Artists: Create and Sell iMessage Stickers in iOS 10

Because stickers go on top of text messages, you'll want to remove background elements from your digital files. In this section, I'll show you how to do that with a free online image editing program called Pixlr. Because many image editing programs work similarly, this lesson should be helpful whether you intend to use Pixlr or another image editing program.

The wand tool helps you remove a fairly plain background more quickly and efficiently, leaving you with an image that's nicely isolated from the background. See how in this lesson.

How do you remove the background from an image you want to use for a sticker when the image has a complex background? Check out this lesson and see.

Do you prefer to use Adobe Photoshop to remove the background from your sticker images? Here's how. Even you intend to use a different program, this lesson will be helpful. Many image editing programs work similarly for the features highlighted in this lesson. 

Remove a more complex background from your sticker images using tools in Adobe Photoshop.

Available in a recent version of Photoshop, the select and mask tool can be a real timesaver when isolating the sticker elements of an image from the background.

Use Photoshop to prepare a photo of some calligraphy to use as a sticker.

What resolution should you set for your image files? The mystery is solved in this section.

Animated artwork can add a fun, quirky, eye-catching aspect to your text messaging stickers, and here I'll walk you through how to prepare your images for creating such animations.

You'll need specific software, called xcode,  to package your artwork into collections of stickers. Good news -- this software is free and available online. This section will walk you through how to get it. 

We'll use the software you just downloaded to start creating a collection of stickers. I'll walk you through every step. Images provided in the resources section of this lesson let you follow along.

There are lots of people with different Apple devices who could purchase your sticker packs. But how do you know how your stickers will look on all the kinds of iPads and iPhones? In this section, I'll show you how to use a simulator to see. It's built into the software you've already downloaded. Warning: This section may prompt spontaneous cries of "way Cool!"

Who would think you could animate your artwork without writing a single line of code or wrangling with software with a steep learning curve? You will, after this lesson.

Your sticker pack will need some artwork to display as an icon on devices and in the App Store for iMessages. This lesson shows you how to create such an icon in the proper format and size.

Learn how to set up a developer account with Apple so you can submit your sticker packs (and other products) for sale in the App Store for iMessage. 

If you plan to charge for your sticker packs, this lesson will show you how to let Apple know where to send your money. This is not needed if you'll offer your sticker packs at no charge.

Associate your iPhone or iPad with your Apple developer account,  then download your sticker pack to your device to see how your sticker pack looks on an actual device. You can then send your own stickers to your friends, whether or not you sell the stickers on the App Store.

Xcode will automatically prepare to send your finished sticker packs. This lesson shows you how. If this all goes well for you, you can skip to the iTunes Connect lesson. The two lessons right after this show you how to manually set things up if xcode's automatic helpers don't work quite right or if you're curious about the behind-the-scenes settings. 

If you're happy with letting xcode prepare your files using the automatic, quick method described in the previous lesson, then you can skip this lesson. However, if you'd like to see how to create those settings yourself -- either because that quick method caused issues, or you're just curious -- this video (and the next one) shows you how to do that. This lesson focuses on creating settings in your developer account.

This lesson, like the last one, is valuable if you don't want to use the quick method of preparing your files for the App Store. If you've gone through the manual steps of the last lesson, then this lesson will show you how to create the necessary matching settings in xcode. 

Here, you'll to learn how to create  screenshots and descriptions so people will want to download your sticker pack, and submit that material -- as well as your sticker pack! -- to the App Store through Apples iTunes Connect site. You can do all that with software you've already used for this course, and I'll go through it step by step. 

You've learned how to create your first sticker pack and submit it to the App Store for iMessage. Congratulations! What's next?