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Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and I can never find a card that feels appropriate. So I decided to make my own Mother’s Day Card unique to my mom. It’s filled with our photos and with my own messaging, and, because it’s 2025, crafted with AI.
Specifically, I downloaded Adobe Express (it’s free) to help me create this with its wide range of templates and easy-to-use tools like background removal. I also generated a hearts-filled background in today’s Cover Story using Photoshop’s Generative Fill powered by Adobe Firefly.
The Shortcut has been using these AI tools for our recent newsletters to create magazine-style covers because they’re commercially safe (they don’t source other artists outside of licensed content).
For Mother’s Day, the same tools provided a way to make my card personalized.
❤️ Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11, 2025
🎨 I created my own card in the Adobe Express app
🤖 AI tools like Remove Background make it easy to personalize cards
🖨️ You can print the card at home or take it to a local drug store
💰 It’s personalized and costs a fraction of the price of a generic card
A few years ago, I started creating my own Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards with memorable photos and custom messaging. It’s way more personalized compared to store-bought cards that put my parents in a box. But the apps I tried previously made this idea incredibly hard to pull off - lots of swear words my mom wouldn’t approve of!
This year, I’m tapping AI tools and templates in Adobe Express to make things much easier. If you’re like me and feel as if none of the drug store cards are good enough for the mother figure in your life, let me take you through how I created my card.
The biggest shortcut is using an app that has pre-built templates for greeting cards and AI tools like Remove Background. Adobe Express is free to download, works on both iOS and Android, and is filled with Mother’s Day Card templates.
Download Adobe Express for free on iOS or on Android. Or use it on the web
Explore the library of pre-built greeting card templates
I searched “Mother’s Day Card with photos” to narrow down my results
I hearted a few templates and ultimately chose one where the subjects were cut out of their photos and overlaid on a new background. Adobe’s AI-based Remove Background has gotten so good that it takes just one click to execute – and it’s on the free plan.
Upload your photo of your mom figure (or the two of you together) from your camera roll
Select “Remove Background” to instantly cut out the background – it’s free
Use the “Erase” tool to remove any unwanted background artifacts
“Erase” or “Remove Object” can eliminate distractions (I could erase my sister, a power I wish I had when I was 8 years old, but I chose to keep her in the shot 😉)
Tweaking the card is straightforward. Look for options like Resize (it’s easier to print at a traditional 5 x 7 folded greeting card), Themes, and Elements.
Resize the card to 5 x 7 inches so it’s easier to print out
Themes lets you cycle through various color palettes in one click
Elements (hit the +Plus button to find this) is where you can drop in new Design Elements, change the Background, and add Shapes and Icons
I added a flower shape and a fitting “Best Mom” badge, then adjusted the colors
Some card templates come with two pages, while others require you to add a second page. That’s easy enough. This is where you can personalize your note.
Hit the “2” icon in the top row to set up an inside page
Select the new page and hit the +Plus button in the bottom left
Select Templates to explore fitting templates for the inside page
Edit the messaging and design elements and add any additional photos
I did two things here. I made the text personal to my mom, something a generic card could never do. I called her “My #1 subscriber” because she’s my biggest fan. Next, I added a more modern photo of us from my camera roll and centered it.
Designing a card in Adobe Express is easy. Printing out the results can be a pain. But I found a way around this. You can use your own printer at home by loading standard or glossy cardstock into your printer. However, I chose to have Walgreens do it for me for $3. Adobe Express also has an option to print and ship the card via Zazzle.
Hit the down arrow (in the top left) in Adobe Express to save your card
Save as a PNG to your camera roll
Print it yourself at home, go to a drug store, or have it printed and shipped by Zazzle right from the app
My card with an envelope cost me $2.99 at Walgreens and was ready in 30 minutes
This is a fraction of the price of generic Mother’s Day Cards in NYC. Of course, I don’t have to tell my mom that part.
Don’t forget to sign your custom Mother’s Day Card and remember these steps for Father’s Day on Sunday, Jun 15, 2025! Try making your own custom card for free with Adobe Express here!
