Selling downloads: delivery, Instant download and Works with
Chapter 8 of the Inkwell user guide.
Inkwell shows your files; it doesn't deliver them. Delivery is done by Shopify's free Digital Downloads app (or a similar app), which sends each customer their files the moment they pay. The theme's job is to say so clearly: the Instant download badge, "No physical item will be shipped", the delivery note in the cart, and the Works with chips that tell shoppers what the file opens in.
Set up Shopify's Digital Downloads app
- Install it: in the Shopify App Store, search for Digital Downloads (by Shopify) and install it. It's free.
- Mark the product as digital: open the product in admin and, under Shipping, untick This is a physical product. Do the same for every variant. Checkout then asks for no shipping address when the order holds only downloads, and Inkwell shows Instant download on the product (below).
- Attach the files: on the product's page in admin, open More actions and choose Digital Downloads (or open the app and pick the product), then add the file. Files belong to a product or to a single variant: with a License option, attach a different file to each license variant (the Commercial variant can carry your commercial license PDF), and with a Paper size option, attach the A4 file to the A4 variant and the US Letter file to the US Letter variant.
- Check delivery: the app shows the download link on the customer's order status page right after checkout and emails it to them. In the app's settings you can limit downloads and edit the email. Place a test order (with a 100% discount code, or Shopify's test payments) to see it end to end.
The delivery note in the cart says "Your files arrive by email and on your order page right after checkout". If your app delivers differently (a link in the account page, a license key), change Theme settings › Digital products › Delivery note in the cart to match.
How Inkwell knows a product is a download
A product is a download when none of its variants needs shipping (This is a physical product unticked). A cart line is a download when its variant doesn't need shipping. Gift cards never count: they arrive as a code. If you sell only downloads, you can also turn on Theme settings › Digital products › Treat all products as digital, which treats every product (but not gift cards) as a download whatever its shipping setting.
For a download, Inkwell:
- shows the Instant download badge on its card (with Instant download on product cards on), in the buy box with "No physical item will be shipped" (the Delivery note block), in quick view and under its line in the cart;
- says Delivery: Instant download in The details;
- hides the quantity selector, and the cart stepper while the line's quantity is 1 (with Hide quantity for digital products on);
- hides the Inventory and Pickup availability blocks: a file never runs low and there's nothing to collect;
- leaves out the free-shipping message, and the cart's tax line reads "Tax included." or "Tax calculated at checkout." without mentioning shipping when nothing in the cart ships;
- shows the delivery note in the cart drawer and on the cart page when any line is a download.
A store that also sells printed planners or stickers can mix both: the physical products keep their stock line, pickup, quantity and shipping messages.
The Delivery note block
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Note | No physical item will be shipped | The line beside the Instant download badge |
It shows nothing on products that ship. In the theme editor it shows a sample on any product, so you can place it.
Works with chips
The Works with block shows what a file opens in, as small chips with a generic icon each: "Works with" GoodNotes, Notability, Print at home. The chips come from the product's custom.works_with metafield (chapter 7); with that empty, from the block's Fallback list (separated by commas); with neither, nothing.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Heading | Works with | The label before the chips |
| Chips to show | 6 (1 to 10) | The most chips shown |
| Fallback list | Empty | Used when the product's metafield is empty. Separate entries with commas. It shows on every product that uses the template. |
Inkwell never shows another company's logo. Each chip gets a generic icon chosen from the words in it (capitals don't matter; the first match wins):
| Words in the chip | Icon |
|---|---|
| note, goodnotes, notability, noteshelf, tablet, ipad | A tablet and pen |
| pdf, acrobat, reader | A PDF page |
| A printer | |
| canva, figma, adobe express, illustrator, indesign, affinity, design | A layout |
| lightroom, photoshop, capture one, camera raw, raw, preset, vsco | An aperture |
| mobile, phone, ios, android, app | A phone |
| notion, obsidian, clickup, workspace | Blocks |
| cricut, silhouette, brother, scanncut, cut | Scissors |
| procreate, brush, draw | A brush |
| excel, sheets, numbers, spreadsheet | A grid |
| kindle, kobo, epub, book, e-reader | A book |
| video, lut, premiere, davinci, final cut, cube | Film |
| Anything else | A tick |
Because the first match wins, "Note-taking apps" gets the tablet (it contains "note") rather than the phone. Name apps only if your files really work in them, and check each app's own rules before you mention it.
The home page hero has its own Works with row: the section's Works with list, or the Works with metafield of the Product you pick there (chapter 4). The compare page shows the same entries as a row.