What's New at I♥️ Cards

Features

• Writing mode control: choose horizontal, vertical (RL/LR), or sideways text flow for text elements, enabling vertical text layouts without bounding box rotation issues

Improvements

• Improved layout usability: card remains fully interactive and movable even when the editor panel is open, eliminating the need to close the panel to adjust card position

Fixes & Refactorings

• Fixed reliability issues with absolute positioning when dragging and dropping elements - elements now stay properly aligned

Improvements

• Upgraded AI models to GPT-5.1 for better quality and more accurate results across all AI features

Improvements

• Pick your preferred image style and adjust the instructions when generating images for multiple cards at once

Features

• Deck illustrations: add a cover image to your deck that appears on your deck page, in search results, and when sharing on social media
• AI image generation: generate custom illustrations for your deck using AI
• Unsplash integration: search and use professional photos from Unsplash as deck illustrations
• Social media sharing: when you share your deck link on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, it now shows your deck title, description, author name, and illustration in a beautiful preview card
• Search engine friendly: your deck pages now show up in Google with proper titles, descriptions, and your name as the creator
• Automatic sitemap: published decks are automatically included so search engines can find them

Improvements

• Author attribution: your name appears everywhere - in titles when shared, in descriptions, and in search results
• Smart privacy: only published and early-access decks appear in search engines; private, draft, and unlisted decks stay hidden
• Better deck pages: your deck landing page now has all the info needed for professional sharing and promotion

Features

• Category reordering buttons: move categories up, down, to first, or to last position with simple toolbar buttons
• LexoRank positioning for categories: reliable category ordering that persists across saves and never conflicts

Improvements

• Click-to-select UX: click a category to select it and reveal the reordering toolbar - click again to deselect
• Mobile card buttons: Create and Generate buttons in the Add a Card section are now always visible on mobile devices
• AI image generation: add spinner and information text while image is uploading to server

Fixes & Refactorings

• Color palette drawer: fixed issue where the ColorSchemeLibraryDrawer would immediately close after opening from the card toolbar
• Download center: fixed bug where selecting only one card in digital export mode resulted in 0 files exported

Features

• Duplicate button: one-click deck duplication from the deck grid

Features

• Interactive preview: click elements to select, drag to move, resize with 8 handles, rotate with visual feedback and angle display
• Compact floating toolbar: preview selector, ratio quick-switch, zoom control, and save actions in one clean toolbar at the top
• Tabbed settings panels: settings organized in tabs (Content, Style, Advanced) for cleaner navigation
• Mask controls: apply masks to text, icons, and shapes for creative effects
• SVG shape support: add custom SVG paths alongside basic shapes
• Mobile responsive: drawer-based interface on mobile with floating action buttons
• Overlay scrollbars: custom scrollbars save ~15px horizontal space in sidebars

Improvements

• Figma-style UX: overlays hide during adjustments (drag, resize, rotate, zoom) and smoothly reappear when you stop
• Smart layer detection: clicks automatically select the right element even when layers overlap
• Unified shell component: modal and page routes now use the same UI component for consistency
• Auto-open settings: adding new items automatically opens their settings panel
• Vertical text alignment: new controls for vertical text positioning
• Position-based section numbering: sections labeled by position (Section 1, 2, 3) and update when reordered
• Keyboard modifiers: Shift key locks aspect ratio (resize) and snaps to 15° (rotation)

Features

• Unlisted deck status: share decks via direct link without listing them in the public directory - perfect for trials, experiments, and sharing with specific people
• Publishing modal: dedicated modal for managing deck status with transactional saves and rollback - change status, copy public URL, and save in one place
• Smart publish button: toolbar button shows 'Publish' or 'Unpublish' based on current state, opens publishing modal with one click
• Public URL copy: instant copy button for sharing your deck's public page when it's published, unlisted, or in early access

