Variable Data Printing

Mass-customize design and print workflows without trying. Inspire users with customizable templates and streamline production with automated print validation.

Empower users to design effortlessly on the client while generating variations on your servers.

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Step by step

How to Integrate a Creative Editor into Your VDP Workflow

Step
1
Integrate our SDK with a few lines of code

Create adaptable design templates on the client and generate infinite variations on the server.

You can use any data source and perform any edit operation on the server thanks to our headless editor API.

Step
2
Create smart templates

Create adaptable design templates on the client and generate infinite variations on the server.

You can use any data source and perform any edit operation on the server thanks to our headless editor API.

Explore Template Management Demo
Step
3
Define constraints and variables

Smart templates define constraints and variables guiding which elements can be modified and in which way. Tag an element as a variable, connect your template to a data source, and generate countless personalizations within seconds.

Explore Lockable Design Demo
Step
4
Enable customization of print creatives at scale

Empower your users to create on-brand content variations for multichannel print output in minutes and automatically personalize any print product from brochures over packaging to apparel.

Explore Image Generation Demo
Step
5
Support direct mail campaigns

Your users can easily define text variables in their templates and scale direct mail campaigns whether it’s personalizing postcards, greeting cards or brochures.

All it takes is connecting templates to a data source to automatically generate print-ready files.

Explore Asset Generation Demo
Step
6
Implement automated print validation process

Predefine bleed margins, spot colors, and page clippings and set automatic alerts in case of any errors, such as design extending beyond bleed margins.

You can also implement content moderation to safeguard designs against harmful content or trademark infringements.

Explore Design Validation Demo
Step
7
Automate variable design elements with AI

CE.SDK now brings built-in AI capabilities to variable data printing workflows, enabling the instant generation of personalized graphics, headlines, messages, and layouts from simple prompts.

With model-agnostic AI plugins, you can integrate any third-party model or API to scale individualized content production—boosting efficiency while maintaining full creative flexibility.

Explore AI Features
Step
8
Provide seamless user experience across all platforms

Build a perfect UI for web, iOS, Android, and server, eliminating common errors plaguing web-to-print applications. Benefits include uniform and consistent features across all platforms, such as text rendering.

Explore UI Demos

Everything you need

Key Capabilities

Extensive features to serve any use case and enable a smooth and enjoyable creation process.

Editing

Transform

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Web
Mobile

Crop, flip, and rotate with ease. Preset crop ratios to common formats.

Filters

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Web
Mobile

Over 60 state-of-the-art filters allow users to control the style and mood of their creations.

Adjustments

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Web
Mobile

Fine-tune designs with an exhaustive set of adjustment operations such as brightness and contrast.

Effect & Blur

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Web
Mobile

Add a unique mood to designs with effects & blur.

Element Snapping

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Web
Mobile

Snap stickers and text to control points for more precise placements.

Blend Modes & Grouping

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Mobile

Define the blending behavior and grouping.

Undo & Redo

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Web
Mobile

Allow users to undo and redo all editing operations.

Printing

Cutout Lines

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Web
Mobile

Create and customize cutout shapes for web-to-print.

CMYK/ Spot color support

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Web
Mobile

Integrate CMYK and Pantone color spaces, customized color libraries, including your brand's colors.

Templating

Design Templates

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Web
Mobile

Create role based design templates to jumpstart users’ creativity.

Text Variables

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Web
Mobile

Enable mass personalization and creative automation by embedding variables.

Placeholders & Lockable Designs

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Mobile

Constrain templates to guide your users’ design and ensure brand consistency.

Configurable Presets

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Web
Mobile

Enforce a consistent aesthetic across all creations by using preset filters, adjustments, fonts, and crop ratios.

Customizability

Build Custom UIs

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Web
Mobile

Use the headless API powering all creative operations to implement an entirely custom UI.

Theming

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Mobile

Change the editor theme to fit seamlessly with your app.

Media Libraries

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Mobile

Set up custom libraries that are easily sortable.

Toolbar Customization

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Mobile

Reposition toolbar elements, change icons, or rename tools to fit your use case.

Internationalization

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Mobile

Add support for additional languages, and customize any button label.

Export Options

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Web
Mobile

Export designs in JPG, PNG, or PDF with custom quality, page ranges, and dimensions.

