How to Make a 10,000 NFT Collection, Step by Step, Free

1. Plan your traits

Count the choices in each folder and multiply: that is the most different NFTs your traits can make. For 10,000 you want many times that, because rules, rare traits and traits that hide others all cut the real number. Six folders of 8, 6, 15, 10, 8 and 12 traits make 691,200. How many traits do you need? has the full maths.

2. Prepare your folders

One folder per trait type, the images directly inside, and all the folders in one parent folder. A number in front of a folder name sets the layer order, and #N in a file name sets a starting weight:

My collection/
  01_Background/
    Sky.png
    Sunset#10.png
  02_Body/
    Puff.png
  03_Headwear/
    Crown#2.png
    Bucket hat.png
  1 of 1/
    The original.png

Draw every trait on the same canvas size, with transparent backgrounds on every layer but the bottom one. How to prepare NFT trait layers covers sizes, names and the checklist.

3. Sign in and import the parent folder

Open the studio and sign in with an email or a wallet: it’s free, with no password, and you don’t need a wallet. Choose the parent folder, or drop it on the page. The studio reads every image on your device, notes identical images and odd sizes, then asks for the collection name, an optional NFT name and the collection size.

4. Put the layers in order

In the Traits tab, the layer at the top of the list is drawn in front. Folders arrive sorted by name, so 01_Background sits at the back. Drag a layer, or use its arrow controls, to move it.

5. Set rarity: weights, exact counts, None

Each trait has a weight (how common it is next to the others in its folder) or an exact count (how many NFTs get it). “Add empty trait” adds a None choice, for NFTs without that layer. Each trait shows how many NFTs will get it. NFT trait rarity for creators explains the rounding.

6. Add never-together rules

In the Rules tab, choose “This trait” and “This other trait”, then Add rule. The studio checks that every rule, count and uniqueness demand can be met together, and names the trait when one can’t.

7. Add 1 of 1s

Finished artworks go in the 1 of 1s tab, or in a “1 of 1” folder at import. Each appears once, counts toward the 10,000, and can be mixed throughout or placed at the end. How to add 1 of 1s.

8. Name and number your NFTs

The Metadata tab holds the NFT name, “Name numbering starts at”, “File numbering starts at”, the file extension, the description and the “Images folder address”. The address can wait until your images are hosted. A peek at your first metadata file updates as you type.

9. Preview and shuffle

The Preview tab shows your actual planned artworks, in export order. Shuffle picks a new seed and deals a fresh collection. The same traits, layer order, rules, counts and seed always give the same collection, so keep the seed (it’s in the Settings tab) and a project backup.

10. Choose PNG or JPEG and the width

In the Settings tab, “Output format” is PNG (keeps transparency) or JPEG (on a white background), and “Output width” is anything from 64 to 8,192 pixels, or empty for your traits’ own size. The shape of your traits is kept.

11. Build it: on this device or in the cloud

Press Generate collection. The export step offers two ways to build, both free.

On this device

Every image is made in your browser and nothing is uploaded. Keep the tab open until it’s done. A ZIP made in memory can hold up to 512 MB; in browsers that support it, “Save directly to disk” writes a bigger collection straight into a file. The studio suggests the cloud when a collection looks too big for your device.

In the cloud

Meant for phones, slower computers and heavy collections of up to 10,000. Your trait images are uploaded once, and a dropped connection picks up where it stopped. A fast machine builds every image, and you can close the tab once the upload is done. You get one ZIP laid out exactly like a device build, an option to save it straight into a folder, and a private link that opens the build from any browser. Anyone with that link can open it, so share it with care.

The cloud limits are settings on our side and can change. The export step always shows the current ones.

12. Check what’s in the ZIP

Both ways give the same layout:

Puff-Editions.zip
  images/                1.png … 10000.png
  json/                  1.json … 10000.json
  _metadata.json         every NFT’s metadata in one file
  rarity.csv             how often each trait landed
  opensea_Metadata.csv   OpenSea’s drop spreadsheet
  nft-generator.json     your settings, to bring back later
  README.txt             what’s inside, and the seed

The README also tells you if any two finished images came out identical.

13. Upload your images and set the address

Puffles doesn’t host files. Upload the images/ folder to a host you choose (IPFS, Arweave or your own https:// server), then put the folder’s address into the metadata: in the Metadata tab (then Download metadata), in My collections with “Update metadata in a finished export”, or, after a cloud build, on the build page. Set your NFT image address goes through each.

14. Mint it somewhere else

Puffles doesn’t mint or deploy a contract. Point your own contract at the json/ folder, or take the images and opensea_Metadata.csv to an OpenSea drop, whose upload takes “up to 15,000 files” (OpenSea Help), so 10,000 fits. See the OpenSea metadata format and the drop CSV.

15. Keep two backups

Projects are saved in your browser, and browser data can be cleared. From My collections, download a project backup (your traits and settings, to edit later or move to another device), and keep the finished ZIP (the output). They are different files, and you want both.

The limits in one place