Before You Start
A little planning makes for a much smoother launch. Here's what to get ready before you open Studio 2.0 — you can prepare all of it without spending anything.
Is Stargaze right for you?
Stargaze is a strong fit if you want to:
Reach the Cosmos community
Benefit from low fees and fast transactions
Use flexible minting — whitelists, multiple phases, open editions
Accept ATOM or STARS for your mint
Earn on-chain creator royalties on secondary sales
What you'll need
1. Your artwork
The images or media for your NFTs:
Formats: images (PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP), video (MP4, WebM), or audio (MP3, WAV)
Size: at least ~1000×1000px for images looks good everywhere on the marketplace
Keep files light: Arweave storage is priced by size, so smaller files cost less to store and load faster. Run them through the Image & Video Resizer first. Large collections are supported too — the Arweave Uploader handles 1 GB and up.
Prepare everything up front so your upload is one clean batch.
2. Your metadata
The information attached to each NFT:
Name and description
Traits / attributes (optional, but recommended for generative collections)
No spreadsheets required — the NFT Generator and Meta Maker can build metadata for you.
Bringing your own files? If you're not using the built-in generators, name your files as plain sequential numbers — 1.png, 2.png, 3.png (numbers only; something like 1-punk.png won't work). Each image needs a matching metadata file with the same number (1.png ↔ 1.json), and images and metadata go in separate folders. The generators handle all of this for you automatically.
3. Some ATOM
You'll need ATOM for permanent storage, the collection-creation fee, and gas. The app shows the exact amounts before you confirm — and you can rehearse the entire process on testnet for free first. See Costs & Fees.
4. A plan
Before you launch, decide:
Collection size — how many NFTs?
Price — what will each mint cost, and in which token (ATOM or STARS)?
Phases — a whitelist, a public mint, or both? See Whitelists.
Timing — when does each phase open and close?
Marketing — how will people hear about it?
Planning your launch
Timing. Give yourself buffer time to rehearse on testnet, and start talking about your launch a week or two ahead.
Community. The launches that do well usually have an engaged audience before mint day — an active Discord or Telegram, a presence on X, and early supporters for your whitelist.
Expectations. Look at how similar collections have performed, price fairly for the current market, and focus on building genuine community rather than short-term hype.
Ready?
Once your artwork, metadata, and plan are set, head to Creating a Collection to build and launch your first drop.
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