Embeds and the viewer

The embed code, every viewer option, and locking it to your domains.

What an embed is

An embed is a published, configured view of one model, with its own address and its own settings. It is what you put on your website, and it is what analytics are recorded against.

It is a plain <iframe>. There is no script tag, nothing to install, and nothing that touches the rest of your page — which is what makes it work in a content management system that only allows embedded HTML.

Putting one on your page

  1. open a model and go to the Embed tab;
  2. set the options you want — they preview live;
  3. copy the iframe snippet;
  4. paste it into your product page;
  5. add your domain to the allowed list before you go live (see below).
Screenshot to addThe embed builder: options on the left, live preview on the right, copyable snippet below.

Every option, explained

OptionWhat it does
Click to loadShows a still frame and loads the 3D only when the visitor clicks. Costs one click of engagement and saves the download for everyone who scrolls past. Worth turning on if you have several embeds on one page.
Turn slowly on loadA gentle rotation when the viewer opens, which signals that the thing is interactive. It stops the moment the visitor touches it.
Show the controls only on hoverHides the type controls, the AR button and the rest of the furniture until the pointer is over the viewer, so the still frame is just the product. On touch devices the controls stay visible — there is no hover to reveal them with.
Show the type switcherWhether visitors can change type at all. Off pins the embed to one configuration, which is what you want when the embed sits on a page for a specific SKU.
Type switcher positionWhere the controls sit in the frame.
Pinned typeWhich type the embed opens on. Set this per product page so each SKU’s page opens on its own configuration.
Type nameWhether the current type’s name is drawn over the model, and where. Its colour and drop shadow are adjustable — the shadow is what keeps it readable against a light model.
Specification readoutWhether the parameters that are not controls are listed as the visitor selects. Useful on a technical page, noise on a marketing one.
BackgroundFollow the lighting environment, or a solid colour of your choice — set it to match your page and the viewer stops looking like a window cut into it.
Your logo, and where it sitsOverlays your logo in a corner. See branding.
View in your spaceWhether the AR button is offered, and where. See augmented reality.

Locking it to your domains

Each embed has a list of allowed domains. If the list is empty the embed works anywhere; if it has entries, the viewer will only load on those.

Set this before you go live. An unrestricted embed can be lifted by anyone who views the source of your page and used on theirs — on your bandwidth, and mixed in with your analytics. An empty list is right while you are testing and wrong in production.

Include every domain the page is served from, including staging and any www variant you use. A visitor arriving on a domain that is not listed gets a short licensing notice rather than a broken frame.

As well as the iframe, the embed panel gives you:

  • A share link — the viewer as a full page. Good for sending to a specifier, or putting behind a “view in 3D” button.
  • A Bimstore embed URL — the same viewer at the address the Bimstore platform expects, for their admins to embed it in a modal. Views through it are recorded exactly like any other embed, so they appear in your analytics alongside the rest.

Several embeds of one model

You can create more than one embed from the same model, each with its own options, pinned type, domains and analytics. Two common reasons:

  • One per SKU page, each pinned to its own type, so the analytics tell you how each product page performs rather than how the family performs.
  • A different configuration per audience — the full configurator on the technical page, a pinned single type on the homepage.

Extra embeds cost nothing. They are not metered on any plan.

Sizing the iframe

The viewer fills whatever box you give it, so size the iframe in your own CSS. Two practical notes:

  • Give it a real height. An iframe with no height collapses. Aspect-ratio boxes work well — 4:3 for a product, 16:10 if it sits in a column of text.
  • Below about 560 px wide the controls become a sheet opened by a summary button, rather than a permanent strip. That is the iframe’s width, not the visitor’s screen — a narrow embed in a sidebar on a desktop gets the compact layout too, which is what you want.