How to turn a physical artwork into a digital NFT?

HOW TO CREATE NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have become one of the most popular blockchain trends of 2021, with total revenue increasing 55% since 2020, from $250 million to $389 million. NFTs are unique collectible crypto assets that have been around since early 2012 when the concept of Bitcoin coloured coins emerged.

Those coins were called satoshis, tiny fractions of a bitcoin, marked or “coloured” with clear information that could associate coins with real-world assets. For example, “This satoshi represents $500 from John’s office building in San Francisco. However, coloured coins were adopted to create and trade arts such as Rare Pepe digital cards in counterpart, a P2P trading platform built on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Funny frog images collected from a viral internet meme were some of the first unique digital artworks tied to crypto tokens. It allowed for the rise and creation of new non-fungible token standards that allow developers to create NFTs.

NFTs are used to represent virtually any intangible or tangible item, including:

• Music
• collectibles
• Virtual Terrain
• Artwork
• Real World Tokenized Assets
• Virtual items within video games, for example, weapons, avatars, and skins.

NFTs offer a certificate of ownership of a digital object to the buyer and protect its value for future transactions. By using NFT, an artist can sell their art virtually to a wide audience globally, allowing them to make a huge profit and manage royalties.

How to turn a physical work of art into a digital NFT? How to create NFTs? 

Creating your own NFT artwork, be it a GIF or an image, is a simple process and does not require extensive knowledge of the crypto industry. Before you start creating NFTs, you need to decide which blockchain you want to issue your NFTs to. The development of NFT started with the Ethereum blockchain; however, there is a wide range of blockchains available that are becoming popular for NFTs, including:

• tron
• Tezos
• Cosmos
• Binance Smart Chain
• WAX
• eos

Each blockchain platform has its own NFT token standard, supported wallet services, and marketplaces to list the token. Ethereum has the largest NFT ecosystem; we have demonstrated how to create NFTs on Ethereum in this article.

Creation of non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum Blockchain

The following are the prerequisites you will need to mint your NFT music, video, or art on the Ethereum blockchain:

• An Ethereum-based wallet that supports ERC-721 standards like MetaMask, Coinbase, or Trust Wallet.
• $50-$100 worth of ethers (ETH). If you want to use a Coinbase wallet, you can buy ether from the platform with US dollars and other fiat currencies. Otherwise, you will need to buy ETH on a cryptocurrency exchange.

Once you have the above prerequisites, you need to select NFT-focused platforms to connect your wallet to and upload an image of the file you want to convert to an NFT.

Some of the major Ethereum NFT markets include:

• weird
• mineable
• Open sea

All of the above platforms have a “create” button in the top right corner.

The image represents the position of the “Create” button on the OpenSea platform.

The image represents the position of the “Create” button on the Rarible Platform.

The image represents the position of “Mint an item”, that is, creating an NFT on the Mintable platform.

Let’s see how the process works at OpenSea, one of the largest Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces.

1. Click on the “create” button in the upper right corner of the website. It will take you to a screen asking you to connect your Ethereum-based wallet.
2.  Once you enter the wallet password when prompted, it will connect your wallet to the market. You may need to digitally sign a message in your Ethereum-based wallet to prove that you own the wallet address. Signing a digital message does not incur a fee. It is just to prove that you are the owner of the wallet.
3. Once the wallet is connected, it will take you to a “My Collections” screen, where you can access your existing collections or click the blue “Create” button to create a new collection.
4. Upon clicking the “Create” button, you will see a window asking you to upload your artwork logo, add the name of the artwork, and a brief description of your work.
5. Once you upload an image and add the required information, it will appear as shown below. You can also add a banner image by clicking the pencil icon in the top right corner of the page.
6. After this step, you are ready to create your first non-fungible token (NFT). Click the “Add New Item” button and sign another message with your wallet.
7. After signing another message, a new window will appear where you can upload images, audio, video or 3D model.
8. OpenSea also allows you to include unique attributes and traits to increase the uniqueness and rarity of the NFT. As a creator, you can also include unlockable content that the buyer can only view. Unlockable content can be anything from passwords to access specific services to contact information and discount codes. Once you are done, click the “Create” button at the bottom and sign another message to your Ethereum wallet to confirm the NFT creation. You should see the artwork in your collection.

Although it costs nothing to do NFT on OpenSea, some NFT platforms charge a fee known as “gasoline” with Ethereum-based platforms. Ethereum gas is an amount of ether needed to perform a specific function on the blockchain. The cost of gas varies according to network congestion. The greater the number of people transacting value through the network at any given time, the higher the gas fees and vice versa.

What does it cost to convert a physical work of art into a digital NFT?

Blockchain-issued NFTs cut out the middlemen of the traditional art market by allowing buyers to gain immediate access to a global marketplace. Therefore, by creating non-fungible tokens, artists can easily earn money from their art, create and grow global communities of fans.