How Momentu broke free from legacy software and built a resilient, future-proof platform with Polotno
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
COMPANY
Momentu is an Austria-based web-to-print platform specializing in personalized print products for births, weddings, birthdays, and other milestone events. Customers customize templates directly in the browser — from simple invitations to 100-page personalized newspapers — and receive professionally printed goods tailored to each occasion.
Every order depends on a stable, high-performance editing layer.
THE CHALLENGE
Vendor lock-in at the core of the business
Momentu initially built its own browser-based editor in 2010. As the platform scaled, they migrated to a Magento-based system paired with a proprietary design editor offered by a third-party agency.
When Adobe acquired Magento and rewrote the ecosystem, the foundation collapsed and custom integrations broke. Thousands of templates became unusable. Years of engineering effort were effectively lost. The editing system was tightly coupled to vendor-controlled infrastructure, leaving Momentu unable to migrate, extend, or fix issues independently.
For a platform where every transaction passes through the editor, that level of dependency created unacceptable technical and operational risk. They needed content editing capabilities that were not controlled upstream.
THE SOLUTION
Custom backend, Polotno frontend – no more compromises
In 2020, Momentu rebuilt their backend from scratch — ERP, CRM, commerce layer — using internal frameworks developed over years. But instead of building another proprietary editor, they embedded Polotno as the core creative infrastructure layer. Polotno provided:
SDK-level extensibility
Source code access
Direct integration into their custom backend
Full control over performance and rendering
Print-specific workflow customization
Multi-page performance tuning, bleed areas, fold lines, and high-resolution export were implemented directly within their architecture. The editor stopped being an external tool and became a part of the system.
" The [support] reaction times are so short actually. It really makes even fun the development process because sometimes you, you put in a bug report and you get the solution back a couple of hours later, and then we can deploy the update to our system. And that's the way we want to work with other people."
Philipp Stampfl
CTO / Co-founder @ Momentu
THE OUTCOME
Infrastructure control replaced vendor dependency
Momentu now owns the full stack — backend, storefront, and editor. They are no longer constrained by proprietary roadmaps or upstream platform rewrites. Bug turnaround improved from vendor wait cycles measured in weeks to internal resolution and deployment within hours.
Production-grade performance
The platform supports thousands of daily editing sessions. Large, multi-page projects — including 60+ page personalized newspapers — render reliably at print-ready resolution.
Reduced operational friction
Previously, browser-related issues and editor bugs were difficult to reproduce and impossible to fix independently. With source code access and SDK control, the team can investigate, patch, and deploy fixes directly.
Development velocity regained
New features are built on top of the SDK without waiting on vendor release cycles. The editor evolves alongside the rest of their product architecture.
With the help of Polotno Momentu removed infrastructure risk from the core of their business. For web-to-print platforms operating at daily production scale, control over the editing layer is not optional — it is foundational.