the theme supplies the parallax layout and page templates, WooCommerce handles catalogue and checkout, and the designer plugin adds the upload-or-design step and the print-ready file.

Four pieces work together once the installer finishes:

  • Cmsmart Parallax Store 2.0.0 (child theme, folder printstores-parallax) — the parallax home page and section styling, on the shared Cmsmart Stores 2.0.0 parent theme.
  • WooCommerce — products, cart, checkout, payments and shipping zones; see WordPress's own Site Editor documentation for how block themes structure headers, footers and templates.
  • Cmsmart Product Designer (formerly NBDesigner) 2.18.4 — the online product designer plugin, added to each printable product with its own printing options, upload-or-design choice and print-ready output.
  • Sample data — demo pages, menus and 21 printable products so the store runs like the live demo from the first minute, with placeholder photography you replace with your own.
WordPress Appearance Themes screen showing Cmsmart Parallax Store active next to its Cmsmart Stores parent theme
Appearance › Themes after Store Setup v2 finishes: Cmsmart Parallax Store is active, with the Cmsmart Stores parent theme installed alongside it.

Cmsmart insight: keep the parent theme (Cmsmart Stores) installed but inactive. Every Cmsmart store child theme reads shared templates from it, so removing the parent to "tidy up" themes breaks the child theme's layout.

How do you complete your Parallax WooCommerce store setup in the first hour?

After Store Setup v2 finishes, Cmsmart Parallax Store already has sample pages, menus and 21 printable products; your first hour is spent replacing the sample branding, checking the Cmsmart Product Designer tab on your products, and turning on payments, shipping and your store address.

  1. Confirm the theme: Appearance › Themes shows Cmsmart Parallax Store active.
  2. Set your logo and header links in the Site Editor's Header template part.
  3. Update the footer template part: company links, legal pages and the newsletter block.
  4. Check Settings › General: site title and tagline.
  5. Review Pages › All Pages: the demo import's Home, Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account, About and Contact pages.
  6. Open Products › All Products and replace sample cards with your own range, or edit the sample prices to match your price list.
  7. On a printable product, open the Cmsmart Product Designer settings (design areas, sides, templates) and the printing options (paper, finish, quantity breaks).
  8. Decide, per product, whether buyers design online, upload a print-ready file, or both.
  9. Turn on a payment method under WooCommerce › Settings › Payments.
  10. Set shipping zones and rates under WooCommerce › Settings › Shipping.
  11. Set your store address and currency under WooCommerce › Settings › General.
  12. Place one test order end to end before you tell customers the store is live.

Branding: logo, colours, header and footer

The header and footer are WordPress template parts, edited in the Site Editor rather than a classic theme options page: swap the Site Logo block, adjust the menu, and the accent colour and section backgrounds follow from there. The full walkthrough of recommended plugins and site-editor settings lives in Customise a Cmsmart Store.

WordPress Site Editor open on the Cmsmart Parallax Store header template part, with Site Logo and Main menu blocks
Site Editor › Patterns › Template Parts › Header: where the logo and main menu are set for the whole store.

Pages, menus and products

The demo import adds the pages a print shop needs on day one — Home, Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account, About, Contact and more — plus 21 sample products already sorted into business cards, postcards, flyers, envelopes and appointment cards.

WordPress Pages list showing the pages created by the Cmsmart Parallax Store demo import
Pages › All Pages after the demo import: the storefront pages are already there, ready to edit or keep as is.
WordPress Products list with the Cmsmart Parallax Store demo catalogue of business cards and marketing print
Products › All Products: the sample catalogue, with every row carrying a Cmsmart design checkbox.

The Cmsmart Product Designer tab on your products

Every printable product carries a "Setting Cmsmart" box (design sides, templates, DPI) and an "NBD options" box (which printing-option set it uses) — together they set the design areas, paper and finish choices, and the choice between designing online and uploading a print-ready file.

Cmsmart Product Designer settings on a WooCommerce product: Front and back design areas, modern editor layout, 300 DPI
A product's Setting Cmsmart box: Front and back design areas, the modern editor layout and a 300 DPI output setting.
Cmsmart NBD options box showing the printing option set and product categories for a business card product
The NBD options box: Enable Printing option, which option set this product uses, and its catalogue categories.

On the storefront, that setup becomes a live editor: buyers click Start Design, choose "design here online" or upload their own file, and Cmsmart Product Designer automatically produces a print-ready PDF that matches the order on Process, instead of a separate file someone has to build by hand (version 2.17 extended that match to custom-size products) — see the Cmsmart Product Designer user guides for the full toolset.

Cmsmart Product Designer open on a business card product, with Templates, Text, Cliparts and Layers tools
The online designer opened from a product page: template, text, clipart, photo and layer tools, with Process and Preflight Check at the top.

Payments, shipping, store address and currency

WooCommerce's own settings carry the money side of the store: payment methods, shipping regions, and the address and currency used for tax and shipping.

WooCommerce General settings showing store address, selling locations and currency options
WooCommerce › Settings › General: store address, selling locations and currency.
WooCommerce Payments settings listing WooPayments, PayPal Payments and offline payment options
WooCommerce › Settings › Payments: turn on at least one method before you take real orders (see WooCommerce's own payments documentation).
WooCommerce Shipping settings showing a United States shipping zone with standard shipping and free shipping over a threshold
WooCommerce › Settings › Shipping: a shipping zone with standard shipping and a free-shipping threshold (see WooCommerce's shipping zones guide).

Test order checklist

  • Start a design or upload a file on a designable product, and confirm the price updates with paper, finish and quantity choices.
  • Add it to the cart and confirm shipping and tax calculate for a real address.
  • Complete checkout with a real or offline payment method.
  • Check the order lands in WooCommerce › Orders with the design attached and the admin email arrives.

