How to Create a Custom Shopify Theme from Scratch

Master Shopify Theme Development Using Liquid, CLI, and Modern Frontend Practices

If prebuilt themes don’t meet your design or functionality needs, building your own custom Shopify theme is the way to go. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a fully custom theme using Shopify CLI, Liquid templating, and modular components.

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

🧰 Install Shopify CLI:
npm install -g @shopify/cli @shopify/theme
📂 Create a working directory and login:
shopify login
📦 Scaffold a new theme:
shopify theme init custom-theme

Step 2: Understand the Folder Structure

/layout: Theme skeleton (theme.liquid)
/templates: Page types (product.liquid, index.liquid)
/sections: Modular building blocks for each page
/snippets: Reusable components (e.g., product-card.liquid)
/assets: CSS, JS, fonts, images
/config: theme settings schema
/locales: Translations

Step 3: Start Local Theme Development

Once your theme is set up, start a local development server:

shopify theme dev

This opens a live-reloading preview of your theme on a development store.

Step 4: Create Sections, Templates & Snippets

Use Liquid syntax to dynamically render content. For example:

<h2>{{ product.title }}</h2>
<p>{{ product.description }}</p>

Add logic using {% if %}, {% for %}, and {% include %}.

Step 5: Add Theme Settings (Schema)

Allow non-developers to change content in the Shopify admin using schema in section files.

{% schema %}
{
  "name": "Hero Banner",
  "settings": [
    {
      "type": "image_picker",
      "id": "banner_image",
      "label": "Banner Image"
    }
  ]
}
{% endschema %}

Step 6: Deploy and Publish

📤 Run shopify theme push to upload your theme
✅ Set it as “Live” in Online Store → Themes
📊 Test across devices for responsiveness and speed

Conclusion

Creating a Shopify theme from scratch gives you full control over your design, performance, and user experience. Once you understand the basics of Liquid and Shopify's folder structure, you’ll be able to build tailored storefronts that stand out—and scale.

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