Can you explain to an artist how to make an NFT?

NFTs aren’t really made as such, but are a way to own art.
It’s kind of like a lease.

Well first you have to create a one of a kind piece of digital art that people might want…

The NFT part is like bitcoin. It’s like a certificate that uses blockchain proves you are the owner of the piece of art. Think of it like the Mona Lisa and a poster of the Mona Lisa. An NFT is like owning the original not the poster. With the added advantage that no one can steal it because if the blockchain is changed everyone will know.

@Lightlyseared So can it be something like a movie or a comic, or is only artwork acceptable?

@Lightlyseared It’s my understanding that NFT’s usually only sell you a part ownership in the work and you can’t convert it to anything real. Is that correct?

@Mimishu1995 I believe it could be anything. I’d be happy to sell you an NFT of the Brooklyn Bridge!

@Mimishu1995 In theory you can do it to any digital file but whether or not someone will pay for it is another thing.

@janbb You own the whole of the “thing”. You can transfer ownership for money just like any other art work but the value is wholly dependant on what someone is willing to pay for it and nothing else unlike, for example, a gold sculpture where even if no one wants the actual “art” the material itself still has value.

Maybe I had the wrong impression from something I read.

It seems like it’s like buying the copyright to a piece of digital art but you never actually get the artwork itself. Is this correct?

I’ll come back to this question later.
From what I understand it’s hugely damaging to the environment, believe it or not.
NFT, that is.

@janbb I don’t think so. An artist can create something and sell it as an NFT but retain the copyright. Honestly it’s bit of a weird concept but I think the closest none digital comparison would be if you were to buy a picture from an artist. You have the original but the artist still has the right to be identified as the creator.

@rebbel probably. It’s using the same tech as cryptocurrency and it takes more energy to mine a bitcoin than to power the average home for a couple of months which is just stupid.

None of above replies give an answer to the question, how to make an NFT, and I don’t have that answer either.
I can tell you that the people who were building the public-domain software that is used to create NFTs intended the NFT to carry the actual digital file. They are quite dismayed because some people were impatient for NFTs to get off the ground before that feature was built and what you get is a link to the file on a web site somewhere. One has to count on that website staying up… and/or make a copy for yourself of the “art” or whatever the file is.
At least the features for artists to retain rights when the piece is re-sold are included, but each NFT can have those terms defined or ignore them.

As far as energy usage, NFTs do Not have the same resource-pig profile as Bitcoin (the most compute-intensive block-chain thing out there), but they do involve blockchain calculations at a lesser load. ... most other crypto currencies don’t have as much compute load as Bitcoins, either.

IMHO NFTs and crypto-currencies are solutions looking for a problem, and so far the problems that have found NFTs and cryptos mostly have to do with money laundering and the wildest speculation “investment”.

@dabbler I’m reading a classic book on speculation and mass delusions now called Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and it’s hard for me, in my limited understanding of NFTs, to not connect them with earlier popular bubbles.

@janbb That sounds spot on. An NFT has value like a toast with the image of Jesus on it – whatever someone is willing to pay you for it. Same for Bitcoin, ethereum, and all the cryptos.