How to Create an NFT? (The Beginner’s Guide)

In recent years, you must’ve certainly heard many stories about artists making tens of billions of dollars by selling just one NFT, or non-fungible token. Unsurprisingly, NFTs have been gaining a lot of attention lately. In fact, according to DappRadar, trading in NFTs exponentially grew from $100 million in 2020 to a whopping $22 billion in 2021. As of now, the collective value of the top 100 NFTs stands at an impressive $16.7 billion.

Have you wondered what exactly an NFT is, and how can you create an NFT?

The concept of NFT itself can be somewhat confusing to understand. Therefore, we have presented everything you need to know about NFTs, along with a guide to creating and minting your own NFT, in this article.

What exactly is an NFT?

Non-fungible tokens, NFTs for short, are digital assets with a unique identity that are kept and verified on a digital ledger known as a blockchain. The term “non-fungible” refers to the fact that it is not possible to readily exchange these tokens for another asset of similar value.

Commonly used NFT assets include videos, images, GIFs, music, and various collectibles.

NFTs are valuable because of a special property they possess – there’s only one version of the assets made. In other words, each NFT can only have one owner at a time – it is not possible for anyone else to change its ownership or mint the same NFT on the blockchain. By virtue of this uniqueness, the creators or owners of NFTs are able to set their own rates for their assets.

Learn more about the basics of NFTs here

How exactly do NFTs work?

Basically, NFTs involve the creation of digital tokens using a technique known as cryptography.

In order to mint NFTs, you typically need to pay for creating smart contracts using cryptocurrency. In case you don’t know, smart contracts are essentially fragments of software code that the blockchain uses to store information in a transparent and secure manner. It is these codes that ultimately manage the ownership and transferability of NFTS.

Who can create an NFT?

As surprising as it may sound, anyone who has even a modest amount of money to spend can successfully create an NFT. Modern NFT platforms provide tools to help users create all kinds of NFTs and attach unlockable content to their files as well. It doesn’t matter whether you are an artist, entrepreneur, musician, collector, or business owner – you can easily create your personalized NFT using any of the minting tools available on NFT marketplaces.

Examples of some popular NFTs

Before we learn how to create NFTs, here are some of the most popular NFTs in the world:

1. Nyan Cat GIF
2. Everydays: the First 5000 Days
3. Doge NFT
4. Bored Ape Yacht Club
5. Mutant Ape Yacht Club
6. CryptoPunks
7. MonkeyBall

Beginner’s guide to creating an NFT

In this section, I’ve covered the fundamental steps to creating your own NFTs. Depending on the tools you use, there are several different ways of doing this. Therefore, we suggest using these tips as general suggestions and not as a comprehensive guide.

1. Decide the kind of NFT you wish to create

NFTs are highly diverse – they range from videos, images, events, and memes to games, music, and virtual items. It is even possible to create an NFT for real-life items such as a photo signed by a celebrity or a rare collectible action figurine. Go through all of these options and decide what type of NFT you’d like to create.

NFTs are usually in the form of audio, video, or image files, such as .jpg, .png, .mov, .mp4, and so on.

You don’t really need to be a skilled developer in order to create a simple NFT. However, if your NFT is a more complicated item (such as a game) or has a complicated smart contract, then you may require the help of a professional developer.

While creating your very first NFT, you must think about how you can provide value to your audience. For example, business owners can try creating an exclusive promo code or loyalty card. Also, you can hire a professional artist to create custom art for you.

2. Select an NFT marketplace

Once you are ready to mint your NFT, you can choose from a wide range of NFT marketplaces. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages for sellers. Therefore, you must do proper research before making a selection. Three of the most popular marketplaces are Rarible, OpenSea, and SolSea.

By using these platforms, you will find it easier to enter the world of NFTs. Some of them, such as Rarible and OpenSea, allow for shortcuts like lazy minting, while others mandate you to authenticate or write your NFT on the blockchain.

Lazy minting lets you evade fees by putting your NFT up for sale without writing it on the blockchain. If it happens to be purchased, then you can then pass that fee to the buyer.

Fees, often referred to as “gas”, are one of the most crucial considerations for beginners.

Depending on how you want to mint and sell your NFT, every marketplace has its own fees.

