How Roastify built packaging automation infrastructure with Polotno
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
COMPANY
Roastify operates both a physical coffee roasting and fulfillment facility in Bend, Oregon, and a digital platform that enables creators and brands to design and sell custom coffee products. From day one, their model required packaging personalization at production scale — without design friction.
THE CHALLENGE
A packaging workflow demanding simplicity, speed, and zero design expertise
Roastify needed a simple way for non-designers to create real, print-ready coffee packaging without relying on Photoshop, email exchanges, or a design team. Building their own editor would take too much time, cost too much, and slow down the rest of the product. They also needed full programmatic control so designs could move straight into their automated fulfillment pipeline.
Beyond user simplicity, the technical requirement was deeper: the team needed direct access to design data. Packaging layouts had to be manipulated programmatically, updated via backend APIs, and rendered server-side for consistent print output and 3D mockups. The editor could not be a black box. It had to function as part of the infrastructure.
As a bootstrapped company, they could not justify months of engineering effort rebuilding canvas functionality. The editor had to serve as the backbone of the business — not an experimental feature.
THE SOLUTION
In an instant: switching on a robust design experience
Polotno gave Roastify a browser-based editor that anyone could use instantly while giving developers complete JSON-level access for automation. The team integrated templates, versioning, and server-side rendering on top of the SDK, creating a unified flow from user design to production. This let Roastify focus on scaling their platform instead of maintaining design infrastructure.
From the first integration, Polotno operated as a programmable layer inside their stack. Designs created in the browser are stored as JSON, modified programmatically, and pushed directly into rendering pipelines for print and mockups. Placeholder text can be swapped via API calls, images updated dynamically, and final assets generated through automated server-side processes.
The editor supports both manual user-driven design and fully automated workflows — without separating the two systems.
"Getting the first version up and running was immediate."
Jordan Rising
CTO/Co-founder @ Roastify
THE OUTCOME
A unified design-to-production pipeline
Polotno sits at the center of Roastify’s workflows. A customer designs packaging in the browser. That design is saved structurally. It moves directly into rendering and fulfillment. No manual translation layer and no rework.
Support for two creation modes
Roastify serves traditional merchants who design manually and developers who generate packaging programmatically. Both operate on the same JSON architecture and rendering engine.
Infrastructure stability from day one
Unlike companies migrating from legacy systems, Roastify built around Polotno from the start. The editor evolved alongside their backend, not against it.
Future-ready automation
As LLM-driven and prompt-based design workflows emerge, Roastify can integrate automated creation on top of the same infrastructure layer. The editor does not constrain them — it enables expansion.
Operational consistency
Roasting and fulfillment teams receive reliable, production-ready output. Engineering teams can extend functionality without rewriting the editor stack. Business teams focus on growth, not tooling.
“It hits this sweet spot where it has what we would’ve wanted to develop, but at a price point where I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to worry about that.”
Jordan Rising
CTO/Co-founder @ Roastify