Systems, methods and apparatuses for creating, editing, distributing and viewing electronic greeting cards

Abstract

A system is provided for downloading an electronic greeting card application to a portable computing device. The system comprising a server, a paper greeting card, and a code printed on the paper greeting card. The electronic greeting card application is downloaded to the portable computing device from the server in response to the portable computing device scanning the code on the paper greeting card. Further herein, a system is provided where a category of greeting cards are contained within the electronic greeting card application, and at least a greeting card within the category of greeting cards. The greeting card comprises a plurality pages, with at least one of the a plurality pages having an option to customize, and each of the a plurality pages being movable by a touch of a finger. The customized greeting card can be previewed and has an area for selecting a medium to be used to send the greeting card.

1 . An electronic greeting card system comprising:
 a server storing a plurality electronic greeting card assets;   an application downloadable to a portable computing device, the application having an application programming interface; and   an electronic greeting card file having
 a data container component storing scalable graphics, and 
 a reference library component storing a reference to at least one electronic greeting card asset from the plurality of electronic greeting card assets; 
   wherein, upon rendering an electronic greeting card file within the application, the application programming interface pulls the electronic greeting card asset from the server using an associated symbol in the reference library component and combines it with the scalable graphics.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic greeting card file represents four distinct pages of an electronic greeting card. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 1 , wherein the reference library component is stored using a markup language. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one electronic greeting card asset is one of a sound, formatted text block, signature block, or image. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one electronic greeting card asset is an image, and the image is configured to be applied as one of a background, foreground or sticker. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic greeting card file is updated based on information stored in a local cache of the portable electronic device. 
     
     
         7 . A method for rendering an electronic greeting card within a downloadable electronic greeting card application of a portable device, the method comprising:
 storing a plurality of electronic greeting card assets on a server;   creating an electronic greeting card file by combining a scalable graphics component and a reference library component, the reference library component having a reference to at least one electronic greeting card asset from the plurality of electronic greeting card assets;   transmitting the electronic greeting card file to the electronic greeting card application;   rendering the scalable graphics component to the portable device;   pulling the at least one electronic greeting card asset from the server using the associated reference in the reference library component; and   rendering the at least one electronic greeting card asset to the portable computing device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the electronic greeting card file represents four distinct pages of an electronic greeting card. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the reference library component is stored using a markup language. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one electronic greeting card asset is one of a sound, formatted text block, signature block, or image. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one electronic greeting card asset is an image, and the image is configured to be applied as one of a background, foreground or sticker. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 after transmitting the electronic greeting card file to the electronic greeting card application, storing an updated electronic greeting card file on the server;   comparing the electronic greeting card file in the electronic greeting card application to the updated electronic greeting card file on the server and if they are not the same
 transferring differences of the updated electronic greeting card file to a cache of the portable device and 
 updating the electronic greeting card file in the electronic greeting card application based on the differences stored in the cache. 
   
     
     
         13 . An electronic greeting card system, comprising
 a paper greeting card;   a code printed on the paper greeting card;   a server storing a plurality electronic greeting card assets;   an electronic greeting card application program that is downloaded to the portable computing device from the server in response to the portable computing device scanning the code on the paper greeting card;   a category of greeting cards provided by the electronic greeting card application;   a greeting card within the category of greeting cards, the greeting card being stored as an electronic greeting card file having
 a data container component storing scalable graphics, and 
 a reference library component storing a reference to at least one electronic greeting card asset from the plurality of electronic greeting card assets; and 
 a means for selecting a medium to be used to send the greeting card from a group of sending media provided by the electronic greeting card application; 
   wherein the greeting card comprises four pages, with at least one of the four pages having an option to customize, and each of the four pages being movable by a touch of a finger; and   wherein, upon rendering an electronic greeting card file within the application, the application programming interface pulls the electronic greeting card asset from the server using an associated symbol in the reference library component and combines it with the scalable graphics.   
     
     
         14 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 13 , wherein the electronic greeting card file represents four distinct pages of an electronic greeting card. 
     
     
         15 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 13 , wherein the reference library component is stored using a markup language. 
     
     
         16 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one electronic greeting card asset is one of a sound, formatted text block, signature block, or image. 
     
     
         17 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one electronic greeting card asset is an image, and the image is configured to be applied as one of a background, foreground or sticker. 
     
     
         18 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 13 , wherein the electronic greeting card file is updated based on information stored in a local cache of the portable electronic device. 
     
     
         19 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 13 , wherein the group of sending media comprises email, text message, social media, and postal mail. 
     
     
         20 . The electronic greeting card system of  claim 13 , wherein the server is part of a network of servers in a cloud computing environment.