Improvements

• Redesigned publishing workflow: status changes now use a dedicated modal instead of being buried in editor tabs
• Transactional status changes: status updates require explicit save, with automatic rollback on cancel to prevent accidental changes
• Smart action labels: button labels adapt to show clear destination actions like 'Publish in Directory', 'Publish as Unlisted', or 'Save as Private'
• Status visibility system: all UI elements now distinguish between link-accessible decks (published/early-access/unlisted) and directory-listed decks (published/early-access only)
• Studio navbar status display: replaced binary Public/Private with granular status badges showing all 6 deck states with distinct colors and icons
• Unlisted banner: visitors to unlisted decks see a friendly banner explaining the privacy level
• Landing Page tab: renamed Publishing tab to Landing Page to better reflect its purpose (tags, external links, SEO content)

Features

• Floating zoom control: adjust card preview size from 150px to 1200px with a slider in the bottom-right corner (desktop only)
• Adaptive dot grid background: subtle dot pattern background that automatically adapts to light/dark mode, helping white cards stand out in light mode and dark cards in dark mode

Improvements

• Replaced CSS grid with flex layout for more predictable card wrapping and centering
• Responsive card sizing: cards automatically scale down on smaller screens while respecting zoom preferences
• Card toolbar positioning: new 'card-bottom' position option for better visibility in public deck views
• Consistent layout: deck and category headers now constrained to readable width while cards use full available space

Features

• Drag and drop card reordering: click and drag any card to reorder within categories or move between categories - powered by LexoRank positioning system for reliable ordering
• Adjustable deck preview columns: customize how many columns of cards you see in the preview grid for optimal viewing
• Side indicator: clear visual indicator showing whether you're viewing the front or back of cards
• Markdown support in deck descriptions: add links and simple text styling to your deck descriptions for richer formatting

Improvements

• Custom preview width: setup the number of colums to preview the cards
• Higher quality image previews: improved image rendering quality throughout the deck preview
• Drag and drop implemented in deck preview rail: smooth drag interactions in the card rail navigation
• LexoRank positioning system: robust ordering system that handles card position changes efficiently without conflicts

Features

• Duplicate template button: create a copy of any template with one click directly from the card toolbar
• Smart template naming: duplicated templates are automatically named based on card content (e.g., 'Leadership Skills - Front'), making them instantly identifiable
• Move card between categories: relocate cards to different categories with a simple modal interface that shows all available categories

Improvements

• Streamlined template workflow: edit, duplicate, or assign templates without navigating away from your card
• Visual feedback: toolbar button shows current template name and inheritance source at a glance
• Reduced clicks: all template operations accessible from a single toolbar button
• Smart defaults: template picker opens at the right level (Card/Category/Deck) based on context
• Seamless switching: jump between deck editor and template designer without losing context

Features

• Inline template editor modal: edit any template directly from the deck builder without navigating away - make quick changes to fonts, colors, spacing, and see results immediately
• Quick-edit toolbar: streamlined toolbar appears when you select a card, giving instant access to key actions like editing content, changing design, and adjusting templates

Improvements

• Template editing workflow: no more context switching between deck builder and template designer - edit templates inline and return instantly to deck building
• Faster iteration: make small template adjustments without losing your place in the deck

Features

• Floating category navigation: quickly jump between categories in long decks with a vertical navigation bar

Improvements

• Deck Builder interface redesign: new click-to-edit paradigm makes editing more intuitive - click on a card to edit a card, click on a category to edit a category, with a clean toolbar and seamless card/table view switching
• Enhanced table view: now more complete and intuitive, you can edit everything directly from the table and benefit from the same toolbar as the card view
• Visual hover feedback: deck and category sections now show a dashed border and edit indicator when you hover over them, making it clearer what's clickable

Improvements

• Color & template selectors now use an explicit inheritance toggle with clear attribution text
• Select menus stay focused on real choices—inheritance lives in the switch, and we remember your last custom pick

