Smart Layout for Aura frames

iPhone

Start with the steps below. Editing tools appear beneath the canvas; tap the active tool to hide or show its controls.

iPad

Use the same task steps. The sidebar gives you access to Layout Builder, Templates, and Projects. In a wide editor window, controls can sit alongside the canvas; narrower windows use the compact panel. A missing control may be inside a collapsed section or the page’s options.

Choose your frame

1. In Settings → Destinations, choose Add a Photo Frame. Select your Aura model and orientation.
2. Return to Layout Builder, choose that frame in the size menu, then choose Smart Layout. Select the photos you want to prepare together.

Review the automatic arrangement

1. For a landscape frame, vertical photos are paired two to a page and horizontal photos get their own pages. An unmatched vertical photo gets a soft background. Square photos get their own pages.
2. For an upright frame, horizontal photos are stacked in pairs and vertical photos get their own pages.
3. Within each group, Decks starts in capture-date order when dates are available. This is an arrangement by photo shape, not face recognition or subject matching.

Choose the pairs and their look

1. Tap two photos in the pairing group to swap them, or hold a photo and drag it onto another. You choose which photos belong together.
2. Choose White or Black for the pair background. For individual pages, choose White Border, Black Border, or Fill. Fill crops the photo to cover the screen; check faces and edges.
3. Create the project and review the crop on each page in the editor. You can continue editing the result.

Export and upload through Aura

1. Export the finished pages as images to Photos. Upload those files using the Aura app and check its crop preview.
2. A paired Decks page is one exported image, so the two photographs stay together rather than being left to Aura’s automatic pairing. Decks does not connect to your Aura account.
3. Save a design you like as a template. To sort another mixed batch by its photo shapes, start Smart Layout again.

Mac

Start a mixed batch

1. Open Decks → Settings → Destinations → Add a Photo Frame. Select your frame and orientation, click Done, then Save Changes.
2. Open Layout Builder (⌘1), choose the frame from the page-size menu, and click Smart Layout. Choose Apple Photos or Files to select your photos.

Review, swap, and finish

1. Review Vertical Pairs and Horizontal Photos for a landscape frame, or Horizontal Pairs and Vertical Photos for a portrait frame. An unmatched photo in the pairing group uses a soft background.
2. Click two photos to swap them, or drag one onto another. Choose White or Black for pairs and White Border, Black Border, or Fill for individual pages.
3. Create the project, review its pages, and use File → Export to save images to Photos or a folder. Upload through Aura. The same grouping and crop considerations above apply on Mac.