Settings
From the left-hand navigation menu, Global Settings can be accessed and set.
Settings listed here are the global defaults for TitleCardMaker, but many can be overwritten within an Episode, Series, or Template. If a specific setting can be overwritten, then some variation of this badge will be displayed next to the Setting (here, not within the UI).
With the above meaning it can be overwritten per-Episode, per-Series, and per-Template.
Recommended Settings
TitleCardMaker's default settings are typically the recommended settings for a vast majority of users. Specifics about each setting are detailed below.
Recommended Settings
| Setting | Recommended Value |
|---|---|
| Card Directory | /config/cards/ |
| Source Directory | /config/source/ |
| Delete Series Source Images | |
| Episode Data Source | Sonarr |
| Image Source Priority | TMDb Plex Emby Jellyfin2 |
| Enable Specials | |
| Delete Missing Episodes | |
| Default Card Type | Personal Preference |
| Excluded Card Types | Personal Preference |
| Watched Episode Style | Unique |
| Unwatched Episode Style | Personal Preference |
| Default Templates | Blank |
| Card Dimensions | 3200x18003 |
| Card Quality | 95 |
| Card Extension | .jpg |
| Filename Format | {series_full_name} - S{season_number:02}E{episode_number:02} |
| Specials Folder Format | Specials |
| Season Folder Format | Season |
| Multi-Library File Naming |
| Setting | Recommended Value |
|---|---|
| Card Directory | ./config/cards/ |
| Source Directory | ./config/source/ |
| Delete Series Source Images | |
| Episode Data Source | Sonarr |
| Image Source Priority | TMDb Plex Emby Jellyfin2 |
| Enable Specials | |
| Delete Missing Episodes | |
| Default Card Type | Personal Preference |
| Excluded Card Types | Personal Preference |
| Watched Episode Style | Unique |
| Unwatched Episode Style | Personal Preference |
| Default Templates | Blank |
| Card Dimensions | 3200x18003 |
| Card Quality | 95 |
| Card Extension | .jpg |
| Filename Format | {series_full_name} - S{season_number:02}E{episode_number:02} |
| Specials Folder Format | Specials |
| Season Folder Format | Season |
| Multi-Library File Naming |
Episode Data
Episode Data Source
So that Episode data (e.g. numbers, titles, airdates, etc.) does not have to be manually entered, TitleCardMaker needs to source Episode data from some external source. Any enabled Connection can be used as an Episode Data source - however, there are some differences between each.
Differences in Episode Data Sources
| Episode Data Source | Provides Absolute Episode Numbers | Only Provides Data for Downloaded Episodes | Relative Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emby | Average | ||
| Jellyfin | Average | ||
| Plex | Average | ||
| Sonarr | 1 | Fast | |
| TMDb | Fast | ||
| TVDb | Fast |
The speed of your Media Server and Sonarr as an Episode data source will vary wildy with both the number of Episodes for a given Series, as well as the overall size of your database.
Image Source Priority
Similar to the Episode Data Source option, this setting controls where TitleCardMaker should gather images (this includes source images, logos, and posters) from. Unlike the Episode data source, multiple sources can be specified here, and the selected order does matter.
TitleCardMaker, while searching for images, will try the listed sources in order until a source image is found.
Recommended Setting
For a vast majority of users, specifying TMDb and then your Media
Servers (so TMDb Plex, etc.) is recommended. This is because TMDb has a
much wider variety of image availability, and is typically much higher
quality than the auto-scraped images from your Media Server.
Sync Specials
Whether to ignore Episodes from Season 0 by default.
Many Series have "bonus" content like behind the scenes, featurettes, shorts, commercials, etc. listed under Season 0 as Specials. If you would like TCM to ignore these when grabbing Episode data from you specified Episode data source, then uncheck this setting.
Manually Adding Specials
Even if this setting is disabled (so Specials are ignored), Episodes can still be added manually.
Delete Missing Episodes
Whether to delete Episodes (from TCM) which are not present in the assigned Episode Data Source. When an Episode is deleted, the associated Title Card file is also deleted.
Title Cards
Default Card Type
The global default card type for all Title Cards. Any instances where the card type is left unspecified will use this card type.
Missing Card Types?
Excluded card types are not shown in this dropdown.
Excluded Card Types
Any number of card types to exclude from any card type dropdowns. This is purely a cosmetic selector, and is intended to make finding your desired card easier if you find there are specific types you intend to never use.
