Personal, Commercial, Extended
When someone buys a template, they buy permission, not the file itself. The licence defines that permission, and each tier is a product in its own right.
Why the licence comes first
Licences decide who your buyer can be. A personal-only planner sells to individuals. Add a commercial tier and the same file sells to virtual assistants, coaches and agencies who use it for clients. Add an extended tier and print-on-demand sellers can put your graphics on mugs. Same design, three markets.
A clear licence also cuts support email. Most pre-sale questions on template shops are licence questions: "Can I use this for my client?" "Can I sell the printed version?" Answer them in a table before anyone asks.
Licence comparison
| Use | Personal | Commercial | Extended |
|---|---|---|---|
| own_use | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| business_use | No | Yes, own business | Yes |
| client_work | No | Yes, per end product | Yes |
| physical_resale | No | Small runs, often capped | Yes, unlimited or high cap |
| digital_resale | No | No | Only as part of a new product, file not extractable |
| share_source_file | No | No | No |
| typical_price | Base | 2–4× base | 5–10× base |
Personal licence
The personal licence covers the buyer's own non-commercial use: printing a planner, decorating a party, editing a résumé template for their own job hunt. It is your entry tier and should be cheap enough to buy on impulse. State clearly that it does not cover businesses, even a one-person side hustle, otherwise buyers will assume it does.
Commercial licence
The commercial licence lets buyers use the file in a business or for a client. The usual structure is "one end product per licence": a designer can use your brand kit for one client, and buys again for the next. Some sellers allow unlimited client projects but cap physical sales at a number such as 500 units. Whatever you choose, write the number down.
If a limit is not written down, buyers will assume there isn't one.
Extended licence
Extended licences cover products made for resale, especially print-on-demand through services such as Printful or Printify, or templates used inside another seller's product. Price these high, because the buyer's revenue now depends on your work. Always prohibit reselling the file itself, or anything from which it can be extracted, such as a free download or a template that is essentially your file renamed.
What you cannot license
You can only grant rights you hold. Three components regularly trip sellers up:
- Fonts. Desktop font licences often forbid embedding in files for resale. Google Fonts use the SIL Open Font License, which is permissive, but commercial foundry fonts vary.
- Stock images. Many stock licences forbid using photos in templates where the image can be extracted. Check before including any.
- Canva elements. Canva's content licence lets you sell templates as a link, but not export Canva elements as standalone files for resale.
Creative Commons licences such as CC BY 4.0 are designed for sharing, not paid exclusivity. If you build on CC-licensed assets, follow their attribution terms and avoid CC NC material in anything sold.
Writing the licence file
Put a short LICENSE.txt in every ZIP and the same text on your website. Keep it to one screen: who can use it, for what, how many times, what is forbidden, and who to contact. Add the order date and tier name so buyers can prove their rights later.
With the licence written, decide where the file will be sold. Continue to storefronts