Plain-English definitions for people who build with
print

A 3D product mockup renders a customer's design onto a three-dimensional model of the product, letting them rotate or view it from multiple angles, rather than a flat, single-view image. It's more immersive than a static mockup but requires more processing power to render in real time.

An acrylic print is a photo printed and mounted behind a sheet of clear acrylic (or directly onto it), producing a glossy, vibrant, gallery-style finish with visible depth. It's a premium wall art format often offered alongside canvas and metal prints in personalization apps.

AI image generation lets customers create custom artwork — like a pet or family portrait in a specific art style — directly inside a personalization tool, without needing their own design skills or a professional photo. It's increasingly used in frame and gift personalization apps to expand what customers can create beyond their own uploaded photos.

An album software API lets a photo business connect a photobook or album design engine directly into its own website or internal tools, instead of using a pre-built storefront app. It's the integration path enterprise photo labs use when they need full control over the customer design experience.

An API integration lets a print business connect its own website or internal systems directly to a design tool or production platform, without relying on a pre-built storefront app. APIs are the standard route for enterprise printers who want a fully custom customer experience while still using proven backend design technology.

An app store listing is the public page — screenshots, description, pricing, reviews — through which merchants discover and evaluate an app before installing it. For Shopify apps, listing quality (clear screenshots, keyword-optimized copy) directly affects install conversion rate.

Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between an image's width and height — for example 4:3 or 16:9 — and mismatches between a photo's native ratio and the chosen print size are the most common cause of unwanted cropping in personalized photo products.

Auto-fill layout is a feature that automatically arranges a customer's uploaded photos into page layouts, using rules like chronology, orientation, or facial detection, so the customer starts with a finished draft instead of a blank page. It's a major factor in photobook completion rates, since manual layout is the top reason customers abandon a book mid-design.

A B2B print portal is a branded ordering site built for business customers — franchises, agencies, or corporate accounts — to reorder marketing materials, business cards, or branded merchandise with pre-approved templates and controlled pricing. Portals reduce back-and-forth by giving each account a locked-down, self-serve storefront.

A B2C storefront is a public-facing online store selling directly to individual consumers, as opposed to a B2B portal built for business accounts. Most Shopify-based print and personalization businesses run B2C storefronts where customers browse, customize, and check out in one flow.

The backing board is the panel — acrylic, wood, or metal — that neon flex is mounted onto, giving the sign a rigid shape and a surface for mounting hardware. Backing board material and shape are usually customer-selectable options in a neon configurator.

Batch printing groups multiple individual orders together and prints them in a single production run, reducing per-unit setup time and cost. It's commonly used for smaller, personalized items like gang sheets or stickers where combining many small orders is far more efficient than running each one separately.