How To Mint Your First NFT (Non-Fungible Token) For Free

In this article I’d like to continue the theme of NFTs which is currently being more and more hyped.

Even mass media are now talking about NFT, famous artists like Lindsay Lohan are picking up the trend, Banksy work is being tokenized. It’s quite easy to buy NFT, but how to create them?

It is thought to be quite complex and pricey but let me assure you that nowadays creating your own personal NFT is quite affordable and even free. And yes, no coding is needed. Let me take you through the leading platforms which you can use to create and sell your unique NFT in a few minutes.

OpenSea is definitely a leader among platforms where you can create your NFT.

Quite user-friendly creation experience allows you to create the token for free fast and efficiently. Still, you need to be ready that you will be asked to pay a fee in ETH for your NFT to be sold. Creation is free but sale is not. Still OpenSea is a good choice since it’s very popular and attracts a lot of buyers. Also the platform has some interesting advanced features. For instance, OpenSea provides an opportunity to sell your NFT in bundles with other sellers' NFTs. That’s quite unique and can be really beneficial since this option broadens the auditory.

First visit the website of the platform: https://opensea.io/

Make sure you visit the website with the correct address.

Click “Create”.

A window will pop up claiming you need to enter via Metamask wallet. You can use other wallets, but I encourage you to use Metamask. Just follow the procedure and connect your wallet.

To add a token, you need to create a collection: click "Create". After you click you will be asked to agree with Terms of Service. To do so you will need to sign confirmation with your Metamask. It’s free, so just sign it in Metamask pop-up which will appear soon.

Now you need to add the collection logo, collection name and description.

The collection has been created! You can add items you want to tokenize: click "Add new item" and sign the action in Metamask pop-up.

Add the media file that you want to link to the token. It can be a picture, video, 3D model or sound. Acceptable formats are JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, MP4, WEBM, MP3, WAV, OGG, GLB, GLTF. Size may be up to 100 MB. Also you need to add the name of the token.

Next, you can add various characteristics to the token. You can also add blocked content that can only be seen by the buyer (owner of this token). Also you need to define the number of copies in which the token is issued. Default number of copies is 1. After everything is set up correctly, click "Create".

Token has been created! For a couple of days it is being verified (authenticity check). Then you can sell it if you like. To do this, click "Sell".

At Opensea, sales are usually conducted in an auction format. Sell process deserves additional article since there are quite a lot of options and settings. You can check it in the screenshot below. You can set any price you want and also choose the way to sell. After you set everything up click “Post Your Listing”.

Rarible is interconnected with OpenSea being the big store of it. So the NFT creation process is quite similar to OpenSea.

Rarible functionality is a bit weaker than OpenSea, for instance the limit of size of artwork you tokenize is 3 times lower and the number of formats is limited. Still, Rarible has good traffic and allows you to mint a token before you sell it while OpenSea processes minting of token when it’s actually getting sold.

Make sure you visit correct website: https://rarible.com/ and push “Create” button.

Then you need to choose if you want to create a single NFT or Multiple (use it in case you have a series of artworks to tokenize). Let’s choose Single as a simple example. 

Next you get to the actual Creation page.

Settings are quite similar to OpenSea, so you basically  upload your artwork in PNG, GIF, WEBP, MP4 or MP3 formats. As you see the range of formats is more limited than on OpenSea. Same with the size, your artwork should weigh less than 30mb.

Also on this stage you set the price for which NFT will be instantly sold (don’t forget that you pay 2.5% fee to Rarible). If you don’t set this option, the price for the NFT will be formed in the auction mechanism. 

Also you can add secret content which can be redeemed only after NFT is purchased. That might be a link, code or digital key. Also at this step you need to choose the Collection type which can be custom ERC-721 or RARI (set by default). In case you want to create your custom collection, just click on it and fill in the details.

On the same page you need to set a name for your NFT, description, royalties rate (count wisely, who knows what is the future of your artwork) and properties (which is optional, but quite useful for some types of artworks).

After you’re ready, click the “Create” button. Rarible will ask you to connect the wallet, it’s the same process as we went through at OpenSea. I recommend using Metamask. After you connect the wallet and agree on Terms & Conditions, you’re all set to create your NFT. Push “Create” again.

Now you need to approve token creation and pay the fee. After it’s approved, you will proceed to the token minting which is quite simple. Congratulations, you just minted your NFT!

Sign the sell order once you are ready to sell your NFT.

Mintable is another platform for minting and selling NFTs. If you want to test the NFT creation process, this might be the cheapest platform since you can create and list your token for sale for literally 0 fees.This is one of the competitive advantages of this platform.

Mintable even holds a special marketplace for NFTs created with 0 fees. So, no investment is needed to start selling your artwork. Still, the platform is not as popular as OpenSea, so the traffic is lower. Also registration is required which might be a bit annoying compared to OpenSea and Rarible where login happens via Metamask.

All in all, the platform is a bit less user-friendly than OpenSea and Rarible but it truly does allow users to create NFTs for free, including the sale process. 

First visit https://mintable.app/ and make sure the address is correct. You need to sign up. Just follow the procedure offered by Mintable. After you sign up just login and click “Mint an Item”.

When the pop-up appears, choose “Create a new item”.

Next pop-up will offer you to choose out of Easy or Advanced way to mint NFT. In this guide I’ll show you the easy way, which is also completely free. If you want to do it the same way, don’t change the position of the tumbler and click further. You will be asked to connect your wallet. There’s nothing new at this step, as always I recommend using Metamask.

Next you’ll be asked to fill in the details of your NFT. That’s quite simple. Also you need to upload the item you’re tokenizing. The range of types is quite diverse, from audio and images to documents and even ZIP files.

At the same page you need to upload the preview image of your item, fill the description, choose whether the Copyright is transferred with purchase and choose the way you want to sell it. As usual, it can be fixed price, auction or auction with buy now. The latter means an auction type where buyers can instantly purchase an asset for a particular price, avoiding competition.

After you’re all set click “LIST THIS ITEM”. You will be asked to sign this transaction with Metamask. It’s absolutely free. After you sign, your NFT will be listed for sale at Mintable Gasless Shop. You can check the NFT page and boost the sale if you want. 

Well, it's a pretty big question, and part of it was covered in my previous article "The Ultimate Guide to Marketing and Promotion" where I described most of the methods we use, working with our clients - different crypto, DeFi and NFT projects.

Also, I'm going to write more articles on how to sell and promote NFT tokens, as the market goes forward and there are more and more interesting services appear where you can promote yourself almost for free (like NFT Hunters for example). So stay tuned.