Compass Rose
The classic marquetry star. A calm first look at species, grain and contrast.
COMPASS-ROSE- Bundled with the app, no extra download
- Runs fully offline from first launch
- No subscription required
Marquetry design studio for iOS
Cardi plans every veneer cut before the blade touches wood
Paint a panel on a lattice grid. A six-stage engine turns it into numbered pieces and tells you how many leaves to buy. Then you tick each cut off at the bench. It all runs offline, with no subscription.
Download Cardi
Version 2.2 is live on the App Store
- Works offline
- No subscription
- 16 veneer species
- Kerf-aware cut plans
The store shows no star rating yet, so here is what we can verify instead: your panels and reference photos never leave your device, and three sample panels let you test the whole workflow.
Start here
Starter sample
Pattern sample
Best first run
Full cut plan
Choose the sample panel you want to open first
Cardi ships with three sample panels. Select one, copy its name, and you will know exactly what to look for after installing.
Tumbling Blocks
A right-angle triangle repeat in browns, tan and cream. It shows how cells become pieces.
TUMBLING-BLOCKS- Opens as a 12 x 8 cell canvas, 20 mm
- Good for practising flood fill and split-cell
- Panels stay on your device
Harbour at Dusk
The sample that shows the whole path: design, decompose, plan, cut and ledger.
HARBOUR-AT-DUSK- Plan view: 22 pieces on 7 leaves
- 5 fragile pieces flagged to cut last
- Swipe a row right to mark it cut
These are not discount or bonus codes. Cardi's store listing describes no coupon system. Each code is simply the name of a bundled sample panel, copied so you can find it quickly. The store description states that no subscription is required.
A session in Cardi
A Day at the Bench, From First Cell to Last Cut
Cardi follows the order a marquetry maker already works in. Four tabs run left to right: PANELS, VENEERS, PLAN and LEDGER. The home icon sits at the far left of that row.
Draw the panel
- Paint on a lattice grid, one cell at a time.
- Use freehand paint, flood fill, ellipse or split-cell.
- Give every cell a wood species and a grain angle.
- Watch the live, animated grain preview as you work.
Trace a reference
- Load a photo from the camera or the gallery.
- Trace over it, then clear the reference when you are done.
- The photo stays on the device and is never uploaded.
Decompose and plan
- Tap DECOMPOSE to run the six-stage engine.
- Switch the Plan tab between PANEL and LEAVES views.
- Read the totals: pieces, leaves to buy and yield.
- Open fragile necks and hollow pieces flagged by tags such as SPAN, HOLE and NECK.
Cut and track
- Swipe a row right to mark the piece cut. It dims and gains a strikethrough.
- Save fragile pieces for last, and swap in a fresh blade first.
- Set kerf width, millimetres or inches, piece-number overlays and haptics.
- Check the Ledger for progress and the shopping list across all panels.
What is inside
The Studio Toolkit for Veneer Inlay
Six parts work together. Each one answers a question you would otherwise settle with pencil, ruler and a calculator.
Lattice composer
Paint cells on a grid and set species and grain angle per cell. Freehand, flood fill, ellipse and split-cell tools cover straight edges and curves.
16 veneer species
Maple, Walnut, Wenge, Purpleheart, Zebrano and more. Each card lists its real leaf size, for example Oak at 900 x 220, and how many panels use it.
Custom swatches
Need a wood the library lacks? Adjust hue, figure type, lightness and grain angle to build your own swatch and use it like any other species.
Six-stage decomposition
Connected regions are traced and split to each species' leaf dimensions, with kerf width counted. Enclosed pieces are opened and narrow necks are reinforced.
Nesting and shopping list
Numbered pieces are nested onto veneer leaves to reduce waste. The Plan tab shows the leaf count and yield, and draws every leaf to scale.
The Ledger
Totals for panels, pieces, pieces cut and area in cm2, plus bars of area by species and a leaf list, so you buy veneer once instead of twice.
How it works
Behind the Cut Plan: What Cardi Calculates
Everything starts with the grid. Each cell carries two facts: a species and a grain angle. Because grain direction is stored per cell, the preview can animate the figure and you can see how neighbouring pieces will read before any veneer is cut.
Pressing DECOMPOSE starts the six-stage engine. It traces connected regions of one species and splits any region too large for that species' real leaf. Kerf width, the material the blade removes, is subtracted in the process. Enclosed pieces are opened so they can actually be cut out, and fragile narrow necks are reinforced automatically.
Next, the numbered pieces are nested onto leaves. In the Harbour at Dusk sample, the Plan tab reports 22 pieces across 7 leaves with a 6% yield, and it warns that 5 fragile pieces are a single half-cell. The Ledger then adds up area by species across your panels. One example set shows 3 panels, 350 pieces and 1,384 cm2 in total.
Verified Specifications
| App | Cardi |
|---|---|
| Version | 2.2 |
| Platform | iOS (App Store) |
| Store ID | 6828467701 |
| Category | Graphics & Design |
| Connectivity | Fully offline |
| Data privacy | Panels and reference photos never leave the device |
| Pricing | No subscription required |
| Units | Millimetres or inches |
| Release note | Behind-the-scenes improvements |
| File size | Not listed in the supplied data |
| OS requirement | Not listed in the supplied data |
| Age rating | Not listed in the supplied data |
| Page reviewed | 14.11.2026 |
Ready when your veneer is
Put your first marquetry panel on the bench
iOS, App Store, version 2.2. No subscription required, and a standard App Store install. Open Harbour at Dusk and see a full cut plan in minutes.
Download CardiRequires an iOS device. File size, OS version and age rating are shown on the App Store listing. Check the listing for any in-app purchase details.