unlayer-export

Export Content

Overview

Unlayer supports multiple export formats. Some are client-side (free), others use the Cloud API (paid).

Which Export Method?

Method	Output	Paid?	Use When
exportHtml	HTML + design JSON	No	Email sending, web publishing, saving designs
exportPlainText	Plain text + design	No	SMS, accessibility fallback
exportImage	PNG URL + design	Yes	Thumbnails, previews, social sharing
exportPdf	PDF URL + design	Yes	Print-ready documents
exportZip	ZIP URL + design	Yes	Offline download packages

Critical: Always save the design JSON alongside any export. All export methods return data.design — save it so users can edit later.

---

Save & Load Designs

// SAVE — use exportHtml to get both design JSON and HTML
unlayer.exportHtml(async (data) => {
  await fetch('/api/templates', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      design: data.design,  // Save this — needed to edit later
      html: data.html,      // The rendered HTML output
    }),
  });
});

// LOAD — restore a saved design (must wait for editor:ready)
unlayer.addEventListener('editor:ready', async () => {
  const response = await fetch('/api/templates/123');
  const saved = await response.json();
  unlayer.loadDesign(saved.design);   // Pass the saved JSON object
});

// LOAD BLANK
unlayer.loadBlank({ backgroundColor: '#ffffff', contentWidth: '600px' });

// LOAD AN UNLAYER TEMPLATE
unlayer.loadTemplate(templateId);     // ID from Unlayer dashboard

---

Export HTML

unlayer.exportHtml((data) => {
  const { html, design, chunks } = data;

  // html     — Full HTML document (string)
  // design   — Design JSON (always save this!)
  // chunks   — { css, js, body, fonts, tags }
  //   body   — Just the content inside <body> (no wrapper)
  //   css    — Extracted CSS styles
  //   fonts  — Web fonts used in the design

  // Save both to your backend
  await fetch('/api/templates', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ design, html }),
  });
}, {
  // All options are optional
  cleanup: true,          // Remove editor markup (default: true)
  minify: false,          // Minify HTML output
  inlineStyles: false,    // Move CSS inline (for email clients)
  mergeTags: {},          // Replace merge tags with real values
  title: 'My Email',     // Set HTML <title>
});