• Digital postcards
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  • Photo info
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  • Entering a message
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  • Addressing the card
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  • User preferences
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  • Your own photo
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  • Adding stickers
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  • Sending the card
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  • Card front & toolbar
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  • Photo editing tools
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  • Positioning stickers
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  • Card sent via email
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  • Photo library
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  • Card back & toolbar
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  • Adding voice notes
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  • Card sent via postal mail
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  • Choosing a photo
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  • Text font & size
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  • Adding a stamp
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  • Starting a new card
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    Note: The screenshots in this User Guide are taken from Bill Atkinson PhotoCard running on an iPhone or iPod touch. PhotoCard also runs on an iPad. The features are the same, but the screens differ slightly.[1]

    Using Bill Atkinson PhotoCard, you can create digital postcards to send to your family, friends, and colleagues. Each card will have an original nature photograph on the front and your message and other decorations on the back. There is no limit to the number of PhotoCards you send, and you can send them to anyone who is able to receive email or postal mail.

    To customize the application, you can set Preferences. You may find it useful to enter your name and email when you first begin to use the app. You can also turn on and off various display and email options. (Hint: If you know the recipient of your card has a small display, you may want to turn off 'Send Larger Emails'.)


    When you first launch PhotoCard, after the intro screen fades, you will see a default photo for the card front and a toolbar across the bottom of the screen. At any time you can tap the screen to hide or show the toolbar, and you can tap near the top if you wish to show the status bar. (Hint: On the card back, you can also press and hold in the upper right corner to toggle the toolbar.)

    In the toolbar, you can tap thebutton to show the PhotoCard User Guide or to access Preferences.


    You can tap the button to bring up a scrolling library of nature photos. The full version of PhotoCard includes 150 original nature photographs by Bill Atkinson, and the lite version includes 10.[2]

    Tapping on a thumbnail will select that particular photo for your card. Or you can browse the library of photos, in their full-size versions, by swiping left or right from the current photo to make your selection.

    You can tap the button to view information about the photo, then tap again to hide the photo information.

    You can also tap the button to use one of your own photos instead of one from the PhotoCard library. This can be a photo you've previously taken or a new one that PhotoCard allows you to take using the iPhone camera.

    When you take a new photo or choose one of your own saved photos, PhotoCard will assist you in resizing, cropping, rotating, and adjusting exposure. Double-tap near the center of the photo to alternate between resizing to exactly fit or fill the card area. Drag the photo to adjust the cropping, slide the zoom control to zoom in further, or use the buttons to lighten, darken, or rotate the photo.


    Once you've chosen a photo, tap the button to flip the card over to show the back side. (There's a button on the back that lets you flip to the front side to review or change the photo.)

    The card back toolbar has buttons that allow you to choose a font, to choose any number of stickers and/or voice notes, and to perform actions such as sending the card or clearing it to start a new one.


    To enter a text message, tap the button to choose a text font and size. Tapping the font chooser's Done button will accept your font choice, bring up the keyboard, and place the cursor in the message field.

    After using the keyboard to enter your message, tap the Done button to dismiss it. If, at any point, you wish to add more text, tap after the existing text and the keyboard will return. To make corrections or copy and paste, you can press and hold within the text to bring up the iPhone text magnifier. (Hint: If you hear a 'pop' noise while typing, PhotoCard is stopping you from typing off the bottom of the card. Choose a smaller text size to continue.

    You can tap the button to display a library of decorative stickers. Tap sticker thumbnails to select or deselect them. (Hint: Tap quickly to select multiple copies of the same sticker.) When you are finished tap the Done button. It is useful to enter your text message before placing stickers so you can see how they will look together.

    The stickers you have chosen will land on the left side of the card. Drag the stickers to place them wherever you wish, but PhotoCard will reposition any item if it would have overlapped the recipient's address or the stamp. To delete a sticker, drag it off the edge of the card. (Hint: When stickers overlap each other, the one most recently touched will be on top.)

    You can add sound with the button.
    If your device has a microphone, this will bring you to the voice recording studio, where you first can choose a talk bubble and then record a voice note. (When your card is received by email, downloading and/or tapping on the sound enclosure will play your recorded message.)




    Tapping in the upper right corner of the card will bring up the stamp library. Tap a stamp in the library to choose it for your card. (In case you forget, PhotoCard will prompt you to choose a stamp before you send the card.)


    To address a card, tap on its right side to display the recipient chooser. Then tap the Contacts button on the right and search for, or scroll to, an existing contact. Once you are viewing that contact's information, tap one of the email or postal addresses to choose it. (To send to someone not already in your iPhone Contacts, tap the "+" button to add a new contact.)

    A shortcut: PhotoCard's addressing screen also displays 10 buttons that will let you quickly locate recent recipients.

    To post your card, tap the button to bring up a menu with an option for sending it. An emailed PhotoCard is sent using your usual iPhone email app. You can view sent and received PhotoCards in both iPhone and desktop email. If you send cards while you are not connected to the internet by Wi-Fi or cellular, they will be sent the next time you do connect.





    		You can send PhotoCards to anyone who can receive email or postal mail. The recipient does not need to have PhotoCard or an iPhone. A card received as email will look like a larger, higher resolution version of the card front and back that you see on your iPhone screen. To the left is a reduced-size sample.


    If you have chosen a postal address rather
    than an email address for your recipient, your custom 8.25 by 5.5 inch PhotoCard will be professionally printed on heavy card stock using an HP Indigo digital press. Then it will be coated on both sides and sent by first class mail. After you choose 'Send this PhotoCard by Postal Mail,' you will see a dialog that allows you to purchase more credits to send cards.

    To start a fresh PhotoCard, tap the button and choose 'Start a new PhotoCard.' This will discard any existing message, the address and stamp, stickers and voice notes and will let you choose another photo to start a new PhotoCard.


    We hope you enjoy using Bill Atkinson PhotoCard. If you find a bug or awkwardness, wish to suggest a feature or give feedback about features you liked and disliked, please send an email or a PhotoCard to bill@billatkinson.com

    [1] iPhone and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the USA and other countries.

    [2] Please note that Bill Atkinson nature photographs are all copyrighted works of art. Included in your purchase of the PhotoCard application is a limited license to print and send any of the included photographs in PhotoCards for non-commercial purposes.