There’s more

Check Out More Use Cases

Revamp your printing process for heightened efficiency, superior quality, and unleashed user creativity.
Web2Print Designer

Web2Print Designer

Elevate your Web2Print application with best-in-class Design Editor.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Photo Prints

Photo Prints

Provide seamless design experience and inspire users with easily personalized templates.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Print Personalization

Print Personalization

Streamline personalization for your print products.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Collage Designer

Collage Designer

Build a customizable collage editor, design any number of layout templates and deploy on any platform.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Poster Designer

Poster Designer

Build a fully custom poster designer on any platform with our modern design editor SDK.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Photo Book Designer

Photo Book Designer

Easily build any photo book UI & use case, create templates and layouts to jumpstart your customers’ designs.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Greeting Card Designer

Greeting Card Designer

Whether anniversary cards, thank you cards or wedding invitations, build for any use case, deploy on any platform.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Postcard Designer

Postcard Designer

Whether post cards, greeting cards or wedding invitations, build for any use case, deploy on any platform.
Learn MoreOpen Demo
Apparel Designer

Apparel Designer

Whether t-shirts, hoodies or caps, build for any use case, deploy on any platform.
Learn MoreOpen Demo

More to discover

Explore Our Demos

See how IMG.LY looks and feels.
Check out our
demos

What Our Clients Say About Us

IMG.LY’s solution engineers did a deep dive on our business case and helped us implement a custom print kiosk UI.

André Albrecht
Digital Solution Manager
 @ 
Brother

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
 @ 
Swiss Post

Our app has photo-editing at the very core of its experience and the editor has been invaluable in making that vision happen. There are no other tools on the market up to the quality of PE.SDK.

Toby Green
Lead Developer
 @ 
Elbi

Get in Touch

Contact our sales team to learn more about licensing options and get access to our AI plugins for CE.SDK.

Contact SalesFree Trial

FAQs

What is the difference between creative automation and variable data printing?

Creative automation refers to the general process of programmatically creating or editing designs, all aspects of a design are subject to change whether colors, fonts or element position. In addition a data source can be used to update dynamic elements of the design.
Variable data printing refers specifically to using data to create variations of a specific design template. The designs thus created are then further processed in a down-stream printing workflow producing physical prints.

Can I implement roles and permissions using the SDK?

While there is no functionality included with the editor that allows implementing roles and permissions you can use any backend technology or framework to control access to the editor. Furthermore our SDK features are extendible allowing for hooks where permissions can be checked and the editor behavior customized accordingly.

What products & materials can I personalize with the SDK?

Thanks to a fully customizable UI, you can easily use our editor for personalization of paper prints, such as postcards, greeting cards, wedding invitations, and packaging; apparel (t-shirts, tote bags, caps, or shoes); and marketing materials - brochures, flyers, and catalogs.

Can we integrate our own assets (Sticker, Frames, Overlays)?

Yes, absolutely! Please refer to our documentation for more information on that topic.

Can I decide on which features to implement?

Yes, you have full control over which features you decide to use. You can configure the toolbar on mobile and on web you can interface with the API directly to build the exact feature you need.

Can I see what my design would look like on print?

Yes, CE.SDK has a live preview function that visualizes the final product, allowing you and your users to better manage expectations.

Which platforms/ frameworks are supported?

Our IMG.LY SDK is suitable for web and mobile (Android & iOS). Supported frameworks are React-Native, Flutter, Ionic, and Cordova for mobile and React, Angular, Svelte and Vue.js for web. For more information, please visit our Guides.

Which export file formats for print do you support?

All CreativeEditor SDK scenes can be exported in PNG, JPEG, TGA, binary, and PDF. See the export guide in the documentation for more information on exporting scenes.

Can I import existing designs files into the SDK?

You can always import individual elements as PNG, JPG or SVG, we are currently working on importers for PDF and the most common design file formats.

Which export file formats for print do you support?

All CreativeEditor SDK scenes can be exported in PNG, JPEG, TGA, binary, and PDF. See the export guide in the documentation for more information on exporting scenes.

Can I enable/ disable a function by default?

Yes, you have full control over the Editor’s UI and functionality. You can also take full control over the editing process with smart templates, lockable designs and placeholders.

Do you offer integration support?

Yes, apart from accessing our complete CreativeEngine documentation you can also contact our support team. Our solutions team offer different levels of support based on your license type.
To explore your use case and potential solutions with us simply get in touch.

Which frameworks do you support for building custom UIs?

You can use any Javascript framework to implement a custom UI on top of our headless CreativeEngine API. You can find dedicated getting started guides for React, Vue, Angular and Svelte in our documentation.

Which server-side technologies do you support?

You can run the CreativeEngine in a Node.js environment and deploy it on any platform with Node.js support. See this guide on how to deploy on AWS for reference.

Can I try your Editors to see how it works?

Yes, we offer a free trial for all our products. You can get your free trial right now.

Can my users edit their photos using IMG.LY SDKs when they are offline?

As the editor works client-side, a permanent internet connection isn't necessary for the editor to run properly. Once the device reconnects, available updates can be installed and the export tracking will be communicated. However, if you require the SDK to work in a purely offline environment please contact our sales team to request an offline license.

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