DeckSmith

julynx.github.io/decksmith

A powerful application to dynamically generate decks of cards from a YAML specification and a CSV data file.

DeckSmith is ideal for automating the creation of all kinds of decks, including TCG decks, tarot decks, business cards, and even slides.

Why DeckSmith?

• ✨ Consistent layout and formatting across all cards. Define once, edit anytime, generate as many cards as you need.
• 🍳 Pure python, for easy installation via pip or with the Windows installer.
• 🖥️ Modern GUI with a live preview to visualize your changes in real time as you design.
• ⚡ Highly performant card generation using parallel processing.
• 📖 Intuitive syntax and extensive documentation that includes examples to help you get started.
• 🧰 Tons of powerful features such as:
  • Start from a sample project and edit it instead of starting from scratch
  • Extensive support for images, text, and all kinds of different shapes
  • Link any field to a column in the CSV file
  • Position elements absolutely or relative to other elements, using anchors to simplify placement
  • Powerful image transformations using filters like crop, resize, rotate, or flip
  • Export your deck as images or as a PDF for printing

Getting started (APP)

1. Download and install the latest release.
2. Take a look at this to learn how to make the most out of the app and start building your first deck today!

Getting started (CLI)

Installation

• To begin, install DeckSmith by running:

  pip install decksmith

• To launch the GUI, run:

  decksmith --gui

Creating a project

• Run the following command to start from sample deck.yaml and deck.csv files:

  decksmith init
  

  • deck.yaml defines the layout for the cards in the deck.
  • deck.csv holds the data for each card, like the content of the text fields and the image paths.

Defining the layout

• Edit deck.yaml to include all the elements you want on your cards. You can find a complete list of all the available elements and their properties in the documentation.

• You can reference any column from deck.csv in the deck.yaml file as %column_name%.

Building the deck

• When you are ready to generate the deck images, run:

  decksmith build
  

• After building a deck, you can export it to PDF by running:

  decksmith export
  

Documentation

Check out the full documentation for more detailed information on how to use DeckSmith.