Features

• Table editor view: edit all text fields across all cards in a single table
• Card preview ribbon: see all your cards at the top while editing
• View switcher: toggle between table and card view

Features

• Social banner generation: create beautiful banners for individual cards with professional backgrounds, multiple layout options. Use them for promotion on LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms

Features

• Facebook field: added Facebook profile field to user profiles
• New fonts: added League Spartan, Sue Ellen Francisco, and Glacial Indifference fonts following alpha tester requests

Improvements

• Manual save system: replaced autosave with reliable save/cancel buttons

Fixes & Refactorings

• Fixed save reliability issues and edge cases with autosave

Features

• Anonymous visitor downloads: visitors who acquired a deck can download it without creating an account

Improvements

• UX refactoring: redesigned interface for better user experience
• Bigger preview window: enhanced preview functionality for better deck visualization before export
• More prominent presets: export presets are now more visible and easier to access

Features

• Sharing link generation: create direct access links to your decks that can be used in payment pages, emails, websites, or anywhere you want to share your deck
• Visitor download banner: visitors can download decks without logging in through a banner on the visitor page
• Deck library tab: users with accounts get a tab listing all their newly acquired decks
• Owned deck advanced features page: new page for decks they acquired showing advanced features like downloading everything or opening playground (and more to come)

Features

• Deck browsing: navigate through decks with next and previous card controls

Improvements

• Smarter back button: returns to the correct tab (acquired decks or created decks) based on where you came from

Improvements

• Color picker interface fully redesigned with clearer wording and descriptions for easier understanding
• Added ability to select all individual category colors (1-9) in text, background, and border color pickers

Features

• Direct edit button: quickly edit the current color palette without navigating through menus
• Rotation control: rotate any element in the template builder for perfect positioning
• Individual color pickers: added separate background and text color controls to template builder settings for backgrounds and sections, giving users granular control alongside existing color presets

Improvements

• Enhanced color palette selection visibility - now clearer which palette is currently selected
• Improved usage count display: see how many decks are using each color palette
• Better palette menu organization: user palettes now separated from public palettes
• Streamlined create/edit forms: removed accordions for quicker workflow
• Enhanced drawer stability: eliminated elastic bounce when copying content (spotted in Thalia's screencast)
• Quicker tooltip explanation for when delete is disabled on palettes used in decks

Fixes & Refactorings

• Color scheme create/edit now works properly from the deck bar
• Fixed bug where shared templates were incorrectly appearing as user templates
• Template application now works properly for full deck (was previously broken)

Features

• Background image alignment controls: choose top, center, or bottom positioning
• Border styling: add borders to icons, images, text, and shapes with full control over width, color, and style (solid, dotted, dashed, decorative)

Fixes & Refactorings

• Fixed bug preventing background illustrations from displaying correctly
• Sharing menu now correctly shows the full description and help text

Features

• Image upload component: add any bitmap or SVG image directly to your templates - perfect for background patterns, logos, or decorative elements
• Shape components: add squares, rectangles, ovals, and circles to your templates - ideal for creating icon containers or statistical displays
• Precise image controls: resize and position images with pixel-perfect accuracy using enhanced manipulation tools

Improvements

• Redesigned template builder controls: completely reorganized and made more flexible to accommodate future component types
• Enhanced positioning controls: new fine-tuned controls for margins, padding, and element positioning
• Template rendering system: major refactoring to make the system more extensible, flexible, and maintainable before public alpha

Features

• Markdown typography controls: individual size sliders for H1, H2, H3, and paragraph text in markdown content
• Card documents support: markdown now works well for cards with lots of text, like instruction cards or rule explanations
• Font family selection: choose from different font families for text elements in the template builder
• Text case controls: manage uppercase, lowercase, capitalize, and other text transformations for each text item in the template builder

Improvements

• Perfect responsive scaling: font sizes already scaled with card size, but now padding and border sizes scale too for really perfect proportions