Go-live checklist

  • Logo, header and footer updated; sample tagline cleared.
  • Your own products and prices in place, or sample products reviewed and kept on purpose.
  • Printing options and the design-online / upload choice checked on every printable product.
  • At least one payment method active and a shipping zone covering where you sell.
  • Store address and currency set under WooCommerce › Settings › General.
  • One full test order placed and checked end to end.

What should a print shop change first in the Parallax Store?

Print shops get the most from the Parallax Store by putting their own press-floor photography in the hero sections, pointing "design help" at both the online designer and file upload, and using the live-text offer banner for real seasonal promotions instead of the sample discount copy.

  • Swap the hero and section photos for your own print floor or finished stock — stock photography sells the layout, not your shop.
  • Keep both "design online" and "upload your file" open on business-card and postcard products: some buyers already have a print-ready PDF, others want the templates.
  • Use the parallax sections for what they are built for — one offer, one featured range, one "need help?" prompt per section, not your whole catalogue on the home page.

Cmsmart insight: set DPI and bleed once, in the Setting Cmsmart box, rather than per template. Business-card and postcard buyers rarely know what "0.125 in bleed" means; the product description can say it in plain language while the designer enforces it.

Video thumbnail: How to download Cmsmart Product Designer and kickstart your ecommerce fast
Video: How to Download Cmsmart Product Designer & Kickstart Your Ecommerce Fast (Cmsmart on YouTube).
Cmsmart Parallax Store home page on a mobile screen, with the sale banner and Latest Prints section stacked
The same parallax sections on a 390px mobile screen: sections stack instead of scrolling sideways.

What's the business value of getting this right?

A properly set-up Cmsmart Parallax Store turns phone and email print orders into specified, paid checkouts, and each step from branding to the first live order is something you can track: time to go live, time to first real order, and what each order is worth to your shop.

BenefitHow it shows up in your businessKPI to track
Orders arrive specified, not described over the phoneFewer reprints from misunderstood paper, size or finish choicesReprint rate per month
Buyers design or upload any time, not just during opening hoursOrders start outside staff hours instead of waiting for a call-backShare of orders placed outside business hours
Printing options and the price matrix are visible before checkoutFewer abandoned quote requestsQuote-to-order conversion rate
One storefront replaces manual quoting for repeat itemsStaff time freed from re-quoting the same productsStaff hours per week on quoting

Rough payback, in your own numbers: (hours saved on quoting per week × your hourly staff cost) + (reprints avoided per month × cost per reprint) − (hosting and plan cost per month) = the monthly value of running the store properly. Plug in your own figures; shop size and product mix vary too much for an industry-wide average to mean anything.

Cmsmart Parallax StoreGeneric WooCommerce theme
Print-shop home page layoutParallax photo sections built for offers and featured print productsBuild the layout yourself or hire someone to
Product designer / upload-your-fileCmsmart Product Designer bundled on every printable productAdd and configure a separate plugin
Sample catalogue to start from21 print products with categories already setStart from zero products
Printing options (paper, finish, quantity)Built into the product designer's NBD options boxNeeds a separate options or variations plugin

What can Cmsmart build on top of the Parallax Store?

Beyond what Store Setup v2 installs, Cmsmart builds the project-specific work a growing print shop needs: a price list turned into a tuned price matrix, ERP or MIS integration with production, and migration from another platform, each one scoped to your own catalogue and process rather than sold as a generic add-on.

  • Print pricing setup: your paper, finish and quantity price list turned into option sets and price-matrix rules — built as a pricing-engine project.
  • Catalogue and filters: category filters and faster catalogue loading once you are past the sample products and into a few hundred SKUs.
  • ERP, CRM and print-supplier integrations: connect orders straight to your production system instead of re-keying them.
  • Migration: bring products, customers and order history from Shopify, Magento or another platform.

Delivery follows the same path on every project — discovery, solution design, build in sprints, QA, launch and support — see Cmsmart Ecommerce Projects.

Get a custom store-setup quote

Prefer Cmsmart to do the install and demo import for you? See Store Setup and Demo Import.

Why Cmsmart for your print shop's store?

Cmsmart has built ecommerce and web-to-print stores since 2012 as a Netbase JSC division, with over 6,300 client projects and 1,800+ stores live today, the same team and the same Cmsmart Product Designer plugin behind the Parallax Store you just set up in this guide.

  • In business since 2012, with 6,300+ client projects and 4,600+ delivered.
  • 1,800+ live stores running today, in 80+ countries.
  • Rated 4.2 on Trustpilot (404 reviews).
  • Real delivery work across web-to-print and WooCommerce: see Cmsmart Projects and the web-to-print solutions hub.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my own products instead of the sample catalogue?

Yes. The sample catalogue runs from the first minute; replace the 21 sample products with your own range at any pace, or edit their prices, descriptions and printing options and keep the structure.

Which plan activates the Cmsmart Parallax Store?

A Cmsmart Fullstore plan activates every Cmsmart Store, including Parallax, or you can start a free 30-day trial key from the dashboard. Current plans are on Cmsmart Pricing.

Can I change the colours, logo and layout without touching code?

Yes. Branding and layout are edited in the WordPress Site Editor — logo, header, footer and section content — without touching theme files. See Customise a Cmsmart Store for recommended settings.

Do customers have to design online, or can they upload a print-ready file?

Both, per product. The Setting Cmsmart box turns online design and file upload on or off independently, so a business-card listing can offer "design here online" and "upload your own file" side by side.

What happens to the sample data when I go live?

Remove it from Cmsmart › Store Setup when ready; sample products, orders, customers and pages are flagged as samples so they clear in one step rather than product by product.