More tech stories on The Shortcut this week:
🍄 Nintendo’s Switch 2 pre-order invites went out yesterday, May 8
📧 But there are fake email invites circulating that aren’t from Nintendo
🎣 Beware of phishing schemes that prey on desperate people with money
🤔 Double-check the sender and look for the authentic email (seen below)
👀 I’m still tracking Walmart & other US Switch 2 pre-orders in the US
🚨 Priority Alerts: The Shortcut subscribers get 1:1 help in our Substack Chat
🔔 Turn on notifications for Matt Swider on X to get additional alerts
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are hard enough to find. Now, someone is making things much more complicated – and dangerous – by sending out fake email invites, pretending that they are from the My Nintendo Store. The truth? They’re bogus.
Here’s a screenshot of what the official Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order invite looks (left) like from the My Nintendo Store vs the fake one that’s circulating (right). The real invite screenshot comes from an authentic Nintendo email address, and I’ve sourced similar emails from The Shortcut subscribers, matching this design.
Dive deeper into this Switch 2 scam
✅ 🪶 Super thin and relatively lightweight
✅ 📐 More comfortable, curved shape
✅ 🤖 Full 45 TOPs of AI performance
✅ 🏃🏻♂️ Up to 23 hours of battery life for marathon streaming and browsing
❌ 🐢 Screen tops out at 60Hz and 400-nits
❌ 🫣 Lower processor count might limit multi-tasking performance
When I first saw Microsoft’s announcements for a new Surface Pro and Surface laptop, I wasn’t blown away. The Surface Laptop sounded especially dull with its only 60Hz, fewer CPU cores, and smaller screen – but after getting actual hands-on time with the notebook, I came away loving the machine. It’s a little shrunken laptop that feels like a thick folio. It also might only have eight CPU cores on paper, but this machine can play Minecraft at a smooth frame rate and AI-generate images using just the onboard NPU.
Kevin's Surface Laptop hands-on
📈 GTA 6's second trailer amassed over 475 million views in one day, making it the biggest video launch of all time
👀 The trailer's views surpassed Deadpool & Wolverine (365 million) and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (200 million)
🎶 Streams of the trailer's featured song, "Hot Together" by The Pointer Sisters, surged 182,000% on Spotify
😮 Rockstar confirmed all footage in the trailer was captured "entirely in-game" on PS5, dispelling speculation of a high-end PC or PS5 Pro use
We already knew that GTA 6 is the most anticipated video game of all time, but the proof is in the pudding – or in this case, the views.
Rockstar released a second trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 on Tuesday, May 6, shortly after announcing the game had been delayed to May 26, 2026. However, the company told The Hollywood Reporter that it had received over 475 million views across all platforms, making it the biggest video launch of all time.
GTA 6 trailer 2 by the numbers
The ultra-thin smartphone trend will kick off on Monday, May 12 at 8 pm ET, when Samsung hosts its virtual Unpacked event to re-introduce the Galaxy S25 Edge.
Sure, we’ve seen the ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge twice this year – when we started our Galaxy S25 Ultra review in January at Samsung’s last in-person Unpacked event, and when we got up close at MWC 2025. We’re also pretty sure we know the S25 Edge specs, colors, and pre-order details based on several leaks.
But we haven’t had hands-on time or seen the final specs. We’ll have S25 Edge pre-order information and news from the nighttime virtual Unpacked event. Samsung is already teasing a $50 Samsung credit toward “the next Galaxy device” if you register interest ahead of the big reveal.
Dive Deeper: Samsung's next big launch
📸 Photos of Microsoft's long-rumored Xbox handheld have leaked, confirming its collaboration with Asus
👀 The Asus ROG Ally 2 and Xbox handheld feature a 7-inch, 120Hz display and are visually similar, apart from color and an Xbox guide button
👍 Two configurations are available: a black model with an 8-Core Ryzen Z2 Extreme SoC and a white model with a 4-Core AMD Aerith Plus SoC
💪 The Xbox handheld boasts 64GB of LPDDR5-8533 RAM, 36-Watt power consumption, and a likely high price point
If there was any doubt that Microsoft was partnering with Asus to create an Xbox handheld, we now have photos all but confirming that the device is real.
