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@lizziecat1279
hello! so i want to start a adoptable shop but i'm having a little problem with the gene recoloring, how i'm i supposed to do that?
i got to say that i'm kinda new to digital art stuff.

@kyoi to have gene tenplates you'll need a program that supports layers. Photoshop, csp, gimp, sai, and many other programs like those contain layer features
Once you have drawn your genes on the appropriate layer (above base colors but below lineart/shading) then you need to lock transparent pixels or lock opacity. The exact name of this button changes depending on what program you're using, but it will essentially make it so that you can recolor things freely!

If you need more explanation or need help with your specific art program let me know ^^

@lizziecat1279 I just wanted to say thank you for making this; it's a huge help. Also, I hope it's not too much of a bother to ask, but I honestly have no clue how to price these adopts. I was thinking somewhere around 20kt, but someone suggested 35-45kt, so I really don't know. Do you have a suggestion? [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/TEK2PzY.png[/img][/center]

@myriadofstars Sorry in advance for the oncoming textwall, I'm gonna try and work through my own pricing process "out loud" as it were.

So first off these borbs are pretty simple, so I would max out a base price around 50kt personally. That said, you are doing genes with them. If genes are included in the base price (free genes) then you can get away with having your actual base price higher.
If genes are an add-on then you'll want to have a lower base price around 30kt so that you can easily say things like tiger is +10kt, lionfish is +15kt, etc. I personally priced my own adopts at 20kt base (so triple basic/underbelly was otherwise free) so that I could add whatever add-ons I wanted. Of course, this method can get pretty pricy (example: a tiger/eyespot/gembond tundra would go from 20kt up to 37.5kt before apparel was added. Adding 3 pieces of apparel would bring it up to 52.5kt). Skins and apparel would also be an additional charge, and certain forms of iri/shim would cost more as well since I was drawing those custom every time.

Of course all of THAT applies more if you're premaking your genes (and apparel, if that's included at all). If you're doing them custom every time then a flat charge for genes+accents/skins would be a good way to do things. I know there was a pixel adopt shop that did it like that since the models were too small to premake all the genes in a way that would always work.
If you're doing this method I think I would say 30kt base price, +20kt at least for any additions

tl;dr I think I personally would price these at 20kt if you're going to have gene/apparel/accent/skin add-ons, 50kt if most/all genes are included in the base price, and 30-35kt if basic is free but then there's a flat charge for more complicated adopts.

Also blz put me on a pinglist whenever you make your shop these are way too cute and I have a childe that I need with this base >u<

Question: Are you considering breed differences or are they all the same bird? Good adopt either way!

@lizziecat1279 First off, thank you so much for the wonderful response! It makes so much sense. And yeah, I definitely didn't plan on going above 50kt for a base price (unless I add skins/accents/apparel, which would obviously raise the price). Which do you think would be better: having a 20kt base price with add-on genes, or having a price that doesn't really change for genes (except for sponsoring)? I've seen both, but I'm not sure which is most popular.

And of course I'll put you on a pinglist; thank you so much! I honestly hadn't thought about breed differences, I was thinking of doing them all the same bird. But I could probably add different birds later on (like one with horns, or one with a raptor beak). And aaah, thank you so much for the compliment, it really made my day!

@myriadofstars I feel they're both equally valid ways to go

The cheaper base price with add-ons ends up feeling a lot more fair since you're only paying for what you're getting, but even if you make your customers do the math for you I've ended up rechecking their math to the point where I literally just made a google sheets calculator for myself (check the breed tabs at the bottom to see how exactly it works) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E-vk27WxeFulMMzSckGpWAyKY0uPboRRao9J9nsHqkI/edit?usp=sharing

So, on the other hand the "genes are included" method is much much simpler, but there's the possibility of losing customers that don't want to pay more for their simple dragons + gaining customers that have more complicated designs for you to do.

re: breed differences - I was mostly thinking same bird base but say for fae have a little fin thing going on, or for tundra have some extra fluff, that sort of thing! Again, no pressure since I do really like the current base that you have ^u^b

//edit Said more simply: The method you choose should be based on how much work you're willing to do regarding an adopt shop ^u^

@lizziecat1279 Ah, that makes sense thank you. I might just do the cheaper base price with add-ons, since that lets people choose what genes/etc. they want. And yeah, the calculator sounds like a great idea!

Also, I never thought of that! That sounds really cute. Maybe I'll try adding more breeds later on; at the moment, I think I'll stick to my current base. Thank you for the idea though, I never would've thought of that!