Polotno SDK is the design layer for print-on-demand products. Fulfillment APIs — Printful, Printify, Gelato, Prodigi, Peecho and the rest — solved production and logistics years ago. What they hand back to you is the harder half: where the artwork comes from. Polotno embeds a white-label design editor in your storefront or platform, and exports files at exactly the spec each fulfillment partner expects. This is the layer between your customer and every POD API you'll ever integrate.
The structural gap in every POD stack
Every POD fulfillment API has the same interface: give us a spec-correct file and an address. None of them give your product a design surface — their editors live on their own domains, built for their own merchants. Teams building POD storefronts, creator platforms, and marketplaces end up choosing between a bare upload form (returns and support tickets), an external design tool (drop-off at the handoff), or building an editor in-house (the project that compounds for years).
Polotno closes that gap once, for every vendor. One design JSON, one editor, any number of fulfillment endpoints behind it.
Key features
White-label editor in your storefront
Customers design tees, mugs, posters, cards, and photo products without leaving your product. Your brand, your fonts, your templates — no third-party name anywhere.
Spec-correct export per vendor
The same design JSON exports as print-resolution PNG for Printify placements, spec'd print files for Printful, PDF with bleed for Gelato and Peecho, or SKU-sized assets for Prodigi. Switching or adding vendors doesn't touch the creative layer.
Print-area governance
Size canvases to each product's print area, lock brand elements, bound editable zones, and flag low-resolution uploads in the editor — before the order, not after delivery.
Templates and personalization
Give customers a starting point, not a blank canvas. Templates with locked layout and open text/photo slots convert better and produce fewer unprintable files.
Batch and variable-data generation
Generate personalized product artwork programmatically — names, numbers, photos, localized variants — from one template and a data source.
Vendor-neutral design data
Design JSON lives in your database, not in a fulfillment vendor's system. Customers re-edit past orders; you re-render for a different SKU or a different supplier.
Works with your fulfillment stack
Polotno pairs with any POD API that accepts a file. Documented integrations include Printful, Printify, Gelato, Prodigi, Peecho, Lulu, Spreadshirt, Teemill, and more — see all integrations.
Example use cases
- POD storefronts letting customers personalize apparel, mugs, and posters in-page.
- Creator platforms where sellers design merch collections against multiple fulfillment vendors.
- Marketplaces generating compliant product artwork and mockups from seller uploads.
- Gifting products composing photos, text, and templates into fine-art prints.
- B2B swag platforms batch-generating branded merchandise from company assets.
Developer benefits
- One embedded editor across every fulfillment vendor you integrate.
- Open JSON schema — design data stays portable and re-renderable.
- Export pipelines for raster and print-ready PDF, client- or server-side.
- Resolution and print-area validation before the order is placed.
- Self-hosted or cloud rendering as batch volume grows.
FAQs
Does Polotno handle printing or shipping?
No — and deliberately. Polotno is the creation layer; Printful, Printify, Gelato, Prodigi, Peecho and similar APIs handle production. The pairing is the architecture.
Can one design work across multiple fulfillment vendors?
Yes. The design JSON is vendor-neutral; export it at each vendor's spec — different dimensions, formats, or color profiles — without re-authoring.
How do we prevent unprintable customer designs?
Constrain the canvas to the print area, lock what shouldn't move, and validate image resolution in the editor. Files leave your app spec-correct.
Do you support print-ready PDFs with bleed and CMYK?
Yes — PDF with bleed and crop marks client-side, PDF/X-1a with CMYK via the server-side export package.
Can we auto-generate product artwork at scale?
Yes. Templates plus structured data render any number of personalized variants through polotno-node or the Cloud Render API.
