IMG.LY vs. Customer’s Canvas
The best Customer’s Canvas alternative for a modern, full-featured creative SDK that delivers advanced design, video editing, and automation out of the box.
What makes IMG.LY the best Customer’s Canvas alternative?
Full customization & white-labeling
A fully customizable, white-label solution where you control the UI, branding, and functionality.
Extensibility & plugin system
Supports custom plugins and extensibility, allowing businesses to tailor the editor to specific use cases.
Creative automation
Automate content creation at scale with dynamic templates, generative AI, and headless APIs.
Openness & interoperability
Import Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (AI), and InDesign (IDML) files, export designs back to IDML and to PSD (on the server), and save work-in-progress as scene files.
Trusted by 100+
industry leaders
What our clients say about us
Integrating IMG.LY’s editor meant we didn’t have to build or maintain a complex editing layer ourselves. That kept our team focused on our core AI ad engine and saved us countless development hours — while still giving our customers the ability to polish and customize creatives at scale.
Hikari Senju
CEO, Omneky
With IMG.LY we built a central creative portal that now powers over 140 dealer campaigns across multiple automotive brands. Before this, asset creation was slow and inconsistent.
Martin Röhr
Product Owner, Digitas
By embedding IMG.LY’s editor we were able to hit key RFP requirements and deliver a template-based creative experience that now serves 1,000+ customers. It helped us win more deals and exceed enterprise expectations without needing to hire dedicated design teams.
Rob Driscoll
Director of PM, Optimizely
Since integrating IMG.LY’s editor, we now deliver 30,000+ ad creatives per month, dramatically shorten time-to-launch, and help our clients cut design spend by up to $10,000 per month.
Logan Welbaum
Founder, Plai
Our customers create over a million personalized postcards each year choosing from over hundreds of templates with IMG.LY’s SDK. It’s the only solution that allows us to build our own specialized, on-brand UI that integrates seamlessly with our platform.
Jeanine Zaalberg
Product Manager, SwissPost
From a developer’s perspective, the most powerful feature of the photo editor is the integration process. It was completely flawless, quick, and easy to integrate.
Stefano Fornari
CTO, Funambol
We compared IMG.LY SDK with other solutions and found that it would be the best fit for us since it provides all the features that are crucial for our use case.
Carem Pereira
SCRUM Manager, HP
IMG.LY vs. Customer’s Canvas at a glance
| Feature | IMG.LY | Customer's Canvas | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Use Case | Unified SDK for embedding creative editing and automated asset generation in any application. Supports video, design, and print workflows through a single, extensible engine for both interactive and headless use cases. | Web-to-print platform enabling product personalization and automated print file generation. Combines browser-based editors with a server-side rendering engine for packaging, wide format printing, and marketing collateral. | IMG.LY provides one system for editing and automation across media types. Customer’s Canvas focuses on web-to-print and product personalization for commercial print workflows. |
| Target Audience | Designed for developers and enterprises building creative tools, content automation systems, or print applications where flexibility and integration control are key. | Aimed at print service providers, marketing fulfillment platforms, and eCommerce vendors offering online product customization. | IMG.LY targets developers embedding creative workflows. Customer’s Canvas serves businesses offering web-to-print experiences. |
| Technical Approach | Modular SDK deployable across web, mobile, desktop, and backend environments. Offers visual editing, custom UI development, or headless automation under complete infrastructure control. | Hosted cloud platform, also offered on-premises. JavaScript libraries embed the editors and REST APIs handle automation. | IMG.LY offers full deployment freedom across client and server. Customer’s Canvas provides SaaS delivery with optional local hosting. |
| Advanced Design Editing | Professional-grade editor with vector, text, image, and layout tools supporting CMYK, Pantone, and print specifications. Enables multi-page layouts, precise typography, and consistent visual rendering for both editing and automation. | The Handy Editor for freehand design (with a 3D preview version) handles text with fonts and spacing, shapes, images and QR codes, with alignment, z-order, opacity, transforms, a grid and multiple pages. The Simple Editor makes option-based changes, the Data-Driven Editor form-based edits, and the classic Design Editor edits VDP templates. | IMG.LY combines print and digital design editing within one system. Customer’s Canvas offers print-focused editors. |
| File Format Support | Imports and exports a wide range of creative and production formats including JPEG, PNG, SVG, WebP, PDF, PDF/X, MP4, and native template formats. Imports Adobe InDesign (IDML) and Photoshop (PSD) files with layers intact, so existing design work carries over, and exports designs back to IDML and to PSD (on the server). Ensures consistent rendering and format parity across both interactive and automated pipelines. | Supports a broad range of image and print formats, including PSD, IDML, and PDF. Outputs high-resolution print-ready PDFs with spot colors and CMYK profiles, or print files as JPEG, PNG, TIFF or BMP images. | Both platforms support Adobe file imports. IMG.LY extends compatibility beyond print to digital and video formats within a unified system. |
| Templating & Dynamic Editing | Templates automatically adjust layouts based on variable content. Editable regions and parameters defined via JSON or API configuration. Consistent structure across manual and automated workflows. | Templates come from InDesign, Photoshop or the built-in Template Editor, with variable fields, interpolation placeholders, auto layouts and per-element manipulation permissions. | Both enable adaptive templates. IMG.LY offers a code-first, platform-agnostic system. Customer’s Canvas builds variable templates from Adobe files or its own Template Editor. |
| Creative Automation | Headless rendering engine running on Node.js for fully automated asset creation. Integrates with APIs, databases, or spreadsheets to generate personalized output at scale. | Server-side rendering through REST APIs and order processing pipelines, with conditions that control which tasks run. Tasks render VDP previews and print files from data stored with the design. | IMG.LY provides unified automation across design and video. Customer’s Canvas focuses on automated print production. |
| AI Capabilities | Offers layout intelligence and supports integration of custom AI models for design automation, asset recommendations, and dynamic layout optimization. | AI image tools, available on request, connect the Handy Editor to third-party AI services with your own API keys for background removal, upscaling, vectorizing and text-to-image generation (OpenAI or Picsart). The tools work in the desktop version only. | IMG.LY supports flexible AI integration. Customer’s Canvas adds AI image tools to its Handy Editor through third-party vendors. |
| Video Editing | Timeline-based editing environment for layered video, audio, and graphics with full automation support. Enables both manual creation and programmatic video rendering. | Video editing is not documented. | IMG.LY includes complete video editing and automation capabilities. |
| Asset Management | Integrates directly with DAMs or custom sources. Assets stay within the user’s infrastructure with full ownership and data control. | Asset Storage service for designs, fonts and images, managed in BackOffice. The classic Design Editor can pull images from Amazon S3, Google Drive, Instagram, Facebook or Depositphotos, and the Handy Editor can connect to your own image storage service. | IMG.LY provides infrastructure-level asset control. Customer’s Canvas stores assets in its Asset Storage and connects external image sources. |
| User Interface | Offers a prebuilt, customizable editor and APIs for creating fully bespoke UIs or embedding components selectively. Supports both interactive and headless workflows. | Several ready-made editors, embedded as web components, UI Framework widgets or an iframe. A Headless Editor lets you build your own controls. | IMG.LY supports granular UI customization and integration flexibility as well as prebuilt solutions for faster integration. Customer’s Canvas offers predefined editors plus a Headless Editor for custom interfaces. |
| White-Labeling | Delivered without branding. UI, themes, and components are fully customizable for OEM or enterprise deployments. | The editors embed in your own pages and accept your styling: CSS variables and slots in the Handy Editor; themes, primary color, icons and preloader in the classic Design Editor. The Handy Editor shows the Customer’s Canvas logo as its loading indicator unless your own content replaces it. | Both can be restyled to match your product. IMG.LY ships without branding, while the Handy Editor shows the Customer’s Canvas logo as its loading indicator unless your own content replaces it. |
| Interactive Editing | Real-time editing with GPU acceleration across devices, offering identical visual output in browser, mobile, and desktop environments. | The classic Design Editor is a WYSIWYG editor in the browser, whose canvas lets users manipulate design elements and edit their content, with warnings for low image resolution or safety-line violations as they edit. | IMG.LY edits in real time with identical output on browser, mobile and desktop. Customer’s Canvas edits in a browser WYSIWYG editor. |
| Multi-Layer Editing | Supports unlimited stacking of images, text, shapes, and video layers with blending, grouping, and masking. Consistent behavior across all environments. | Layer-based composition for static print layouts, primarily used for organizing editable zones and product elements. | IMG.LY provides full compositing and visual effects. Customer’s Canvas supports layout-level layer management. |
| Component Architecture | Modular design separating editor, rendering, and asset components. Extensible through plugins or custom integrations without altering core SDK code. | Separate services for asset storage, asset processing, asset generation, design atoms, storefront and BackOffice, plus Design Editor, Preflight Tool and Dynamic Image apps. | IMG.LY offers lightweight modular extensibility. Customer’s Canvas provides service-based modularity. |
| Cross-Platform Support | Runs natively in web, mobile (iOS, Android), desktop (Electron, macOS), and Node.js environments with identical rendering results. | Browser-based editors that work with any JavaScript framework; the Handy Editor has a mobile version. | IMG.LY offers full cross-platform parity. |
| Customizability | Deep customization through configuration files, APIs, and plugin extensions. Enables tailored workflows, UI layouts, and editing permissions. | Customizable branding, layout, and editing rules. Advanced logic implemented through scripting and API configuration. | Both customize layout and editing rules through configuration and APIs. IMG.LY adds plugin extensions; Customer’s Canvas adds scripting. |
| Extensibility | Plugin framework extending functionality across tools, asset sources, and rendering workflows while preserving upgrade compatibility. | REST APIs, a Plugin API for the Handy Editor, and order processing pipelines that pass output to external systems and cloud storage. | Both extensible. IMG.LY offers plugin-based expansion; Customer’s Canvas extends through a Handy Editor Plugin API and REST APIs. |
| Ease of Integration | Comprehensive SDK documentation and reference implementations for all platforms. Full access during evaluation and enterprise deployment. | Developer portal with API docs, SDK examples, and integration guides for web and storefront systems. | Both offer strong integration resources. IMG.LY provides broader platform coverage. |
| Rendering | Flexible rendering architecture: client-side mode uses device GPUs for interactive editing with local data, while server-side rendering via the CE.SDK Renderer supports automated generation on Node.js infrastructure. A unified engine guarantees consistent, pixel-identical output across browsers and backend workflows. The choice depends on the use case, not on technical limitations. | Print files render asynchronously on the server, through Customer’s Canvas services or on-premises. | IMG.LY renders on the client or the server. Customer’s Canvas renders print files on the server, hosted or on-premises. |
| Production Readiness | Proven across enterprise deployments generating millions of assets monthly. Includes enterprise support tiers and integration assistance. | Printing, packaging and direct mail companies use Customer’s Canvas in production, and it ships regular releases. Under a support agreement with an SLA, Aurigma administers, monitors and updates self-hosted deployments. | Both run in production. IMG.LY offers enterprise support tiers and integration assistance; Aurigma offers an SLA-backed support agreement that covers self-hosted deployments. |
| Scalability | Scales horizontally across clients and servers with load balancing and asynchronous rendering. No batch size limitations. | Scales through server clusters or managed cloud environments. Batch generation performance depends on infrastructure. | IMG.LY scales horizontally on infrastructure you run. Customer’s Canvas scales within hosted or clustered environments. |
| Data & Storage | Fully controlled data handling within the user’s infrastructure. No required external storage or third-party dependencies. | Stores designs, uploads and projects in the hosted tenant, which can run in European or Australian environments, with configurable retention. A self-hosted Design Editor in local mode keeps this data on its own server. | IMG.LY guarantees full data control. Customer’s Canvas stores data in its hosted tenant or on your own server, depending on deployment. |
| Offline Capabilities | Operates fully offline after SDK load. Editing, rendering, and exporting available without connectivity. | The classic Design Editor has its own server backend, hosted or self-hosted, that renders elements for the editor UI. | IMG.LY supports offline workflows. |
| Variable Data Publishing | Supports real-time and batch VDP using the same templates as user-facing editors. Scales with the infrastructure you run it on. | Variable data printing from data sets checked against data schemas, from spreadsheet files imported into the UI Framework Datasheet widget, or from data passed through the Design Atoms API. | IMG.LY provides flexible, scalable VDP. Customer’s Canvas offers structured VDP for print automation. |
| Pricing | Enterprise licensing based on deployment scope and usage volume. Evaluation includes full SDK access without user caps. | Offered as a hosted service or as an on-premises version you install yourself. | IMG.LY offers feature-based enterprise licensing. Customer’s Canvas offers hosted and on-premises editions. |
| Support & Documentation | Extensive multi-platform documentation, developer guides, and enterprise-level support with engineering consultation. | Developer, admin, designer and printer documentation, official API clients, and support cases you open from your Customer’s Canvas account. | IMG.LY offers enterprise-level support with engineering consultation. Customer’s Canvas offers support cases opened from your account, plus documentation for developers, admins, designers and printers. |
Key capabilities
Learn more about some of the functionalities of IMG.LY’s SDK.
Editing
Printing
Templating
Text variables.
Enable mass personalization and creative automation by embedding variables.
Placeholders & lockable designs.
Constrain templates to guide your users’ design and ensure brand consistency.
Configurable presets.
Enforce a consistent aesthetic across all creations by using preset filters, adjustments, fonts, and crop ratios.
Customizability
Build custom UIs.
Use the headless API powering all creative operations to implement an entirely custom UI.
Theming.
Theme the editor to match your app.
Media libraries.
Set up custom libraries that are easily sortable.
Toolbar customization.
Reposition toolbar elements, change icons, or rename tools to fit your use case.
Internationalization.
Add support for additional languages, and customize any button label.
Export options.
Export designs in JPG, PNG, or PDF with custom quality, page ranges, and dimensions.
Check out other use cases
Learn more about related solutions.
Apparel Designer
Whether t-shirts, hoodies or caps, build for any use case, deploy on any platform.
Get in touch
Contact our sales team to learn more about licensing options and get access to our AI plugins for CE.SDK.
FAQs
If you're building more than a print editor, such as social content tools, UGC platforms, or creative automation products, then IMG.LY is a great alternative. It brings design, video, automation, and deep customization together in one SDK.
Customer's Canvas focuses on web-to-print personalization and print production. IMG.LY covers broader creative workflows with video editing, automation, dynamic templates, and a fully customizable, white-labeled UI.
IMG.LY is built for scale, with APIs for batch generation, headless design workflows, and dynamic content insertion ideal for automation-heavy use cases.
Customer's Canvas imports layered PSD and IDML templates, but layer effects should be flattened before import, and Illustrator artwork comes in through InDesign templates. IMG.LY imports PSD, IDML, and AI files directly with layers intact, and exports designs back to IDML and to PSD (on the server).
IMG.LY provides full control over the UI, so everything from layout to theming is customizable. Customer's Canvas offers configurable editors, with CSS variables and slots in its Handy Editor, plus a Headless Editor and the Design Atoms libraries for building your own editor interface.
IMG.LY supports native mobile (iOS/Android), desktop (Electron, macOS), and web. Customer's Canvas is primarily web-based, with limited mobile support.
Both do, in different ways. IMG.LY supports generative workflows, dynamic placeholders, and automation via API. Customer's Canvas connects its Handy Editor to third-party AI services, including text-to-image, uses variable fields and placeholders in templates, and automates rendering through REST APIs and order processing pipelines.