Perhaps it's not fair to Cards, but I spent a lot of time comparing it with ( Macworld rated 5 out of 5 mice ), an app I adored when I first reviewed it almost two-and-a-half years ago. On the surface, the apps are similar: Each allows you to choose a theme, add a photo, customize text, and send your finished creation off to someone else. Cards, however, is limited to sending letterpress cards through the mail, while Postage instead focuses exclusively on sending e-cards via the Internet. That's not the only massive difference, though: Postage, as I wrote in 2009, feels like Apple developed it. Cards doesn't.

Cards only works in landscape mode, unless you're reading the Help text. To create a card, you begin by choosing a template. You choose among six categories: Thank You, Holiday, Baby, Birthday, Love, and Travel. Oddly, the additional All option lists only 21 choices, and at first glance doesn't seem to include all the templates from the individual categories. That's because many of the templates get reused in different categories; only the pre-suggested text changes. (For example, "Thank You" on one template becomes "Happy Holidays" on another; otherwise, it's an identical design.)

The theme options strike me as very limited, especially because I know how much more Apple can do. iPhoto offers not just letterpress cards, but folded and flat prints as well, and with oodles more design options--including many that are frankly far superior to those included in Cards.

Once you choose your theme, it's time to customize it. Each theme shows three tabs: Outside, Inside, and Envelope. In a clever touch, you can also tap on the envelope peeking out behind the card, or swipe up on the outside of the card to expose the inside, instead of navigating via the tabs.

Tap on the front of the card to add a photo. You can choose from your iPhone's saved photos, or snap a new picture. If you do take a new photo, Cards shows a ghosted indicator pointing out where the card's design elements will appear; that way you know where to position Baby Joey's face to avoid seeing it masked by "Happy Holidays!" later. While you're in photo editing mode, you can zoom and pan the image to position it just the way you'd like. (You can't rotate it, though.)