Non-automated email workflow
The email workflow is available on WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Shopify, and Etsy.
With this method, personalization happens after the customer places their order:
The customer purchases a personalizable product from your store.
Gelato receives the order and sets the status to Pending Personalization.
Gelato automatically sends the customer a unique email link 15 minutes after the order is received.
The customer opens the link, accesses the personalization editor, and submits their customization.
Once complete, the order moves to fulfillment (or to Pending Approval if you have manual approval enabled).
A few things to keep in mind:
The personalization link expires after 7 days. After expiry, a new link is sent automatically.
If the customer never completes personalization, the order will not be fulfilled unless you manually approve it.
If an order contains both personalized and non-personalized products, none of the items are sent for fulfillment until personalization is complete.
Customers can upload their own images when using this workflow (available on Shopify; coming soon to other platforms).
Automated Etsy personalization
Automated Etsy personalization is available on Etsy only.
With this method, personalization happens at the point of purchase — no email, no waiting:
You set up your product design with clearly labeled text fields (e.g., "Name," "Date," "Message") in Gelato's design editor and enable the personalization layer.
The customer fills in those fields directly on the Etsy listing before completing checkout.
Gelato automatically reads the order details and applies the customer's input to the designated text fields.
The order proceeds to fulfillment (manually or automatically, based on your settings).
Key differences at a glance
| Email workflow | Automated Etsy personalization |
Platforms | WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Shopify, Etsy | Etsy only |
When customer personalizes | After purchase, via email link | At checkout, on the Etsy listing |
Personalization types supported | Text and images | Text only |
Risk of drop-off | Yes — customer must act on the email | No — collected at time of purchase |
Order held until personalized? | Yes | No |
Common misconception: can customers upload images with automated personalization?
No — automated Etsy personalization supports text only.
This is a frequent point of confusion. Because the email workflow allows customers to upload their own images (on Shopify), some sellers assume the automated workflow has the same capability. It does not.
Automated Etsy personalization reads the text fields a customer fills in at checkout and applies them to your design. Image uploads are not supported in this flow.
If you need customers to supply their own images, use the email workflow instead.
Which workflow should I use?
If you sell on Etsy and want the smoothest, most hands-off experience with no risk of customers missing the personalization step — use automated Etsy personalization.
If you need to support image uploads, or you sell on any platform other than Etsy, use the email workflow.
On Etsy and Shopify, both options are available and you can choose whichever fits your setup.