Polotno SDK is the design layer for apparel platforms: customers design tees, hoodies, and merch inside your storefront, on canvases bounded to the garment's print area, and your backend receives print-resolution files sized to your fulfillment partner's spec. The editor is white-label and composable (your product, your brand, your checkout) with the fulfillment side left to whichever POD API you run. This is production infrastructure for order flow, not optional UI.
What an apparel designer actually requires
"Add a t-shirt designer" sounds like one feature and unpacks into several: a canvas bounded to the printable area per garment and placement, live preview over a product mockup, artwork-resolution checks against DTG specs, text tools that people actually use (fonts, arcs, outlines), front/back/sleeve placements, and an export pipeline that produces exactly the file the printer expects. The 2016-era tutorials still floating around cover the draggable image; production platforms need the rest.
Polotno covers the design half completely, and the fulfillment half is a documented handoff.
Key features
Bounded print areas
Size the canvas to each garment and placement spec: front, back, sleeve, all-over. What the customer designs is what fits on the product.
Mockup preview
Show the design over garment imagery in your product UI while the design JSON stays clean artwork underneath. Pair with your POD partner's mockup API for photorealistic previews at checkout.
Real text and graphics tools
Fonts (yours and user-uploaded), colors, outlines, layering, SVG graphics libraries, uploads with background removal: the editor features buyers expect from having used Canva.
Resolution enforcement
DTG wants print-resolution artwork. Per-element DPI checks flag weak uploads in the editor, before the order exists.
Spec-correct export
Export print-resolution PNG at the exact pixel dimensions each placement requires (computed per variant, per provider) from the same design JSON.
Multi-placement products
Model front/back/sleeve as pages of one design document; export each placement separately, keep them together as one customer project.
Example use cases
- POD storefronts with in-page tee and hoodie personalization.
- Merch platforms where creators design product lines for their audiences.
- Team and event apparel: names and numbers driven by roster data through template variables.
- Corporate swag portals with brand-locked templates and open text slots.
- Marketplaces generating print files and mockups from seller designs.
Works with your fulfillment stack
Export pairs with any POD API that takes flat artwork. Documented integrations include Printful, Printify, Gelato, Spreadshirt SPOD, Teemill, and Scalable Press. See the print-on-demand hub.
Developer benefits
- One editor across garments, placements, and fulfillment vendors.
- Design JSON in your database: reorders, edits, and provider switches don't touch the creative layer.
- Batch generation for team rosters and personalization campaigns.
- Client-side export for singles, server-side for bulk.
- White-label and composable: the designer reads as your feature, not an embed.
FAQs
Does Polotno handle the garment mockups?
The editor handles the artwork; mockup imagery comes from your product photos or your POD partner's mockup API. Most integrations use both together.
Can we restrict where customers can place artwork?
Yes. The canvas is sized to the print area, and templates can lock zones, so out-of-spec designs can't be built in the first place.
What file does the printer get?
Print-resolution PNG (or PDF where specified) at the placement's exact pixel dimensions, exported from the design JSON client- or server-side.
Front and back designs: one project or two?
One. Placements are pages in a single design document; export walks them separately.
Is 3D preview supported?
No. Polotno is a 2D design editor. Platforms needing 3D garment preview pair the editor with a separate visualization layer; the print file pipeline is unchanged.
