An embedded image editor puts a real design canvas inside your product's own UI, under your own brand, instead of sending users to a separate app or account. Polotno SDK is that embedded image editor: a JavaScript component you drop into your app, backed by a JSON schema you can also drive from code.
Image and video editor
Create image and video content, by hand or from code, on one canvas.
White-label, built for B2B
Runs under your brand. No Polotno name, no separate account for your users.
Editor plus API
The same schema drives the interactive editor and programmatic generation.
Why go embedded?
The alternative to embedding is sending users to a separate tool, or making them upload finished assets themselves. Both cost you something. Embedding buys back:
- Retention. Users never leave your product to get the job done.
- Brand. Your logo and UI stay on screen, not a competitor's.
- Data. Designs read and write your app's own data, no export/import round trip.
- Control. You decide which tools are exposed, not a one-size-fits-all editor.
- Visibility. You see what users actually create, not a third party.
Embedded image editor demo
What an embedded image editor needs to actually do
A canvas alone isn't enough. In practice, an embedded image editor needs to handle interactive editing, magic resizing to different formats, pixel-perfect export, and increasingly, AI-assisted tools like background removal, without any of that requiring a separate integration.
“Polotno complimented our existing web app and it allowed us to get to production much, much faster.”
Michael Carrillo
Founder @ StrengthPals
“Polotno is a stable choice for building a business on it.”
Dr. Sven Speer
Founder @ Coamaker
Embedded image editor in production: the Aryeo example
ARYEO INTEGRATION DEMO
Embedded image editor in use: Aryeo showcase
Aryeo embeds this image editor to streamline content production for its real estate agents. Some of what this integration includes:
- Manual creation of templates, flyers, postcards, and digital ads
- Programmatic content generation through the same SDK
Who embeds this kind of editor
4.4 / 5
5 / 5
5 / 5
Embedded image editor SDKs compared
Adobe Express, Picsart, Pixelixe, and IMG.LY all ship some version of an embeddable editor, and it's worth being direct about how they differ rather than pretending Polotno is the only option:
- Polotno SDK vs Adobe Express Embed SDK: Adobe's is an iframe into Adobe's own hosted editor, Adobe-branded by design. Polotno renders in your own DOM, fully white-label.
- Polotno SDK vs Picsart Editor SDK: Picsart brings a large built-in asset and AI-tool library. Polotno is lighter and self-hosted, with an open schema instead of a managed content ecosystem.
- Polotno SDK vs Pixelixe: Pixelixe is also iframe-based with a 1000px minimum width. Polotno is composable React components, not an iframe.
- Polotno SDK vs IMG.LY: IMG.LY covers more native platforms (iOS, Android, desktop) at a higher price floor. Polotno is web-first, self-hosted by default, and priced from $249/mo.
Real teams that replaced in-house builds with this embedded image editor
How Predis.ai leverages Polotno's embedded image editor to serve 100k+ users monthly
30% users engaged
Launched in <2 weeks
4+ months of work saved
How Brand Ninja scaled AI-powered content creation with an embedded image and video editor
Cut the need for 2+ devs
Launched in 1 week
3+ months of work saved
FAQs
What does "embedded" mean here, is this an iframe?
No. Polotno's editor renders as composable React components directly in your DOM, not inside an iframe. That's a real distinction: an iframe boundary limits styling and event handling in ways a native DOM component doesn't.
Can I white-label the embedded editor completely?
Yes. There's no Polotno name or branding visible to your users, and no separate account required to use it.
Is the embedded editor self-hosted?
Yes, by default. Rendering and export can also run through the optional Cloud Render API for scale, but nothing requires it.
How long does integration usually take?
Case studies on this page range from about one week to two weeks for an initial launch, though scope varies by how much of the default UI a team customizes.
Does the embedded editor support both images and video?
Yes, on the same canvas and schema. See the image editing and video editing feature pages for the full detail on each.
Choosing between building this in-house and embedding it
Polotno customers who evaluated building their own editor generally found the same thing: the canvas, undo/redo, export pipeline, and template system take real engineering months to build and then keep taking maintenance time after. Embedding an existing SDK trades that ongoing cost for a license fee and a faster launch. See build vs. buy for the fuller argument, with real numbers from teams that ran this calculation themselves.
