What's New
New: Foldable cards
The Print foldable cards option in the Print window is for two-sided cards. It prints the front and the back of each card adjacent to each other on the same side of the paper, in a double-sized image. Cut out the double-sized image, fold it in half, and you have a two-sided card with the front and back artwork perfectly aligned.Tell me more about Printing Two-Sided Cards.
New: Drag constraint option
You may now hold down the Shift key while dragging card items to constrain the drag direction (horizontal or vertical).Tell me more about placing and sizing card items.
New: Card Item Spacing by Gaps
In previous versions, the Space commands (found in the Layout Tab and the Arrange menu) would move all selected items so that their centers were an equal distance apart. If the items were different sizes, the gaps between their borders would not be equal. Now those commands are titled Space Centers, and two new spacing commands are available: Equalize Gaps Horizontally and Vertically. These new commands space the selected items so that the gaps between them are equal, instead of the distances between their centers.Tell me more about placing and sizing card items.
New: Match Text/Background Color in Content Editor
In the Content Editor, you may right-click or ⌘-click to reveal a contextual menu of commands. These commands now include Match Text Color and Match Background Color, which cause the Text or Background Color of all selected cells to match that of the top-left selected cell. (These colors only affect the display of the Content Editor, and do not affect your cards.)Tell me more about the features of the Content Editor.
New: Measurement Units
In previous versions of Multideck, card sizes could be specified in either inches or millimeters, while card item Size & Location could only be specified in points (1/72 inch). Now all of these can be specified in either inches, millimeters, or points. The Item Info area of the Layout tab now shows a new control next to the Size & Location fields that allows selecting the units you wish to use for your card items.Tell me more about placing and sizing card items.
Changed: "Trim to Fit" is back, as "Trim"
In v4.1 the Table Format controls, formerly in the Item Info area, were moved into a new Table Format window to make better use of screen space. Now the Trim to Fit button has been moved back into the Item Info area, for greater convenience. Because space is still tight, it is now named just Trim.Tell me more about Table items.
Changed: The Auto Reload control has been moved
The Auto Reload checkbox (formerly in the Layout tab) is now in the Deck tab, under the CSV source tab.Tell me more about Preview mode.
Changed: Print Options are now in the Print window
The Print Options panel is gone. All print options are now available in the standard Print window, where you can make your selections and see the thumbnail page images update as you do. Your last selections will be saved with the document, and will be the same the next time you print.Tell me more about Printing and Print Options.
Changed: Omit Cutting Guides is now Print Cutting Guides
The checkbox in the Print dialog formerly titled Omit Cutting Guides is now titled Print Cutting Guides and, of course, its functionality has been reversed to match the new title.In addition, this control is now always enabled, allowing you to print double-sided without cutting guides.
Tell me more about Printing and Print Options.
Fixed: Filtering copied and repeated cards
The Filter table now correctly allows filtering out any individual card. Previously there was trouble when attempting to filter out cards created by the #count and #repeat mechanisms.In addition, every card is now automatically given a unique index number, where the first card in the content is numbered "1" and every subsequent card has the next higher number. This applies even to cards created by #count and #repeat. This fixes a misbehavior when cards display their index number using the {.#} markup. Previously, card indexes were assigned during each print or export run. This meant that cards excluded by the filter were not included in the numbering, so a card's printed index number could change simply because the filtering was changed. Now each card's number is always the same (so long as you have not added or moved cards in the actual content).
Tell me more about Filters.
Tell me more about #count, #repeat, and how to display card index numbers.
Fixed: The Refresh Images button appears
The Refresh Images button in the Layout tab is now visible when the content source is not CSV.Tell me more about refreshing images in Preview mode.
Fixed: Content Editor search-and-replace now updates Preview
In the Content Editor, changing text by using the Search and Replace functions now correctly triggers Preview in the main window to update and display the changes.Tell me more about the features of the Content Editor.
Fixed: Undo/Redo after search-and-replace
Undo and Redo of search-and-replace operations in the Content Editor now behaves correctly.Tell me more about the features of the Content Editor.
Fixed: Input validation for Size and Location
The Size and Location text entry fields in the Item Info area of the Layout tab now accept negative numbers for Location (X, Y), and zero for Size (W, H). Zero is accepted for sizes only while editing is in progress, to enable entering small decimal values such as 0.5. Zero is not a permitted final value for width and height.Tell me more about placing and sizing card items.
