The application range of NFT technology is constantly expanding and, therefore, attracting novice investors. This often happens against the backdrop of news about another multi-million dollar sale of a digital painting or collectible item.
Today, we’ve prepared an NFT guide for beginners, which will help you to find out how to create NFT art, what NFT tokens are, and how to make money on them. Let’s get started!
How Does NFT Technology Work?
Before we find out how to create NFT digital art, let’s start with a definition. NFT stands for a non-fungible token. When an asset is fungible, then its units are completely equivalent to each other. For example, if you exchange one $100 bill for another, nothing will change. The same goes for BTC, ETH, and other common cryptocurrencies.
And non-fungible tokens are distinguished by the fact that each of them is unique. NFTs run on a blockchain, so all their movements from one user to another are easy to trace.
A smart contract that powers NFTs encodes unique ownership of each buyer. If we draw an analogy with the real world, then we can recall certificates of ownership of works of art, confirming their authenticity.
Key Features of NFT Tokens
The most common are NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, which comply with an ERC-721 standard, but there are also analogs on other blockchains to create NFT art — BSC, Solana, Tezos, Flow, Polygon, etc.
NFTs allow artists and designers a new way to monetize their creativity. Some NFTs sell for thousands, even millions of dollars, especially if famous people create them.
Although NFT uses blockchain, it is difficult to call these assets cryptocurrencies. This is due to non-fungibility, which is a key difference.
Since 2021, investing in digital art in this format has become very popular, but in fact, the technology has been used since 2014.
Where to Use NFT Tokens?
Here are a few examples of the use of NFTs in various areas and directions that are already available. In the future, their number will only grow.
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- Game industry. Axie Infinity and other blockchain games are actively using the technology. Players receive full ownership of all in-game items they produce or buy and can trade them in domestic or foreign markets.
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- Metaverses. It’s a virtual world that can serve as a place for storing and evaluating works of art, advertising platforms, and a space for interaction between users (like a social network, but with VR and AR technologies).
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- Digital land. Metaverses such as Decentraland, The Sandbox, or Cryptovoxels consist of a limited number of virtual land plots that you can use as you wish. The fewer land plots left for free sale, the more expensive they become, especially given the increased demand.
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- Branded items. Many popular brands such as Dolce & Gabbana or Auroboros are already actively using technological solutions, including augmented reality and NFT technologies. Tokens create new ways to monetize and invest in fashion and help track authenticity of items.
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- Decentralized finance. Some services allow you to leave NFT as collateral to get a loan in cryptocurrency. You can buy back your token at any time.
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- Tickets sale and discount coupons. Such a token can even give additional rights (exclusive access to works of art, free snacks at a concert, etc.), as well as provide monetization for artists.
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- Organization of exhibitions and other events in virtual reality. It’s a good way to use NFTs, which have already been appreciated by many artists, collectors, and brands.
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- Inalienable ownership of digital objects. An example is ENS, domain names on the Ethereum network. In theory, you can mint an account in the NFT format on any social network, a separate post on Twitter, a graduation diploma from an educational institution, and much more.
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- Rewards for followers and fans on social media. It’s still poorly realized, but a very promising direction of social interactions on the Internet. NFTs can take into account variables such as reputation, credibility, and ability to curate and create worthwhile content, which will determine their value.
Also, there are many other exciting options, ranging from healthcare (protecting the confidentiality of medical records, tracking the supply chains of medicines), ending with digitalization of everything physical.
Create NFT Art: Best Marketplaces to Know
Marketplaces and NFT exchanges or platforms are services that allow users to create digital NFT art, sell them, or buy other users’ assets and build collections.
Examples of popular marketplaces:
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- Rarible
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- Mintable
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- SuperRare
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- Bybit NFT
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- Valuables
There are also marketplaces where you cannot create your own NFT art, and the range is limited to one single collection. For example, CryptoPunks.
How to Create NFT Digital Art: Key Steps to Know
How to create art for NFT? Well, creating an NFT token on the blockchain is available to almost everyone. There are special platforms for this, and the process is incredibly simple. However, it should be noted that placing a token on the blockchain is considered a transaction, which means that a transaction fee must be paid. Today, Ethereum network fees are quite high for beginners. So, how can I create NFT art? Let’s find out!
How Do You Create NFT Art on OpenSea?
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create NFT art for beginners:
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- Decide on a format. You can turn almost any digital asset into NFT, but only the one that you personally created — a picture, animation, video, or audio. The size is usually limited (up to 100 MB). Minting an NFT based on an asset that you don’t own can get you into legal trouble.
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- Choose a blockchain. The most popular is Ethereum, but if you want to save on fees, look to other options like Binance Smart Chain or Tezos.
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- Create and replenish a digital wallet. To connect to a decentralized app, you need a web3 wallet. Examples of wallets that can be used are Metamask, MathWallet, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet. But if you use a centralized platform like Binance NFT, then a regular account is enough.
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- Choose a platform. Among the best platforms are OpenSea, Rarible. Explore each platform to identify its pros and cons. Find out what are fees, royalties, supported downloads, etc.
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- Connect to a platform, and go to a creation section. Upload the file you want to mint in NFT format.
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- Set up a sale (you can sell at a fixed price or use an auction system). Specify royalties as a percentage — it’s a profit you will receive in the future after each subsequent sale of your asset by other users.
When setting the price, do not underestimate it too much — it must cover at least network fees — otherwise, you will go into the red. Fees can be very high and depend on many parameters — blockchain downloads and cryptocurrency prices.
Read Next: How to Create NFT Art in 5 Simple Steps: A Complete Guide 2022
How to Make Money on NFTs?
It can be difficult for a beginner to make money on NFTs since paintings and other content of famous artists and brands are in the greatest demand. You need to conduct an active marketing campaign and advertise your creations on social networks.
But there is another way to generate income — these are numerous GameFi projects and metaverses. For example:
The bottom line is that most in-game items are NFTs — weapons, armor, pets, clothes, decorative items, buildings, resources, and many others. All this can be obtained during the game or created using a built-in constructor and then sold on an integrated or any external marketplace.
NFTs are convenient because they are not tied to a specific project but are stored using a wallet and can be sold/transferred in any convenient way. The game administration does not have the ability to manage tokens of a particular user.
Where to Store NFTs?
A wallet for NFT or any cryptocurrency works differently than a regular wallet. It does not store coins but tools for accessing the transaction history that is stored on the blockchain. A wallet, in turn, provides a private key that allows a wallet owner to authorize transactions.
Examples of reliable NFT-enabled wallets:
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- Metamask
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- MathWallet
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- Trust Wallet
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- Coinbase Wallet
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- AlphaWallet
When choosing a wallet, pay attention to what marketplaces it is compatible with and what token standards it supports. Of course, high-level security is important because tokens can be worth thousands of dollars.
Conclusion
NFT technology for beginners may seem complicated, but this is only at first glance. It is not necessary to be a professional blockchain developer to create and use such tokens. On the contrary, a huge number of convenient tools have now been created, allowing users to make NFTs in a few clicks.
How do you create NFT art? Feel free to share your experience in the comments below!
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