--- title: "Glossary — CE.SDK Terms & Concepts" description: "Browse key terms and concepts used across CE.SDK, the headless design engine, and creative automation workflows." url: "https://img.ly/glossary/" type: "page" --- > This is the markdown version of [Glossary — CE.SDK Terms & Concepts](https://img.ly/glossary/). For all pages in one file, see [llms-full.txt](https://img.ly/llms-full.txt). For an index of all available pages, see [llms.txt](https://img.ly/llms.txt). --- # Glossary Key terms and concepts used across CE.SDK and creative automation workflows. ## Core Concepts - [CreativeEngine](https://img.ly/glossary/creative-engine.md): The cross-platform C++ engine powering all scene rendering and manipulation across every IMG.LY SDK. - [Scene](https://img.ly/glossary/scene.md): The root-level document that contains all pages and design elements in a CE.SDK project. - [Block](https://img.ly/glossary/block.md): The fundamental building unit of every scene: every element, from images to text to pages, is a block. - [Page](https://img.ly/glossary/page.md): A canvas within a scene on which design elements are placed, supporting multi-page layouts. - [Headless Mode](https://img.ly/glossary/headless-mode.md): Running the CreativeEngine as a pure API with no UI, used for server-side automation and batch rendering. - [Design Unit](https://img.ly/glossary/design-unit.md): The measurement system (Pixel, Millimeter, or Inch) used for all dimensions and positions in a scene. - [UUID](https://img.ly/glossary/uuid.md): A stable, persistent identifier assigned to each block that survives save and load operations. ## Architecture - [Block Hierarchy](https://img.ly/glossary/block-hierarchy.md): The parent–child tree structure that organizes all blocks in a CE.SDK scene from the root down to individual elements. - [Block Type](https://img.ly/glossary/block-type.md): A string identifier that defines what a block fundamentally is and which APIs it supports. - [Block Kind](https://img.ly/glossary/block-kind.md): A custom semantic label assigned to a block to distinguish it from other blocks of the same type. - [Graphic Block](https://img.ly/glossary/graphic-block.md): The unified block type for all visual content: images, videos, shapes, and stickers. - [Fill](https://img.ly/glossary/fill.md): The content layer inside a graphic block, defining what is rendered: an image, video, color, or gradient. - [Shape](https://img.ly/glossary/shape.md): The geometric boundary that defines a graphic block's outline and clips its fill. - [Scope](https://img.ly/glossary/scope.md): A named permission that controls whether a specific editing operation is allowed on a block or editor-wide. - [Effects](https://img.ly/glossary/effects.md): Visual processing layers (filters, adjustments, blur, shadow) applied on top of a block's fill. - [Outline / Stroke](https://img.ly/glossary/outline-stroke.md): A configurable decorative border drawn around a block's shape boundary. - [Agent Skills](https://img.ly/glossary/agent-skills.md): Bundled CE.SDK documentation and code patterns that enable AI coding assistants to scaffold integrations autonomously. ## Templates & Automation - [Template](https://img.ly/glossary/template.md): A pre-designed scene with locked and editable elements, used as a reusable starting point for human editing or automated generation. - [Placeholder](https://img.ly/glossary/placeholder.md): A block configured as a drop-zone where Adopter-role users can swap image, video, or text content. - [Text Variable](https://img.ly/glossary/text-variable.md): A named dynamic token in a text block whose value is set programmatically to personalize designs at scale. - [Design Constraint](https://img.ly/glossary/design-constraint.md): A per-block permission restriction set by a Creator that limits what Adopter-role users can modify. - [Creative Automation](https://img.ly/glossary/creative-automation.md): Using CE.SDK's headless API to generate large volumes of design assets from templates and data, without manual editing. - [Variable Data Printing](https://img.ly/glossary/variable-data-printing.md): A print workflow where CE.SDK generates one personalized, print-ready file per record from a shared template and data source. - [Scene File](https://img.ly/glossary/scene-file.md): The native .scene format that saves a complete CE.SDK design including all blocks, properties, and metadata. - [Scene Archive](https://img.ly/glossary/scene-archive.md): A .zip bundle of a scene file and all its referenced assets, ensuring the template is fully portable. ## Roles & Permissions - [Role](https://img.ly/glossary/role.md): A user type (Creator, Adopter, Viewer, Presenter) that sets the default permission level and editor experience. - [Creator Role](https://img.ly/glossary/creator-role.md): The unrestricted role for designers who build templates and define what end-users can edit. - [Adopter Role](https://img.ly/glossary/adopter-role.md): The restricted role for end-users who personalize templates within the limits a Creator has set. - [Viewer Role](https://img.ly/glossary/viewer-role.md): A read-only role for previewing designs without any editing capability. - [Presenter Role](https://img.ly/glossary/presenter-role.md): A read-only role optimized for presenting designs in full-screen or slideshow mode. ## Starter Kit UIs - [Starter Kit](https://img.ly/glossary/starter-kit.md): A pre-configured, production-ready CE.SDK setup for