One of the most basic elements of creating an NFT is making it from a JPEG. Because most NFTs are based on JPEGs, it will serve you well to know where to start when creating an NFT, and that’s what I’m here to help you with.
Creating an NFT from a JPEG is straightforward, but you might also want to consider some other factors when you’re uploading your JPEGs into NFTs. Here I equip you with practical information about how to make an NFT from a JPEG and will get you thinking about what kind of JPEG you’d like to use for your NFT.
Let’s Convert a JPEG into an NFT!
So, how do you convert a JPEG into an NFT? The answer requires a bit of knowledge about the platforms we’ll be using for this, so I’ll begin with how to set up your Metamask crypto wallet and add funds to it. To create a Metamask wallet:
- Download Metamask at metamask.io.
- Select “Chrome” to install Metamask as a Chrome extension on your desktop.
- Buy funds (digital currency) with a debit card, bank transfer, or Apple Pay.
If you need more info about using Metamask, check out this link. Also, did you know you can buy NFTs with credit cards? Here’s how.
Now you have cryptocurrency in your crypto wallet, which will allow you to carry out various transactions on the blockchain, including minting your first JPEG NFT.
Keep in mind that in order to mint a JPEG NFT, it requires a small minting fee. This is from the cost of processing a transaction and creating a contract on the blockchain, which is referred to as a “gas fee.”
Minting fees are typically highest on Ethereum and less expensive on blockchains like Solana or Polygon. However, there are more potential buyers on the Ethereum network, so this is a trade-off you may want to consider when selecting a blockchain for your JPEG NFT.
If you are curious about the average costs associated with minting an NFT, you will want to check out this article: What is the Average Cost to Mint and Sell an NFT? (Top Marketplace Examples)
Once you have your Metamask crypto wallet set up to hold your digital assets like cryptocurrency and NFTs, you can begin to use the most popular NFT platform – OpenSea. OpenSea is an online marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and this platform makes it easy to upload JPEGs and convert them into NFTs. To convert a JPEG into an NFT on OpenSea:
- Go to your profile icon in the top right corner and click “Create.” This will take you to the NFT item creation page.
- Upload a JPEG file from your computer, name it and add a description.
- You can upload an image file that is a .JPEG but also a .GIF or .PNG.
It’s worth mentioning that you can also upload a video, audio (music NFTs), or 3D model file to make into an NFT, but for the purpose of this article, I’ll focus on JPEG images.
How to Create a Priceless JPEG
So, why are people paying crazy amounts of money for JPEG NFTs when some people claim that anyone can just “Right click and save” to get the image for free? The answer lies not necessarily in what the JPEG is but more so with what comes with the JPEG.
I go deep on “why you can’t just screenshot an NFT” here.
NFTs and Utility
With NFTs, you can add utility to your JPEG NFT, and there is an endless list of possibilities of how you can add utility to your NFT.
I mean, how much utility could there possibly be in an NFT? Well, the answer is that there is no limit to the utility, and some NFT collections are pushing the boundaries of how much value they can bring to their JPEGs.
Take the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, for example. These JPEG NFTs sell for over hundreds of thousands of dollars – but why? The answer is that along with each JPEG comes a crazy amount of utility.
Utility for Bored Ape holders includes free airdrops of additional NFTs, membership into exclusive club parties, and residual income.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club creators even came up with their own currency, called ApeCoin, which they released on currency exchanges and gave to Bored Ape Yacht Club holders.
Each owner of a Bored Ape received over 10,000 ApeCoin, which worked out to over $100,000 at the time. This is the kind of value that you can build into your JPEG if you take the right steps (and have a bit of luck!).
Now, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is an extreme example of how you can take a JPEG and turn it into an incredibly valuable asset through community and brand building. Still, the principles from this example can be applied by you to make your debut JPEG worth more than just an image.
Turn Your JPEG Into an NFT, Then Add Value
By following the steps laid out at the beginning of this article, you know how to practically turn a JPEG into an NFT on the OpenSea platform. This is the platform with the most users and most buyers and a good place to start if you haven’t sold an NFT before.
The next step is to create the perceived value of your JPEG NFT so that it commands a high price when you go to sell it.
One way to add value to your JPEG NFT is to add utility. Now, this doesn’t have to be the degree of utility you’d get with a Bored Ape, but you can add little aspects of utility that will make people want to buy your JPEG NFT more.
For example, if you’re a small business owner, you could create an NFT that acts as a discount on store merchandise. The NFT holder would just show the NFT when they go to buy goods, and that entitles them to a 25% discount on their purchase.
