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When you open the theme studio, two related settings shape how your card's buttons look and behave: corner and fill style (sharp, soft or round; filled, outline or soft), and whether your Action buttons show as full-width labelled buttons or a compact row of icons. The fonts-and-layout guide covers the first in brief. This post is about the second — a setting that matters more the more buttons your card carries.
Where the setting lives
In the editor's Theme tab, open the theme studio and go to Shape and buttons. Corner style and button fill sit here, alongside a separate choice for Action buttons: full-width buttons, one per row, or a compact row of icons. See the full list of controls in themes and branding, and the steps to save your choices as a theme in create and apply a theme.
Full-width buttons: fewer, easier to read
Full-width buttons show one label per row — "Book an appointment", "View our menu", "Download our price list" — so a visitor reads exactly where a button leads before tapping. This is the safer default for a card with two to four action buttons, and for any card where the label itself does the explaining, since a link that needs its own words to make sense is easy to misjudge from an icon alone. See add social and custom links for how each button is created in the first place.
A compact icon row: more buttons, less scrolling
Once a card carries several link buttons, a full-width list can push the rest of the card — About, contact details, a text section — further down the page. Switching Action buttons to a compact icon row packs the same buttons into far less vertical space, which suits a card built around more than just links: a YouTube video, a text section for services or hours, or several sections a visitor should reach with less scrolling. The trade-off is that an icon carries less explanation than a label, so a compact row works best when your buttons are already easy to guess from the icon, rather than when the destination needs its own words.
Corner style and button fill, in brief
Sharp corners with outline buttons read as minimal and serious; soft or round corners with filled buttons read as warm and approachable — and whichever you choose applies to both full-width buttons and the compact icon row. For the full comparison, including how it interacts with font and alignment choices, see fonts and layout: left-align or centre.
Match it to what your card actually carries
There is no single right answer — it depends on how many buttons your card has and what job they are doing. A consultant with one booking link has room for a full-width button; a business with a menu, a booking link, a catalogue and several other links will read more cleanly as a compact row. Switch between the two in the live preview with your own links in place before deciding — the right call is easier to see with real content than with placeholder buttons.
Keep it consistent across your company
Once you settle on a button style that fits, save it in a theme rather than setting it card by card. Every card using that theme updates together, so a sales team or a clinic with several staff cards keeps one matching button style. Free accounts can save one custom theme; accounts with a Premium card can save several. Create your free digital business card and try both button styles in the live preview.
Frequently asked questions
Does switching to a compact icon row remove any of my links?
No. Action buttons is a display setting only. Every link button you have added still appears and still goes to the same destination; the compact row just changes how it is shown.
Will changing your button style affect your card's colours or content?
No. Shape and Action buttons are their own setting, separate from colours, fonts and your card's content. Switching between full-width buttons and a compact icon row does not change your links, your photo or any text.
Related
- Themes and branding
- Create and apply a theme
- Fonts and layout: left-align or centre your digital business card?
- Add social icons and link buttons
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