Fixes & Refactorings

• Markdown components: restored normal typography styling for markdown components throughout the rest of the site

Features

• Layout and style controls: adjust spacing, margins, padding, and positioning with visual controls instead of Tailwind classes

Improvements

• Eliminated Tailwind CSS requirement, though it's still available for advanced users

Features

• AI icon suggestions: get intelligent icon recommendations for any deck, category, or card based on content
• Mass icon suggestions: process your entire deck in one click - suggests icons for all entities missing them
• Icon collection choice: select between Lucide icons or emojis
• Clear icons: easily remove icons with a simple clear button

Features

• Import into existing decks: smart category detection with fuzzy matching allows slight spelling differences and variations while still finding the right category

Improvements

• Enhanced import now handles all card fields: not just title and description, but one-liner, primary content, and every field available in cards
• Optimization of the ai mapping prompt for a more reliable import

Improvements

• Print Center now has presets for one-click printing setup

Fixes & Refactorings

• Template state management and consistency issues
• Color palette selection UX with proper select states
• Save state warnings when deleting unsaved decks
• Navigation improvements between explore and dashboard
• And much more...

Features

• Multi-state deck system: Draft, Private, Early-Access, Published, and Archived statuses replace the simple public/private toggle
• Early Access deck sharing: publish unfinished decks with clear preview labeling to gather feedback early

Improvements

• Enhanced deck management: more granular control over deck visibility and sharing
• Better creator recognition: see who made each deck with hover profiles showing bio and join date

Features

• Landing page download links: add direct download, Dropbox, or Stripe payment links to your deck's public page
• Landing page documentation links: add rules, instructions, or any supplementary content links
• Waitlist and invitation management: built complete alpha tester invitation system for controlled rollout

Improvements

• Default template pack: created and uploaded curated template collection for quick deck prototyping
• Template management system: streamlined process for updating and improving default templates
• AI card generation consistency: now matches existing card style - long sentences beget long sentences, short beget short
• Enhanced emoji support: better emoji handling throughout the entire application
• AI emoji generation: AI can now generate card decks using emojis alongside Lucide icons

Fixes & Refactorings

• Firefox PDF export: fixed broken PDF export by replacing underlying library
• General housekeeping: addressed accumulated minor bugs and friction points
• Icon rendering improvements: more reliable emoji display across all contexts

Features

• One-click home printing PDF: generates optimized grids for A4 or Letter format with perfect front/back alignment
• One-click professional printing PDF: creates print-ready files with crop marks and professional specifications

Features

• Field editing in Visual Template Builder: you can now edit card field values directly within the template builder interface
• Advanced PNG export controls: new filters for quality, ratios, portrait/landscape orientation

Improvements

• Visual Template Builder refactor: complete code restructure to simplify architecture and enable future feature development
• Export Center refactor: rebuilt the entire export system foundation to support upcoming PDF export
• Export presets: optimized settings for home printing, professional printing, and digital use

Fixes & Refactorings

• Removed SVG export support: SVG generated quality was not meeting standards, focusing on PNG export and upcoming PDF export that will embed high-quality PNGs

Features

• Emoji support: add emoji icons to your cards, categories, and decks alongside the existing Lucide icon library
• Fuzzy search icon picker: quickly find the perfect icon with smart search that understands what you're looking for
• Thousands of icons: access to comprehensive icon libraries plus all emoji characters
• Multi-icon-set architecture: technology foundation to support multiple icon libraries

Improvements

• Icon picker UX: replaced basic dropdown with searchable picker interface
• Broader icon access: expanded from Lucide-only to include emoji and future icon sets

Features

• Visual Template Builder: create and edit card templates without writing code
• Template remixing: start from any official template and customize it
• Layered design system: background, content sections, and overlay layers
• Real-time preview: see changes as you build
• Remix public templates: pick from existing templates to modify

