Explained: Generative NFT Art Collections for Dummies

After I put Tech Rats 🐭 on @opensea last week, I got a lot of questions/DMs asking how I did it. I taught myself/Googled everything but here’s my guide: ✨Generative NFT Art Collections 4 Dummies✨ Step by step instructions on what I did as a non-technical beginner

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert. There’s probably an easier way to do this, but this is what I could find online and do with my limited skill set 🙂 STEP 1: Decide on what kind of project you want to work on. I was inspired by Pudgy Penguins but you don’t have to stick to animals.

STEP 2: Start creating all the layers for your pieces. I used Adobe Illustrator for this. You can use other programs as well, but Illustrator worked the best for my concept.

What do I mean by layers? Here’s an example breakdown: Layer 1: Background -10 colors Layer 2: Animal Body -5 colors Layer 3: Head accessory -10 items Layer 4: Face accessory -10 items The random combination of these layers results in thousands of unique images.

In this case you’d need to create: – 10 images of 10 background colors – 5 images of your animal in 5 different colors (transparent background) -10 images of head accessories (just accessories nothing else) -10 images of face accessories (just accessories nothing else)

Video Brief Overview 1. Download GitHub folder, Node.js, Visual Studio 2. Swap out your images with ones in GitHub folder, modify code, order layers 3. Set the number of images you want created (ie 100, 500, 1K, etc.) 4. Run it 5. Your files will appear in the output folder

STEP 4: Minting & Listing NFTs Ok so this is where it gets a little tricky. From my research, I found 3 options 1. Your own smart contract (what most do, hard for non-technical folks) 2. Automation software (ie Leapwork & create a flow) 3. Manually (time-consuming but easy)

For a non-technical beginner the easiest option seems to be to just create a smaller collection (50-100 images) and manually list them. If you’re really set on a bigger collection, you can spend more time exploring the first two options or find a friend who can help 🙂

STEP 5: Make an @opensea account. OpenSea charges a one-time registration fee. I paid ~$120 Gas fees for each NFT aren’t paid until item sells. Buyers -> pay gas fees when buying fixed-price items Sellers -> pay gas fees when accepting offers

STEP 6: Manual Upload: Create a new collection & add your work to it. You can pick a set price, bid, or other pricing option. And that’s it! You can start selling NFTs from your collection.