This utility encourages the buyer to hold onto the NFT to continue to get the discount and creates a loyal customer in the process.
Another way to add value to your NFT is to make it rare or scarce. If you’re an artist and you are just uploading one image of one of your prized paintings, this is what NFT lovers call a “1 of 1”.
It means that it’s the only one of its kind, and in some cases, this can make the perceived value of the NFT much higher than it would be if it were part of an extensive collection. It’s a simple case of supply and demand.
Also, creating large collections like Crypto Punks will permit you to create NFTs within the collection that are rarer than others. If this sounds intriguing, check out this quick article, “How to Know if an NFT is Rare: The Ultimate Guide.”
If you’ve already built a name for yourself as an NFT creator or artist, this could allow you to use this street cred to make promises for future benefits for your NFT holder.
For example, if your first NFT has gained traction and increased in value, this could allow you to add utility to the NFT and say that any holder gets free access to future NFT drops.
This can create a compounding effect and add a layer of value to your JPEG NFT. The anticipation of future benefits can create a sense of FOMO (“fear of missing out”) and bump up the demand for your NFT.
Check out “How to Know if an NFT is Already Minted.”
Time To Sell Your NFT
Once you’ve uploaded your JPEG NFT and worked to build up the perceived value of your NFT, it’s time to sell it on OpenSea.io. To do this:
- Navigate to your Profile icon on the top right of the page.
- Select the JPEG NFT that you previously uploaded to your wallet.
- Select “Sell” on the top right of the page. You’ll be taken to the listing page, where you can choose the price and the type of sale.
- You can choose a “Fixed Price” sale in which you set the price or a timed auction. (Learn the different benefits of sale type here.)
- You can also reserve your NFT for a specific buyer if you have arranged a private sale.
- Wait for someone to buy your NFT and collect your crypto!
Now you’re ready to take any JPEG, turn it into an NFT and sell that NFT on the OpenSea marketplace. Remember to add value to your JPEG NFT, and the sky’s the limit on how much you can make from selling it!
Pricing NFTs?
How should you price your JPEG NFT? Determining this takes a bit of intuition and knowing a thing or two about your target customer. Ask yourself – why does my NFT have value? What are some other comparable NFTs, and how are they priced? How long do I want to wait before I sell the NFT, and how much do I want to make from the sale?
If you want to sell your NFT for maximum profit, make sure you’ve done the legwork in building up the perceived value before putting the NFT up for sale.
You also want to make sure you’re asking top dollar for the asset. Remember, it doesn’t cost anything to lower the listed price on OpenSea, so you can start with a high price tag if you want, then drop it if no buyers bite for the original asking price.
If you want to turn a quick profit, you will likely get less profit than you might otherwise get if you had a long timeframe to wait for a sale. If this is your goal, price the NFT to sell fast and ask for a lower amount for the asset. This will make some buyers consider buying it if their budget is less than that of buyers with deep pockets.
Check the Comps
Before listing your NFT for any price, check out comparable NFTs and how much they have sold for. This can be challenging because multiple things factor into the sale price of NFTs, but do your best to find another NFT that is a good reference point and price yours similar to that one.
Remember, you can always lower the sale price once you list it, but if you list at a low price and someone buys it, it’s gone forever, and you’ll have to make peace with your profits.
If you really want to make sure you are pricing your NFT correctly, you will want to read this NFT pricing guide.
When is a JPEG more than just a JPEG?
A JPEG’s value is in the eye of the beholder, so keep this in mind when you’re creating your NFT. A JPEG is more than just a JPEG if it symbolizes something significant, confers benefits that the image alone does not, or it represents something cultural that people value.
What is the most expensive JPEG NFT ever sold?
This is a popular question. It turns out that the most expensive JPEG NFT ever sold was “The Merge” by Pak. It was purchased collectively by almost 30,000 collectors who all came together to own a piece of the artwork.
Its price tag – a staggering 91.8 million dollars. This artwork’s price eclipsed the previous most expensive NFT, which was The First 5000 Days by Beeple. This NFT was purchased by programmer Vignesh Sundaresan and was the most costly JPEG NFT sold to an individual buyer, coming in at a price tag of $69 million.
Fractional ownership of NFTs is a real thing, and if you are a big-time artist, you may want to add this as an option to your sales strategy.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, turning a JPEG into an NFT is very easy. In fact, after your first minting, you should have the steps down to where you can do it repeatedly with new projects.
The pool thing is that our website is geared toward helping artists and creators step up their NFT game. That’s why I believe these articles will take you to the next level. Check out: