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Design Viewer

Lightweight design viewing for your web app—pan, zoom, and navigate multi-page designs. Runs entirely in the browser with no server dependencies.

Viewer starter kit showing a lightweight content display interface

5 mins
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Pre-requisites#

This guide assumes basic familiarity with JavaScript or TypeScript.

  • Node.js v20+ with npm – Download
  • Supported browsers – Chrome 114+, Edge 114+, Firefox 115+, Safari 15.6+
    See Browser Support for the full list
New Project
Existing Project

Get Started#

Start fresh with a standalone Design Viewer project. This creates a complete, ready-to-run application.

Step 1: Clone the Repository#

Terminal
git clone https://github.com/imgly/starterkit-design-viewer-ts-web.git
git clone https://github.com/imgly/starterkit-design-viewer-ts-web.git

The src/ folder contains the viewer code:

src/
├── index.ts                      # Application entry point
└── imgly/
    ├── index.ts                  # Viewer initialization function
    └── config/
        ├── plugin.ts             # Main configuration plugin
        ├── features.ts           # Feature toggles
        ├── i18n.ts               # Translations
        ├── settings.ts           # Engine settings
        └── ui/                   # UI customization
            ├── index.ts          # Combines UI customization exports
            ├── canvas.ts         # Canvas configuration
            └── navigationBar.ts  # Navigation bar layout

Step 2: Install Dependencies#

Terminal
cd starterkit-design-viewer-ts-web
npm install
cd starterkit-design-viewer-ts-web
npm install

Step 3: Download Assets#

CE.SDK requires engine assets (fonts, icons, UI elements) to function. These must be served as static files from your project’s public/ directory.

Terminal
curl -O https://cdn.img.ly/packages/imgly/cesdk-js/1.69.0/imgly-assets.zip
unzip imgly-assets.zip -d public/
rm imgly-assets.zip
curl -O https://cdn.img.ly/packages/imgly/cesdk-js/1.69.0/imgly-assets.zip
unzip imgly-assets.zip -d public/
rm imgly-assets.zip

The baseURL in your configuration should point to this location:

src/index.ts
const config = {
  // ...
  baseURL: '/assets'
};

Step 4: Run the Development Server#

Terminal
npm run dev
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser.

Set Up a Scene#

CE.SDK offers multiple ways to load content into the viewer. Choose the method that matches your use case:

src/index.ts
// Load from a template archive - loads a previously saved project
await cesdk.loadFromArchiveURL('https://example.com/design.zip');


// Load from a scene file - restores a scene from JSON
await cesdk.loadFromURL('https://example.com/scene.json');


// Zoom to fit the content
await cesdk.actions.run('zoom.toPage', {
  page: 'first',
  autoFit: true,
  padding: 24
});

Customize (Optional)#

Theming#

CE.SDK supports light and dark themes out of the box, plus automatic system preference detection. Switch between themes programmatically:

src/imgly/config/settings.ts
// 'light' | 'dark' | 'system' | (() => 'light' | 'dark')
cesdk.ui.setTheme('dark');

See Theming for custom color schemes, CSS variables, and advanced styling options.

Localization#

Customize UI labels and add support for multiple languages. The i18n system supports translation keys for all UI elements:

src/imgly/config/i18n.ts
// Override specific labels
cesdk.i18n.setTranslations({
  en: {
    'common.zoomIn': 'Zoom In',
    'common.zoomOut': 'Zoom Out'
  }
});


// Add a new language
cesdk.i18n.setTranslations({
  de: {
    'common.zoomIn': 'Vergrößern'
  }
});


// Set the active locale
cesdk.i18n.setLocale('de');

See Localization for supported languages, translation key reference, and right-to-left language support.

Key Capabilities#

The Design Viewer includes everything needed for design viewing.

Pan & Zoom

Pan & Zoom

Navigate designs with intuitive pan and zoom controls.

Page Navigation

Page Navigation

Navigate between pages in multi-page designs and presentations.

Zoom Controls

Zoom Controls

Zoom in and out of the canvas with fit-to-screen options.

Read-Only Mode

Read-Only Mode

Display design content without editing capabilities for preview and approval workflows.

Approval Workflows

Approval Workflows

Review and approve designs without the risk of accidental modifications.

Lightweight Interface

Lightweight Interface

Minimal UI focused on viewing experience without editing distractions.


Troubleshooting#

Viewer doesn’t load#

  • Check the container element exists: Ensure your container element is in the DOM before calling create()
  • Verify the baseURL: Assets must be accessible from the CDN or your self-hosted location
  • Check console errors: Look for CORS or network errors in browser developer tools

Content doesn’t appear#

  • Check network requests: Open DevTools Network tab and look for failed requests to cdn.img.ly
  • Self-host assets for production: See Serve Assets to host assets on your infrastructure

Watermark appears in production#

  • Add your license key: Set the license property in your configuration
  • Sign up for a trial: Get a free trial license at img.ly/forms/free-trial

Next Steps#