May 2026 - Product Update

Hello there 👋 Over the past few months, we’ve been working quietly on many improvements across Carbone, and it’s time to share what’s new from the v5.0.8 to the v5.5.0 (latest).

Over the past months, we have focused on:

• Shipping some of the most requested feature
• Building new integrations (can't wait to share!!)
• Giving the best support ever (from humans)

New Features

• 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹 (v5.5.0): You can now delete table columns automatically with :drop(col) and :keep(col) (documentation).
• 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 (v5.4.5): Markdown files are now supported for conversion, including MD to PDF/DOCX/ODT, available only for On-premise/Docker/AWS.
• 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (v5.4.3 - v5.4.4): Templates can now force timezone, converter, language, hardRefresh, and XLSX number formatting behavior directly inside the template (documentation).
• 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁/𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘀 (v5.3.0): Carbone supports more formats via LibreOffice, including Markdown, SVG, WEBP, Apple Pages, Apple Numbers, and more (List of supported export formats).
• 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗗𝗙 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 (v5.3.0): PDFs can now include multiple customizable watermarks with position, rotation, opacity, font, and page-number variables (documentation).
• 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 🔥 (v5.2.0): Formatters can now search inside arrays using indexes, current loop position, or equality conditions (Lookup documentation).

𝗛𝗧𝗠𝗟 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

• 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (v5.0.9, v5.1.4, v5.2.0): HTML tables are now supported in ODT/DOCX/PDF, including table cells, colspan/rowspan, default borders, theme styling, consistent widths, and better rendering in headers/footers (documentation).
• 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (v5.2.0, v5.3.0): HTML headings like H1 to H6 can now be rendered with document styles and custom heading themes (documentation).
• 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘀 (v5.5.0): The :html formatter now supports numeric entities, Unicode emojis, and more complete entity rendering (documentation).
• 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 (v5.2.0): Paragraphs can now include page breaks before or after them using inline CSS (documentation).
• Richer styling support (v5.2.0, v5.4.5): Better handling of hyperlinks around blocks, list items in tables, and inline heading behavior.

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

• :appendTemplate: Safer, faster, and now available on Cloud (v5.0.8, v5.4.3, v5.5.0).
• :convCRLF: Better whitespace handling in DOCX files (v5.0.9).
• :formatR: Fixed country translations in binary builds (v5.1.0).
• :aggSum: Improved support for nested loops with array-based data (v5.4.2).
• :transform: Added in unit support for PPTX and ODP files (v5.4.0).

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗻-𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿, 𝗔𝗪𝗦, 𝗔𝘇𝘂𝗿𝗲)

• 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 (v5.4.0): “Stateful/stateless” and “database” wording was simplified into clearer “with/without template management” and “template metadata” terminology.
• 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 (v5.0.9): deployments can now isolate templates and data by tenant across all endpoints.
• 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (v5.4.0): Template metadata management now works better across clusters, Docker containers, and multiple nodes, with synchronization, backups, startup/shutdown safety, and no single point of failure.
• 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 (v5.5.0): The asynchronous rendering system with webhooks was reworked to reduce race conditions and improve processing speed.
• 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽, 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘀 (v5.4.0): Startup logs are clearer, shutdown is faster, peer discovery is more flexible, and Prometheus metrics were improved.
• 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿 (v5.4.0, v5.4.3): Template APIs now return clearer deployment information and stronger validation for template/version IDs and deployment timestamps.

Studio Web Component updates

• 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗔𝗣𝗜𝘀 (v5.1.0, v5.1.1): The Web Component now provides clearer methods to open templates by template ID, version ID, data URI, or external URL.
• 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀 (v5.1.0, v5.4.0): Embedded Studio modes were clarified and renamed around “with/without template management,” making integration easier to understand.
• 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (v5.1.0): Integrators can customize available Carbone API versions, update theme/CSS dynamically, and reset Studio state programmatically.
• Better events for integrators (v5.1.0): Events like template:updated, template:saved, template:deployed, and options:updated were improved to provide cleaner information to host applications.

👉 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀?

• 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗔𝗣𝗜: Ensure you request version '5' of Carbone by setting the header “carbone-version:5”.
• 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗢𝗻-𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲: Download the latest binary from the Changelog, replace your existing binary with the new one, and restart the Carbone server (your templates, config, and database remain intact).
• 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿: First, ensure templates and database are stored on persistent volumes. Pull the latest image: docker pull carbone/carbone-ee:full-5.5.0 . Finally, restart your container
• 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗢𝗻-𝗔𝗪𝗦: Upgrade to the latest version from your AWS dashboard.Don't hesitate to reach out through our live support chat if you have any questions or need assistance. Have a fantastic day! 🍻

For complete upgrade instructions and version-specific migration notes, visit our detailed Upgrade Guide.

If you have any questions or need a hand, just reach out through the live support chat. We’ll be happy to help. Have a great day! 🍻