Fixed: Error messages in the Layout tab are correctly placed
Error messages in red text may appear in the Layout tab when problems are detected. In some previous versions, these messages were not correctly placed and could overlap other controls and features.
Fixed: Switching content source to None now correctly initializes the copy count
In previous versions when using None as your content source, the copy count would be treated as zero (and reported as an error) until and unless you explicitly entered a value in the Copies field to trigger an update (even though by default that field displays "1"). This has been fixed.Tell me more about content sources.
Fixed: Hysteresis when dragging items.
Because it's easy to accidentally drag the mouse a small distance when you only meant to click a card item without dragging, Multideck will ignore tiny, quick drags and just treat them as clicks. Longer mouse movements (in either distance or time) will be treated as drags. This feature was broken in earlier versions, but is now fixed.Tell me more about dragging card items.
Fixed: Content Editor column headers in Dark Mode.
Column titles now properly responds to changes in Light/Dark Mode, preventing a case where they could show white text on white background in Dark Mode.Note that specifying explicit colors for Content Editor text and/or background color will override Light/Dark Mode.
Tell me more about dragging card items.
Fixed: Card item titles now must contain at least one visible character.
Card items with empty titles, or titles containing only spaces and such, cannot be seen in the Templates lists. This can lead to confusion and frustration, so it is no longer allowed to happen.Tell me more about editing card item titles.
What's New in Version 4.1.1
Fixed: Duplicate and Delete Template menu commands
These commands, found in the Edit menu, were broken in v4.0 and now work correctly.
What's New in Version 4.1
Changed: New window layout
The Templates list has been moved to the right side of the window. It is shorter and placed above the Card Items list and the Tags List. It no longer appears in the Styles tab (where it was useless).The new layout makes better use of space, fits on the smallest Mac screens, and offers a larger Card Layout panel.
In addition, the Item Info panel has been made smaller and simpler by moving the Table controls into a popup dialog triggered from the Table Format button at the lower right of the Item Info area.
Changed: Better behavior when opening old .sscm documents
The .sscm format was the format of Multideck documents prior to v4.0 (the version that introduced the Content Editor). When you first open a .sscm document in v4.0 or later, you are asked to save a copy of the document in the new .ssmd format. Prior to this release v4.1, opening the .sscm document again would have the same result, and offered now way to cancel.Now, if there is an existing .ssmd document with the same filename, that document is automatically and silently opened instead of the .sscm. There is also now a Cancel button that you can use to abort the creation of a .ssmd version of your .sscm document.
Tell me more about Switching to the Content Editor.
Changed: Show Grid is less annoying
When Show Grid is turned on for a Text or Image Table, the grid line width is now automatically set to 1 if it was zero before. Formerly the width remained zero, and the grid would not be visible until you manually set a non-zero width.Tell me more about Text and Image Tables.
New: Outline Options toolbar button
A new button in the Layout toolbar (the column of buttons at the left edge of the Layout panel) allows you to choose among four display options. Click the button to cycle through all the options.The options are to show or not show the Safe Border outline, and to outline or not outline the card itself, in any combination of either, both, or none.
This button replaces the Show Safe Border button that used to be in the Preview panel. Your choices only affect display in the Layout panel, and will not affect the final appearance of your cards when printed or exported.
The Outline Options button
New: Preference to suppress automatically opening a new, untitled document
By default, Mac apps including Multideck will open a new, untitled, and unsaved document when you launch the app, if no existing documents were already open. A new option in Multideck > Settings will prevent new documents from being created and opened automatically.Fixed: ⌘S in the Content Editor
Typing ⌘S when the Content Editor window was frontmost and there was text in its Search field would cause the search to be repeated, instead of saving the document. This has been fixed.In addition, the Content Window now responds to ⌘G and Shift-⌘G for "Find Next" and "Find Previous" (the standard Mac keyboard shortcuts for search functions).
Tell me more about Search and Replace in the Content Editor.
Fixed: Tagged Rotors now cycle their content correctly
A bug was introduced in v4.0 that could cause tagged rotors to repeat their first value on their second use, instead of cycling correctly to the next value. This has been fixed.Fixed: Columns in the Tags List now have reasonable widths
Previously, the Tag List in the Layout tab had some columns that were too narrow to properly display their titles or content.Fixed: Saving edits to column titles in the Content Editor
Clicking outside of the cell after editing a column header in the Content Editor could cause your changes to the column title to be lost, unless you remembered to first press Return or Enter. Now your changes will be automatically saved if you simply click elsewhere.Tell me more about the Content Editor.
