Michael GoldsteinGood Afternoon, Today we're thrilled to announce Kodo v1 - our biggest update yet. This version represents months of work and feedback from thousands of beta users. Here's everything that's new.
Significantly Better Design Quality
This is the big one. We completely overhauled how the AI generates designs, and the results speak for themselves. Layouts are more polished, spacing is tighter, typography is more intentional, and designs look like something a real designer made - not something a machine guessed at.
We rethought the entire generation pipeline from the ground up. The AI now has a much stronger understanding of design principles, hierarchy, and composition. Whether you're generating a poster, a social media graphic, or a presentation slide, the output quality is dramatically higher than before.
AI Region Targeting
Draw Where You Want It
Sometimes it's hard to describe where you want something to go. Now you can just draw it. Click the dashed-rectangle icon in the AI input bar, then drag a selection on any frame. The targeted area appears as a #region tag inline in your prompt - exactly like @layer mentions - so the AI knows precisely where to place or edit content.
Each region pill shows a mini map of the frame with your selection highlighted, color-matched to the frame's background and shaped to its aspect ratio. Click any region tag to toggle a dashed outline on canvas showing exactly what area you targeted. Add multiple regions in one prompt, and they all clear automatically after sending.
During AI generation, the targeted areas show a shimmer animation - the same loading state used for AI-generated images - so you always know where the AI is working. Once generation completes, the shimmer fades away and your new content appears in place.
AI & Design Features
Brand Kit
You can now save your brand colors, fonts, and logos in a centralized brand kit. Once set up, the AI will automatically use your brand assets when generating designs. Apply your brand kit to any project with one click from the input bar.
Upload your logo, pick your primary and secondary brand colors, and select your preferred fonts. Everything stays synced across all your projects, so your designs always stay on brand.
Design Theme Selector
You can now set color, font, and style themes before generating your design. For colors, choose from many handcrafted palettes - Glacier (cool blues), Harvest (warm autumn tones), Lavender (soft purples), Brutalist (high contrast black/white with bold red), Obsidian (sleek dark mode), and many more.
For fonts, pick from curated pairings like Geometric (Poppins + Montserrat), Friendly (Varela Round + Nunito), Bold (Bebas Neue + Montserrat), Literary (Libre Baskerville + PT Serif), and others. Each theme includes both a heading and body font that work beautifully together.
For style, choose presets like Minimal, Modern, Bold, Elegant, Playful, Retro, or Geometric - the AI will apply that aesthetic throughout your design. Mix and match across all three categories to quickly dial in the exact look you want.
AI Rewind
Made a change with AI that you don't like? Now you can rewind your canvas to the state before any AI message. Each time you send a prompt, we automatically save a snapshot of your canvas. Click the rewind button on any AI message to restore your design to exactly how it was before that change.
This makes it safe to experiment with bold AI prompts - you can always go back if it doesn't work out.
AI Context Improvements
The AI now properly handles copy and paste when you're selecting text in AI messages. Previously, trying to copy AI responses would trigger canvas actions instead. We also improved how the AI understands what you're working on and what's currently selected in your design.
AI Research Tools
The AI can now search the web for facts and reference information before designing. Ask it to "research Nike's brand colors" or "look up the dimensions of an A4 poster" and it will find accurate information to help create your design.
The AI can give you quick answers with sources, search the web for relevant information, or read full details from web pages. It automatically chooses the best way to find what you need.
AI Suggestions
After each AI response, you'll now see clickable suggestions above the input area. These are helpful follow-up ideas based on your current design and conversation - things like "Add more detail to the header" or "Try a different color scheme".
Click any suggestion to instantly use it as your next prompt. Suggestions stay there even if you refresh the page, and they clear when you send a new message.
AI Clarifying Questions
When your prompt could go in different directions, the AI will now ask clarifying questions before designing. You'll see quick multiple-choice options - like "Modern or classic style?" or "Formal or casual tone?" - that help the AI understand exactly what you want.
Answer the questions or skip them if you want the AI to decide. Once you submit your answers, the AI continues with your preferences in mind.
Community & Collaboration
Gallery & Community Designs
We've added a community gallery where you can share your designs with other Kodo users. In the Share menu, you can now mark your designs as "remixable" - meaning other users can open a copy and use it as a starting point for their own creations.
The landing page now features community projects that you can preview and remix. It's a great way to get inspiration and learn from how others use Kodo.
Referral System
You can now invite friends to Kodo and earn rewards. Each user gets a unique referral code that you can share. When someone signs up with your code, both of you get bonus AI credits. Check the referral banner in your dashboard to get your code and track your referrals.
Design Tools & Editing
PPTX Import
You can now import PowerPoint presentations directly into Kodo. Upload a .pptx file and each slide becomes an editable page with text, images, shapes, and backgrounds preserved. It's a great way to bring existing presentations into Kodo for AI-powered enhancements.
Magic Resize
Quickly resize any frame to preset dimensions with one click. Select a frame and click the resize icon in the toolbar to choose from formats like Instagram Post (1080×1080), Instagram Story (1080×1920), LinkedIn Post, YouTube Thumbnail, Presentation 16:9, A4 Portrait, and more.
You can also enter custom dimensions. The smart resize system scales all content proportionally so your design looks great at any size.
Page Reordering
You can now drag and drop pages in the bottom navigation bar to reorder them. When you have many pages, arrow buttons appear on either side to scroll through your pages. The page bar also collapses gracefully when you have more than 10 pages.