As spotted by Videocardz, Asus is releasing an Asus ROG Ally 2 alongside an Xbox-branded version. Both will feature a 7-inch, 120Hz display and look identical apart from the black and white colorway and the addition of an Xbox guide button.
In fact, the handheld looks extremely similar to the Asus ROG Ally X. However, it features prominent grips, which should make the device more comfortable to hold.
Dive deeper: Xbox handheld leak
📱 Apple could shake up the way it releases iPhones starting next year
🌸 The iPhone 18 might be delayed to spring 2027
🍁 Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Fold would launch in late 2026
📦 It would help Apple avoid shipping a bunch of different iPhones at the same time
Apple might be making major changes to the way it releases iPhones starting next year. The company is rumored to delay the release of the regular iPhone 18 until spring of 2027, according to a report from The Information.
The change is to make way for the first foldable iPhone, which is expected to ship alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Air in fall of 2026. A successor to the iPhone 16e could join the iPhone 18, giving customers two new Apple smartphones at entry-level pricing.
Apple's RUMORED iPhone strategy
⌚️ Whoop has announced its much-anticipated Whoop 5.0 band
📈 The new fitness wearable is a massive upgrade compared to Whoop 4.0
❤️ It comes with a slew of new health features like blood pressure insights, Heart Screener, Healthspan, Whoop Age, and more
🔋 The band itself is thinner and lasts up to two weeks on a charge
💰 There are three different subscription tiers ranging from $199/year to $359/year
The Whoop band is one of the most popular fitness trackers among enthusiasts, thanks to its robust platform that often beats what the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch are capable of. And today, it’s getting a massive upgrade.
The new Whoop 5.0 band has been a long time coming, but it packs a ton of new features to help you keep track of your health and fitness habits. The upgrade is so big that Whoop is breaking up its subscription model to include three separate tiers, all of which aim to give you the experience you need most. “This isn’t just a product launch,” says Will Ahmed, Whoop founder and CEO. “It’s a new chapter for WHOOP and for our members.”
Dive deeper: Whoop Band 5.0 details
🥇 The Strong Museum has announced its four inductees into its prestigious World Video Game Hall of Fame
👍 Out of a series of 12 nominees, there's an arcade game, two PC/console shooters and a trendy toy
👉 To be specific, it's Defender, Goldeneye 007, Quake and the Tamagotchi
🤔 The games were selected based on everything from their geographical reach to their longevity and status
The Strong Museum just announced this year's entrants into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and there are some deserving entrants.
Out of a total list of 12 nominees, four have been picked to sit alongside other games with legendary status.
The four inductees are:
Defender
GoldenEye 007
Quake
Tamagotchi
Dive Deeper: Gaming's Hall of Fame
🚨 Death Stranding 2 PS5 controller pre-order starts May 22, 2025
👀 It features a vibrant orange Drawbridge insignia and motto, made in partnership with Kojima Productions
💰 Price: $84.99, $15 more than the standard PS5 controller
📆 Release date: June 26, 2025 alongside Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
The latest game to get a limited edition PS5 controller color is Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. But when can you get your hands on the custom DualSense?
The Death Stranding 2 PS5 controller is bound to be popular with fans of the first game, and there's no doubt that Kojima's next title is one of the biggest upcoming PS5 games this year.
Death Stranding 2 PS5 controller details
🟦 $100 PlayStation gift card for $84
Can be used on PS+ or PS5 digital games
🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for $45
Use funds for Nintendo Online or digital eShop games
Can’t be used for Nintendo hardware, sorry
❎ $30 off Xbox Game Pass Core (3 months) for just $13
Converts 2:1 to Game Pass Ultimate, so it’ll cost $28 vs Microsoft’s $60
We’re expanding our discount codes for paid subscribers as a pack-in. It’s sort of like CD-ROM pack-ins for subscribers of 90s magazines.
😬 Can’t afford it? Totally fine. I’m opening up more ways to be a paid subscriber for people who can’t spare the $5/mo ($4.16/mo) to keep us going. Support us in other ways by referring your friends & family to The Shortcut. Help us grow!
Here are the actual discount codes for paid subscribers ⤵️
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