Watched and Unwatched Episode Styles
The default style for all Episodes that are watched or unwatched in their indicated Media Server. For Episodes whose watched statuses cannot be determined (likely the Episode is not available in your Media Server), the unwatched styling is used.
For a visual example of each available style, click the icon next to either dropdown.
Relevant User
The watched statuses for Emby and Jellyfin can be adjusted in the Connection configuration, but the watched statuses of a Plex Media Server will always come from the server admin.
ImageMagick
Card Dimensions
The output dimensions of all created Title Cards. This can be reduced to decrease the filesize (and therefore quality) of your Title Card assets, or increased for the opposite effect.
16:9 Aspect Ratio
TCM will not stop you from setting a non-standard (non-16:9) aspect ratio, but your created Title Cards will be cropped when loaded into your Media Server.
Card Quality
Applicability
This setting is only applicable when using a
Card Extension of jpg, jpeg, or png.
The compression level to apply when creating Title Cards. The minimum quality, 1, will result in extremely low quality (highly compressed) Cards; and the highest quality, 100, will result in the best quality (but least-compressed) Cards. The recommended value is between 92 and 95.
Advanced Details
This setting is not exactly linear in the effective quality or reduced file sizes. This means changing the quality from 90 to 45 will not necessarily result in a 50% reduction in filesize or image quality.
For more details, read the applicable ImageMagick documentation.
ImageMagick Executable
The filepath to the ImageMagick executable (usually magick.exe) which will be
used to run all ImageMagick commands. This is required for some Windows users
if the convert command is not properly added to your system PATH - this
usually manifests as all Title Cards failing to be created.
Root Folders
The root folders listed here serve as the primary asset directories for both Title Card and Source images. If using Docker, it is importan that both of these directories are accessible outside of the Container.
Card Directory
The root folder for all Title Cards created by TitleCardMaker. Within this directory, each Series added to TitleCardMaker will have a subfolder created for it, under which cards will be created.
Example
For Docker setups, the recommended settings for this is
/config/cards. In this instance, if the Series Breaking Bad were
added to TitleCardMaker, I'd expect to find all associated Title Cards
under the /config/cards/Breaking Bad (2008)/ directory.
When installed locally, this setting can be whatever is most-convenient.
It is very common to specify a cards directory within your local
installation directory, e.g. ./config/cards/. However, this is not
required. In this instance, if the Series Breaking Bad were added to
TitleCardMaker, I'd expect to find all associated Title Cards under the
./config/cards/Breaking Bad (2008)/ directory.
This directory does not need to align with your Media folders (where your media files are kept), as TCM loads the Title Cards directly into your Media Server, bypassing any "local media" matching.
Source Directory
The root folder for all Source Images downloaded and used by TitleCardMaker. Within this directory, each Series added to TitleCardMaker will have a subfolder created for it, under which Source Images (and logos) will be added.
What's a Source Image?
A Source Images is the (typically) textless input images which text or effects are added on top of (by TCM) to create a Title Card.
Example
For Docker setups, the recommended settings for this is
/config/source. In this instance, if the Series Breaking Bad
were added to TitleCardMaker, I'd expect to find all associated
source images (and logos) under the /config/source/Breaking Bad
(2008)/ directory.
When installed locally, this setting can be whatever is most-
convenient. It is very common to specify a source directory
within your local installation directory, e.g. ./config/source/.
However, this is not required. In this instance, if the Series
Breaking Bad were added to TitleCardMaker, I'd expect to find
all associated source images (and logos) under the ./config/source/
Breaking Bad (2008)/ directory.
Source Image Deletion
Whether to delete Source Images when a Series is deleted from TitleCardMaker.
If enabled, any Series that are deleted (manually or automatically) will have their entire source directory cleared - including Source Images, posters, logos, and backdrop art.
File Naming
Filename Format
The format / naming convention of how to name the Title Card files. This is a
format, and will be applied to each individual Title Card. This format can
contain variable data (wrapped in {} curly braces) that is evaluated for each
Title Card.
A complete list of the available variables is listed here.
Example Formats
Will produce files named like Breaking Bad (2008) - S01E01.
Will produce files named like Breaking Bad [tt0903747] - S1E1 - Pilot.
TRaSH Naming Convention
If you follow the TRaSH recommended naming scheme, you can use the following setting:
It is important to note that this can produce extremely long file names - sometimes too long for the operating system - if the Episode titles are exceedingly long. TCM will automatically truncate all file names at 254 characters.