Text Background Effect
New text effect: add a background highlight behind any text layer. Choose your background color, adjust padding, and set the border radius. Perfect for callouts, labels, and highlighted text that needs to stand out.
Export Improvements
Exports are now much more accurate. Text effects like outlines, shadows, gradients, neon glow, 3D depth, curves, and text backgrounds now export properly to PNG, PDF, and PPTX. Image effects like brightness, contrast, saturation, blur, and filters also export correctly.
We've also added support for advanced design features in exports - complex designs will now render correctly in your exported files. Export progress now shows a smooth progress bar that accurately shows how much is done.
Improved Layer Ordering
Layer ordering (bring forward, send backward, bring to front, send to back) now works correctly for layers inside frames, not just layers on the main canvas. This was a long-standing issue where reordering layers inside a frame would do nothing. Now it works exactly as expected.
The layers panel also got a visual refresh with better icons and improved drag-and-drop reordering that makes it easier to organize your design elements.
Floating Layers Panel
Right-click on the canvas and select "Layers" to open a floating layers panel right where you clicked. It's a quick way to access your layers without opening the full sidebar - especially useful when you need to quickly reorder or select elements.
Right-Click Menu Enhancements
The right-click menu now includes layer ordering options that work correctly inside frames, corner radius options for shapes, and the new floating layers panel.
Voice Recording Improvements
Voice input now shows real-time transcription as you speak. The text appears in the input field while you're still recording, so you can see exactly what's being captured. This works in both the AI panel and the quick AI prompt bar.
Text Editing Improvements
Text layers now bring themselves to the front when you start editing, so you can always see what you're typing. When you finish editing, the layer returns to its original position. We also fixed font loading so text no longer "jumps" when fonts load.
Snap-to-Grid Improvements
Snapping now works for common values like 45°, 90°, and standard sizes. The snap system has been improved with better detection and visual feedback.
User Interface
Redesigned Canvas View
We've completely reimagined the canvas experience. The left sidebar is gone - instead, you'll find a clean top bar with Elements, Text, and Layers buttons. Click any of them to open a focused dropdown panel right where you need it.
The AI panel stays on the right, always accessible while you work. The result is a much cleaner workspace that puts your design front and center. Less clutter, more space to create.
Redesigned Landing Page
The landing page has been completely redesigned with a cleaner layout, better navigation, and a new hero section. The community projects gallery now shows live previews of real designs, and you can paste images or PDFs directly into the input bar - just copy and paste to attach files to your prompt.
Dashboard Overhaul
The dashboard has a new look. The sidebar is now minimized by default for more workspace, with helpful hints when collapsed. We've added rotating headlines that greet you differently each time and file previews when hovering over attached images.
The color theme selector is also available directly from the dashboard, so you can set your preferred palette before creating a new design.
Settings Modal
We've consolidated all your account settings into a new unified settings window. Access your account details, preferences, usage stats, billing information, and brand kit all from one place. Click your avatar in the dashboard or canvas to open it.
Auto Thumbnails
Projects now automatically generate static image thumbnails, so you see a preview of your design instantly - no more waiting for it to load. No more blank project cards either, so you can quickly find what you're looking for.
Dark Mode Sync
Dark mode now properly syncs with your system preferences and stays consistent across sessions. Switching between light and dark themes is instant and reliable.
Share Menu Updates
The Share menu now includes a "Gallery" panel where you can toggle whether your design is remixable and set a gallery category. You can also now open the export panel directly from the top bar button.
Mobile Export Panel
Mobile users now have a dedicated export panel. Export to PNG or PDF right from your phone or tablet with proper progress indicators and format selection.
Presentation Mode Improvements
Presentation mode has been completely rewritten. Transitions between slides are now smooth with fade, slide, and dissolve options. Each slide fits perfectly on screen, so slides at different positions don't cause jarring jumps. The bottom control bar now stays visible by default and auto-hides when you're presenting.
Improved File Attachments
When attaching files to AI prompts, the preview popup is now properly centered above the file. We also fixed an issue where hovering would trigger immediately after attaching a file - now it waits for actual mouse movement.
Payment History
The billing section now shows your complete payment history. See all past transactions, invoice dates, and amounts in one place.
Performance & Quality
Performance Optimizations
We've made significant performance improvements to dragging and selection. Everything feels smoother and more responsive when you're moving elements around. The app also loads faster, with fonts loading after the initial page load so you can start designing sooner.
Feedback System
We've added a feedback system so you can report issues or suggestions directly from the app. Your feedback goes straight to our team and helps us prioritize what to build next.
Dynamic Font Loading
We now have over 1,300 fonts available. Fonts are loaded after the initial page load rather than all at once, which makes the app load faster so you can start designing sooner. The font picker also loads the font list in the background so it opens instantly when you need it.
Toast Notifications
We've added a unified toast notification system throughout the app. Success messages, errors, and status updates now appear as clean, dismissible toasts instead of browser alerts.
Rate Limiting Improvements
We've improved how the app handles usage limits. You'll now see clearer messages when you hit a limit, with information about when you can try again.
Image Export Improvements
Fixed handling of various image formats in exports. All types of images now export correctly, whether they're from the web, uploaded files, or copied images. Background images on frames also export properly.
What's Next
This is just the beginning. We're already working on team workspaces and deeper AI capabilities. Follow our changelog to stay updated on what's coming next.
Thank you to everyone who's been using Kodo during the beta. Your feedback has been invaluable in shaping v1. We're excited to see what you create.