Improvements

• No more coding templates: replaced manual HTML/CSS and JSON editing with visual controls
• The template library has a page on its own, you can browse and remix any template you want
• In the template library, you can preview the templates with any card from any of your decks

Features

• One-click spreadsheet import: copy from Excel/Google Sheets and paste directly into I♥️Cards
• AI-powered column mapping: automatically detects and maps your columns to card fields (title, primary text, secondary text, description)
• Header row detection: automatically identifies if your data has headers and handles them appropriately
• Flexible field mapping: easily adjust mappings with simple dropdown menus if needed
• Smart preview system: see how your data will look as cards before importing

Features

• Smart color schemes: automatic text color calculation with 4.5 contrast ratio compliance
• Multi-level color control: set main colors at deck, category, or individual card level
• Color scheme templates: pre-designed schemes with beautiful category color combinations
• New deck editor color tab: style your entire deck in under 2 minutes
• In-context scheme editing: create and duplicate color schemes without losing your editing context

Improvements

• Simplified color selection workflow with smart overriding system
• Expert mode: advanced users can still override automatic calculations
• Quick deck painting interface for rapid styling
• Template integration: card templates now intelligently pick up and apply your color scheme throughout the design

Features

• New template system: you can now create your own templates and use them in your cards.
• Image optimization - Export: the images are automatically optimized for the export, with a better quality.
• Image optimization - For your deck landing page: the images are automatically optimized for the web, with a faster load time (which is great for SEO).

Features

• Public decks: you can now share your deck to the world! Public decks are now visible from /explore. Each public deck has its own landing page with your bio.

Improvements

• Profile: you can now edit your public profile, add a bio, an avatar, a website, a linkedin, a twitter and an instagram.

Features

• Card back: for the deck, a category or a single card.
• Playground: flip the card.

Improvements

Features

• Playground: get a random card, reverse it!
• Green screen background: you can stream your screen thanks to the green screen background.

Improvements

• Deck editor UX: you are now warned when you leave the page with unsaved changes.

Features

• Onboarding, super easy to create your first deck with AI.

Improvements

• Studio navbar UX: tooltip and popover when the sidebar is collapsed.
• Changelog: is now a timeline, with a new design and a new layout.

Features

• First card template collection: Fifty/Fifty, with 6 templates that complement each other.
• Card template library: you can now browse and pick templates from the library directly from the card deck editor.

Improvements

• Card template system has been refactored to be more reliable and flexible.
• AI template generator is now located directly from the card deck editor and the prompt has been updated to use the new CSS system.

Fixes & Refactorings

• No more weird changes in the order of cards and categories in the deck preview.
• Card template preview: added a bleed option to the card template preview.
• Card templates were loaded multiple times, now they are loaded only once.

Features

• Card Generation: You can now ask the AI to generate one additional card for your deck.
• Changelog: the exact thing you are looking at right now. Keep yourself updated on the latest features and improvements.
• About: a minimal about page, cause you are curious about who I am and what I♥️Cards is.

Improvements

• Deck preview: you can now add or generate a card directly from the deck preview.

Fixes & Refactorings

• Better AI streaming: refactored the AI streaming (when you see the cards being progressively generated in real-time) to be more efficient and reliable.

Improvements

• Improved deck creation sidebar to display the list of cards with edit on click and an add card button.
• This paves the way for the upcoming card generation feature.

Features

• Custom Templates: You can now create and use custom templates for your cards.
• AI Template Generator: An AI assistant that generates custom templates for you based on your descriptions.

Features

• Deck Generation: You can now generate an entire deck with a single prompt using AI.

Features

• PNG and SVG export: You can now export your cards as PNG and SVG, select which cards you want to export and their size.

Features

• Image Upload: Upload your own images to use on cards.
• Unsplash Integration: Search and use Unsplash images directly in your cards.
• AI Image Generation: Generate images for your cards using AI.