a specific use case, ready to embed and customize. - [Design Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/design-editor.md): CE.SDK's full-featured multi-page design creation UI, suited for templates, marketing materials, and brand tools. - [Photo Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/photo-editor.md): A focused CE.SDK configuration for single-image editing: adjustments, filters, crop, and background removal. - [Video Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/video-editor.md): A timeline-based CE.SDK configuration for composing, trimming, and exporting video content. - [AI Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/ai-editor.md): A CE.SDK configuration that surfaces generative AI tools for image, video, text, and voice creation alongside standard design editing. - [T-Shirt Designer](https://img.ly/glossary/t-shirt-designer.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit for apparel customization with a realistic mockup, enforced print boundaries, and print-ready output. - [Postcard Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/postcard-editor.md): A guided CE.SDK Starter Kit for creating and personalizing postcards and greeting cards, with variable-driven batch output. - [Photobook Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/photobook-editor.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit for print-ready photobooks with photo auto-fill, a layouts library, live print checks, and PDF/X-4 export. - [Mockup Editor](https://img.ly/glossary/mockup-editor.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit that maps a finished design onto photorealistic product surfaces for live preview and validation. - [3D Product Configurator](https://img.ly/glossary/3d-product-configurator.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit that renders designs onto interactive, rotatable 3D product models in real time. - [Design Generator](https://img.ly/glossary/design-generator.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit that auto-produces a finished design from structured inputs, with no manual canvas editing required. - [Automated Video Generator](https://img.ly/glossary/automated-video-generator.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit for producing video outputs from templates and data entirely through the headless API. - [Auto-Resizer](https://img.ly/glossary/auto-resizer.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit that automatically adapts designs to multiple target formats and page sizes in one operation. - [Data Merge](https://img.ly/glossary/data-merge.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit for generating a batch of personalized assets by injecting rows of data into a single template. - [Multiple Image Generator](https://img.ly/glossary/multiple-image-generator.md): A CE.SDK Starter Kit for producing multiple platform-specific image variants from a single data input. - [Design Viewer](https://img.ly/glossary/design-viewer.md): A lightweight CE.SDK Starter Kit for rendering a read-only, navigable preview of a design scene. - [Platform Notes](https://img.ly/glossary/platform-notes.md): An overview of which Starter Kits are available across web frameworks, mobile, desktop, and server platforms. ## UI Components - [Canvas](https://img.ly/glossary/canvas.md): The primary workspace where users view and interact with the design in real time. - [Dock](https://img.ly/glossary/dock.md): The panel providing access to asset libraries and tools not tied to a currently selected block. - [Inspector Bar](https://img.ly/glossary/inspector-bar.md): The contextual properties panel that adapts to show controls for the currently selected block. - [Navigation Bar](https://img.ly/glossary/navigation-bar.md): The global toolbar for scene-wide actions: undo, redo, and zoom. - [Canvas Bar](https://img.ly/glossary/canvas-bar.md): A toolbar for managing overall page structure, including adding and reordering pages. - [Canvas Menu](https://img.ly/glossary/canvas-menu.md): A contextual action menu appearing on block selection for quick operations like duplicate and delete. - [Layer Panel](https://img.ly/glossary/layer-panel.md): A panel showing the full stacking order of blocks, with controls for reordering and toggling visibility. - [Theming](https://img.ly/glossary/theming.md): CE.SDK's system for customizing the editor's visual appearance to match a host application's brand. ## Asset Management - [Asset Source](https://img.ly/glossary/asset-source.md): A data provider that supplies assets (images, fonts, templates, stickers) to the CE.SDK asset library. - [Asset Library](https://img.ly/glossary/asset-library.md): The browsable, searchable collection of assets available to users inside the editor, drawn from one or more asset sources. - [URI Resolver](https://img.ly/glossary/uri-resolver.md): A developer-defined function that maps CE.SDK asset URIs to actual resource URLs at runtime. - [LUT](https://img.ly/glossary/lut.md): A color mapping file applied as a filter effect in CE.SDK to grade the look of images and videos consistently. ## Export & Output - [Export](https://img.ly/glossary/export.md): The process of rendering a CE.SDK scene or page to a distribution-ready file: PNG, JPEG, PDF, PDF/X, MP4, and more. - [PDF/X](https://img.ly/glossary/pdf-x.md): An ISO-standardized PDF subset that guarantees print-accurate, press-ready output with embedded fonts and color