Card Extension
Image extension for all created Title Cards. Below is a table summarizing the differences in each type (with regards to TCM):
Image Extension Differences
| Format | Compression Category | Supports Transparency | Relative Filesize |
|---|---|---|---|
jpg / jpeg |
Lossy | 100% | |
png |
Lossless | 230% | |
tiff |
Lossless | 300% | |
gif |
Lossless | 90% | |
webp |
Lossless / Lossy | 70% |
Note about Transparency
Only a select few card types can take advantage of transparency. These are typically types that allow use of a background color instead of an image - e.g. the Roman Numeral and Logo cards.
My personal recommendation is to use the webp image extension because of the
file size savings and support for transparency. The reason this is not the
default is because of the ubiquity of JPEG images.
Specials Folder Format
The format / naming convention for the subfolder of all Title Cards associated with Specials (season 0). This format can contain variable data, see a complete list of the available variables is listed here.
Hidden Season Subfolder
If you would like to completely remove the subfolder - i.e. write these Title Cards directory at the Title Card directory for the Series - then specify the format as:
Season Folder Format
The format / naming convention for the subfolder of all Title Cards associated with all non-Specials (anything other than season 0). This format can contain variable data, see a complete list of the available variables is listed here.
Hidden Season Subfolder
If you would like to completely remove the subfolder - i.e. write these Title Cards directory at the Title Card directory for the Series - then specify the format as:
Multi-Library File Naming
Warning
Erroneously enabling this setting can result in TitleCardMaker deleting and remaking duplicates of all your Title Cards. Please read the following descripion and the in-UI help text very thoroughly.
Whether to add a unique Library-specific "identifier" to the filenames of all Title Cards. This is separate from your Filename Format setting.
This setting should only be enabled by users who have more than one Media Server and would like to utilize watched status specific styling.
Once enabled, TitleCardMaker will keep separate Title Card files created for each Library assigned to a Series.
Example
The following example showcases a use of this setting in a Series with three libraries alongside Templates which utilize watched-status Filters to create completely different Title Cards for each library.
The first two columns are for libraries in which the Episode is watched, and in the third column that Episode has not been watched.
Web Interface
Home Page Size
How many Series to display on the home screen. Larger values will result in longer load times. Must be between 1 and 250.
Episode Data Table Page Size
How many Episodes per page to display in Episode data tables. These are the tables accessed on a Series page in the Episode Data tab. Must be at least 1.
Source Image Preview Page Dimensions
How many Source Image previews to display per page. These are displayed on a
Series page in the Files tab. This is entered as the number of
rows and columns - e.g. 3x4 is 3 rows of 4 columns each. Must be between 1
and 100 items per page.
Title Card Preview Page Dimensions
How many Title Card previews to display per page. These are displayed on a
Series page in the Files tab. This is entered as the number of
rows and columns - e.g. 2x3 is 2 rows of 3 columns each. Must be between 1
and 100 items per page.
Home Page Table Display
The home page can be displayed in two ways: as a table, or as a series of posters. The tabular view is recommended because it contains more information, allows you to perform bulk actions on multiple Series at once, easily edit specific Series data, and is generally faster. An example of the two is shown below.
Simplified Episode Data Tables
Whether to hide Advanced (uncommonly edited) columns from Episode data tables. This is purely a visual toggle inted to make navigation easier, and any existing customizations, whether they were entered beforehand or are imported from a Blueprint are still applied.
Stylize Unmonitored Series Posters
Whether to apply different styling to the posters of unmonitored Series on the home screen. This is to make differentiating between the two easier when navigating the home screen.
Stylized posters have a blurred grayscale effect applied.
Color Impaired Mode
Accessibility feature to utilize an alternate coloring which makes certain color combinations more distinguishable for those with color impairments.
Accessibility Feedback
If you have feedback or suggestions on improving the accessibility of the project, please reach out on the Discord or GitHub.
Reduced Animations
Whether to disable various animations within the UI. This can be for improved site performance or accessibility.
This does not disable all animations, just the more "egregious" ones like the home-page Series loading.
Interactive Title Cards
Whether to enable the click/right-click functionality of Title Cards in the UI. This only applies to the Card images displayed on the Files tab of the Series page.
If enabled, clicking the image will instruct TCM to re-create the Title Card if the card configuration has changed; while right-clicking will instruct TCM to delete and re-create the Title Card (even if no changes occurred).
Display Live Log Messages
Whether to display real-time log messages within the UI. If enabled, TCM will open a Websocket which displays real-time log messages in the lower right corner of the UI.
The minimum "level" of messages which are displayed can be adjusted with the appropriate environment variable.