Fixed: Cropping of exported card images
Artwork that bleeds outside of a card's bounds is now properly cropped out.Fixed: Settings window is always available
The Settings window can now be opened and used even when no document window is open.
What's New in Version 4.0.2
Fixed: False positive in Validation that could prevent printing and exporting.
Tell me more about Validation.
What's New in Version 4.0.1
Fixed: Excluding and including templates in the Filter tab
Deselecting the inclusion checkbox for a template in the Filter tab causes all cards in the template to be filtered out. Due to a bug, in v4.0 attempting to re-include the template's cards by selecting its checkbox would fail. This has been fixed.What's New in Version 4.0
New: .ssmd File Format
The changes in this release were too much for the old .sscm file format to handle. Multideck v4.0 uses a new file format, with .ssmd instead of .sscm as the filename extension. When you open an old document in v4.0, you will be asked to save it in the new format. (Your old document will not be changed or deleted, but you may want to archive or trash it so that you don't try to open it again with v4.0.)New: The Content Editor
In previous versions of Multideck, content could only be kept in external files in CSV format. Version 4.0 now offers the Content Editor, which allows creating, editing, and keeping your content right in your Multideck document. No more spreadsheets, exporting to CSV, or remembering to "Reload Data"!You can still keep and use your CSV files just as before, if you wish. We think the Content Editor will be better for most users, but you can decide for yourself which to use.
Benefits of the Content Editor include:
- Easy Import - Select a CSV file and import it into the Content Editor. You won't need the CSV file again!
- Live Preview - See your cards instantly update as you type, in the Layout tab in Preview mode.
- Easy Rich Text - Click a button to insert markup. No more remembering or typing annoying syntax.
- Insert Images - Click a button, and select your image from a list of filenames in your Image Folder, or click a thumbnail in the array of recently-used images.
- Quick Navigation - Click in the first column of a card row to immediately see its card in Preview. Select a card and item in the Layout Tab, and go to its row and column in the Content Editor with a single button click. Click 🔎 icons in errors and warnings in the Validation Report display to see the item or content causing the problem.
- Display Options - Choose the font and font size that the Content Editor will use. You may also specify the background color for selected cells: this will not affect card appearance but can help you visually organize your content.
- Search and Replace - Find text easily in your content, and replace occurrences singly or all at once.
- Flexible Sorting - Sort rows (either all rows, or only selected rows) by the content in up to three columns. Sort per-column either alphabetically, numerically, or by cell background colors.
Tell me more about the Content Editor.
Tell me how to convert my CSV-based project to use the Content Editor.
New: Show Handles in Preview
The Layout Toolbar has a new button which toggles the "Show Handles in Preview" feature on and off. When on, selected items are outlined in red even in Preview mode. This allows you to easily move and resize them by dragging, while seeing what the end result will look like.
Tell me more about the Card Layout Toolbar.
New: Validation Links
Validation errors due to problems with card items or content now show a 🔎 icon in the Validation Report window. Click the icon to select and display the item in the Layout display, and/or the cell in the Content Editor (if you are using the Content Editor).Tell me more about Validation.
Changed: Validation Improvements
Automatic validation is now triggered in more cases, and validation is better at detecting used vs. unused columns.Tell me more about Validation.
New: Markup for canceling font and font size changes
Two new Rich Text markup commands are now available.{/f:} restores the default font (without affecting font style or size)
{/fs} restores the default fontsize (without affecting font or font style)
The markup command {/f} is still available to restore all default font characteristics.
Changed: Optional Image Folders
It is no longer an error to fail to select an Image Folder, if your template and its content are text-only and make no use of images.Changed: Tagged Rotors
Tagged rotors can now be referenced by using the span directive in any row, not just in rows below the row where the rotor is defined.Changed: Style Markup
Style markup is now more robust and flexible.Tell me more about Style Markup.
Changed: #CardSets now allows leading spaces
Multiple card set names within a single field must be separated by commas; now the commas may be followed by whitespace, for easier readability in the source.Example: fee,fie,foe,fum and fee, fie, foe, fum now have the same result.
Tell me more about #CardSets and Filters.
Fixed: Print Panel Controls
The controls in the Multideck section of the Print Panel are now laid out correctly.Fixed: Miscellaneous
Assorted bug fixes and stability improvements.
Previous Version History
What's New in Version 4.2