profiles. - [CMYK](https://img.ly/glossary/cmyk.md): The ink-based color model used in professional print production, supported by CE.SDK for print-accurate design and export. - [Spot Color](https://img.ly/glossary/spot-color.md): A precisely defined Pantone ink color used in print for exact brand color reproduction, supported alongside CMYK in CE.SDK. - [Bleed / Cutout](https://img.ly/glossary/bleed-cutout.md): Print bleed support and the Cutout Plugin for creating die-cut shapes and print-safe trim boundaries in CE.SDK. - [CE.SDK Renderer](https://img.ly/glossary/cesdk-renderer.md): A command-line tool in a Docker container that renders CE.SDK scenes to image, PDF, or video files on a Linux server. ## Print Production - [Lab Color](https://img.ly/glossary/lab-color.md): A device-independent color model built on three values: lightness, a green-red axis, and a blue-yellow axis. - [ICC Profile](https://img.ly/glossary/icc-profile.md): A standardized file that records a device's color behavior, so colors can be translated correctly between screens, cameras, and presses. - [Color Gamut](https://img.ly/glossary/color-gamut.md): The full set of colors a screen, a press, or a color space is able to show or print. - [Overprint](https://img.ly/glossary/overprint.md): Printing one ink on top of another so they mix, instead of knocking out the ink below. - [Crop Marks](https://img.ly/glossary/crop-marks.md): Short corner lines printed just outside the trim that tell the cutter where a page's finished edges are. - [Print Resolution](https://img.ly/glossary/print-resolution.md): How many pixels of an image land in each inch of paper once it prints, usually requested as 300 DPI. - [Outline Fonts](https://img.ly/glossary/outline-fonts.md): Converting text into vector paths so a print file no longer depends on its fonts, which keeps the look but gives up editing and search. - [Rasterize](https://img.ly/glossary/rasterize.md): Turning vector shapes and text into pixels, at a resolution fixed at the moment of conversion. - [Vector vs. Raster](https://img.ly/glossary/vector-vs-raster.md): The two ways digital artwork is built. - [PNG vs. JPG](https://img.ly/glossary/png-vs-jpg.md): Two raster image formats that compress differently. - [SVG vs. PNG](https://img.ly/glossary/svg-vs-png.md): Two formats for logos and graphics on screen. - [EPS File](https://img.ly/glossary/eps-file.md): A vector format for logos and artwork that brands, sign makers, and print suppliers use to share files. - [GSM Paper](https://img.ly/glossary/gsm-paper.md): Paper weight given in grams per square meter, from about 80 for office paper to 400 for heavy card. - [Coated vs. Uncoated Paper](https://img.ly/glossary/coated-vs-uncoated-paper.md): The two main paper surfaces in print: coated stock seals the fibers so ink stays on top, uncoated stock absorbs it. - [Embossing vs. Debossing](https://img.ly/glossary/embossing-vs-debossing.md): Two pressed finishes made with metal dies: embossing lifts a design above the paper, debossing sinks it below. - [Screen Printing vs. DTG](https://img.ly/glossary/screen-printing-vs-dtg.md): The two main ways to print apparel: screen printing lays down one ink per mesh screen, DTG sprays full color directly onto the garment from an inkjet head. - [Offset vs. Digital Printing](https://img.ly/glossary/offset-vs-digital-printing.md): The two main commercial printing methods: offset runs ink from metal plates through a rubber blanket onto paper and suits long identical runs, digital prints each copy from the file and suits short or personalized runs. ## Video - [Timeline](https://img.ly/glossary/timeline.md): The time-based editing interface for sequencing, trimming, and synchronizing all media elements in a video composition. - [Video Composition](https://img.ly/glossary/video-composition.md): A CE.SDK scene built for video output, combining clips, audio, overlays, and animations on a timeline. - [Video Collage](https://img.ly/glossary/video-collage.md): A layout where multiple video clips play simultaneously on one canvas in split-screen or grid arrangements. - [Caption](https://img.ly/glossary/caption.md): A timeline-synchronized text overlay for adding subtitles or on-screen text in video compositions. - [Keyframe](https://img.ly/glossary/keyframe.md): A defined property state at a specific timestamp, used to create smooth animations and motion transitions. ## Plugins - [Plugin](https://img.ly/glossary/plugin.md): A modular extension that adds new capabilities (processing, UI components, or asset sources) to a CE.SDK integration. - [Background Removal Plugin](https://img.ly/glossary/background-removal-plugin.md): A client-side CE.SDK plugin that removes image backgrounds in the browser with no server upload required. - [Vectorizer Plugin](https://img.ly/glossary/vectorizer-plugin.md): A CE.SDK plugin that converts raster images to scalable SVG vector graphics, directly in the browser. - [Visual Prompting](https://img.ly/glossary/visual-prompting.md): Uses a whole page of images and notes as the prompt, with the output placed on a separate page. --- ## More Resources - **[IMG.LY Website](https://img.ly/index.md)** - Creative editing SDKs for photo, video, and design - **[Documentation](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/)** - CE.SDK developer documentation - **[Contact Sales](https://img.ly/forms/contact-sales.md)** - Get a custom quote. 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