For example, you need to pay a fee of up to $100 for initializing your account at OpenSea.

3. Create a crypto wallet

You need a digital wallet to store your NFTs and cryptocurrencies. When selecting your wallet, you must check whether it is compatible with the NFT marketplace and blockchain you plan to use to mint your NFTs.

Although there are plenty of crypto wallets available today, NFT creators usually prefer to use the MetaMask browser extension wallet.

It is easy to set up and readily connects to most blockchains popularly used to create and trade NFTs, such as Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain.

Other commonly used wallets include AlphaWallet, Trust Wallet, and Enjin.

Most NFT wallets, being browser-based, are as safe as the underlying browser you are using.

If you’d like to have enhanced security, we suggest going for a hardware wallet such as Ledger Nano X.

Such wallets store your private keys offline and use them to manage various NFT assets and coins on blockchains.

4. Purchase crypto through an exchange

After creating a wallet, you need to buy some cryptocurrency to pay the gas fees for minting your NFTs.

For this purpose, we suggest creating an account with a reputable exchange such as Crypto.com, Binance, or Kraken. It’s a pretty straightforward process that you can easily complete on your mobile phone itself. When your account is ready, sign in and purchase the cryptocurrency.

Depending on the blockchain you want to mint, you will have to buy Ethereum (ETH) or Solana (SOL) coins for NFT minting. Transfer the coins to your wallet that you created previously when you’ve finished. For that, you just need to follow the steps given below:

1. Sign in to an exchange.
2. In the top or bottom navigation, open the Wallets tab.
3. Tap “Withdraw” and select the appropriate currency.
4. In the Address field, enter your wallet address.
5. Select the relevant network: ERC-20 for ETH and Solana for SOL.
6. Enter the required amount and tap “Withdraw”.

5. Connect your wallet to the NFT platform and proceed to mint

Once you’ve topped up your wallet, you must connect it to the NFT platform you want to use to create your digital asset.

Let’s say you decide to use Rarible.com; in that case, you just need to follow the steps given below:

1. Visit Rarible.com and click the “Connect Wallet” button in the right corner of the screen.
2. Choose your digital wallet and allow Rarible to view your accounts.
3. Click “Connect” and accept the terms of service and age confirmation.
4. Go back to Rarible’s homepage and click the “Create” button at the top right.
5. Choose whether you want to create a single digital copy of your NFT or multiple copies to sell the same item several times.
6. Upload the digital file you wish to mint as an NFT.
7. Choose how you wish to mint your NFT file. Note that it isn’t compulsory to put it on sale while creating it; you may put it on sale and set a minimum price after minting it.
8. Choose whether you’d like to offer a full high-resolution version of your NFT or use a secret webpage or download link to add unlockable content.
9. When asked, choose Rarible as the collection for the NFT.
10. Add an apt title and description for your NFT art.
11. Decide a certain percentage of royalties you wish to receive for secondary sales.
12. Specify your NFT file’s properties, such as size in pixels and color, and click “Create Item”.
13. Approve the transaction in your crypto wallet.
14. Click on Confirm > Upload File and mint token.
15. Proceed to confirm contract integration in your wallet. Note that the creation of the smart contract will result in a tiny gas fee being charged.
16. Click “Sign In” in your wallet and sign a sell order.

Congratulations – you’ve successfully minted your NFT! You can find the newly created NFT by clicking on Profile>My Items; your NFT collectibles will turn up on your screen over there.

What is the cost of minting an NFT?

The cost of minting an NFT usually depends on website and gas fees. For example, you may have to pay around $70 to secure the NFT on the Ethereum blockchain. Although some websites do allow users to list NFTs for free, site fees tend to average around $300.

Is it possible to mint an NFT for free?

Yes, it is possible as long as your NFT platform of choice supports lazy minting. That process generates metadata for an NFT without actually creating a token of the NFT itself.

The NFT is officially minted when someone buys it, and the buyer is charged with the gas fee incurred.

Conclusion

NFTs may sound quite complicated and intimidating when you first hear about them. Many people feel that it is nearly impossible to break into the market themselves. However, it is very much possible with dedicated research, creativity, and persistence. If you do everything right, then you may very well be on the path to becoming a millionaire!