diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e8119dc..dff8d9c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,104 +1,129 @@
-# Vesper
+<div align="center">
 
-<p align="center">
-  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/version-1.0.0-blue" alt="Version">
-  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Windows-blue" alt="Platform">
-  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/framework-Tauri 2.0-black" alt="Framework">
-  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-CC0-green" alt="License">
-</p>
+# ✦ Vesper
 
-A beautiful, distraction-free markdown reader for Windows. Vesper renders your markdown files with premium editorial typography and a refined dark aesthetic, giving you the ultimate reading experience.
+**A beautiful, distraction-free markdown reader for Windows**
 
----
+Premium editorial typography · Refined dark aesthetic · Fully portable
 
-## Features
+<br>
 
-### Markdown Rendering
+<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/version-1.0.0-6B8AFF?style=flat-square&labelColor=282C33" alt="Version">
+<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Windows-6B8AFF?style=flat-square&labelColor=282C33" alt="Platform">
+<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Tauri-v2-6B8AFF?style=flat-square&labelColor=282C33" alt="Tauri">
+<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-CC0-6B8AFF?style=flat-square&labelColor=282C33" alt="License">
 
-- Full CommonMark support via **markdown-it** with extensions:
-  - Syntax highlighting for 190+ languages (highlight.js)
-  - Task lists (checkboxes)
-  - Superscript and subscript (`^text^`, `~text~`)
-  - ==Highlighted text== via `mark`
-  - Smart quotes, em-dashes, and ellipses (typographer)
-  - Line break preservation
-  - Auto-linking of URLs
-  - HTML passthrough
-- Premium dark-mode typography tuned for long-form reading:
-  - Inter Variable at 17px with 1.7 line-height
-  - ~65 character measure (680px max-width) for optimal readability
-  - Progressive heading color cascade (H1 near-white through H6 muted)
-  - Accent-colored list markers
-  - Gradient-fade horizontal rules
-  - Subtle persistent link underlines that intensify on hover
-  - Refined blockquote, table, and code block styling
-  - JetBrains Mono Variable for code at 14px with ligature support
+</div>
 
-### Tabbed Interface
+<br>
 
-- Open multiple documents in tabs
-- Duplicate detection: re-opening an already-open file switches to its existing tab instead of creating a duplicate
-- Animated tab enter/exit with layout transitions
-- Scroll arrows appear when tabs overflow the bar, with hold-to-scroll
-- Mouse wheel scrolling over the tab bar
-- New tabs automatically scroll into view
-- Close individual tabs with the X button or `Ctrl+W`
+## 📖 Overview
 
-### Navigation
+Vesper renders your markdown with carefully tuned typography and a refined dark interface, giving you the ultimate reading experience. No installation, no AppData, no registry — just drop the exe and go.
 
-- **Table of Contents sidebar** auto-generated from document headings (H1-H6), with indentation by level
-- Click any heading in the sidebar to smooth-scroll to that section
-- Sidebar opens even when a document has no headings (shows "No headings" message)
-- Resizable sidebar via drag handle
-- **Full-text search** (`Ctrl+F`) with real-time DOM highlighting, match counter, and Enter to cycle through matches
+<br>
 
-### Reading Experience
+## ✨ Features
 
-- **Focus Mode** (`F11`) hides the title bar and menu bar for immersive reading
-- **Content zoom** via `Ctrl+Scroll` (50%--200%)
-- **Content width** adjustment via `Shift+Scroll` (400px--1200px)
-- **UI scale** (50%--200%) with a spinner in the View menu, persisted across sessions via localStorage
-- **Kinetic scrolling** on right-mouse-button drag with iOS-style rubber band overscroll and damped spring snapback
-- **Custom scrollbars** via OverlayScrollbars -- thin, auto-hiding after 800ms, accent-colored on hover
-- Window state (size, position, maximized) remembered between sessions
+### 🔤 Markdown Rendering
 
-### File Handling
+Full CommonMark support via **markdown-it** with extensions:
 
-- Open files via the File menu, `Ctrl+O` dialog, or drag-and-drop from Explorer
-- Supports `.md`, `.markdown`, and `.txt` files
-- Native Tauri drag-and-drop integration (receives real file system paths)
+| Extension | Description |
+|:--|:--|
+| 🎨 Syntax Highlighting | 190+ languages via highlight.js with a curated dark palette |
+| ☑️ Task Lists | Interactive checkboxes in lists |
+| ᴬᵇ Superscript / Subscript | `^text^` and `~text~` notation |
+| 🖍️ Highlight | `==marked text==` rendered with accent background |
+| 💬 Typographer | Smart quotes, em-dashes, and ellipses |
+| 🔗 Linkify | Bare URLs auto-converted to clickable links |
+| 📄 HTML | Inline HTML passthrough |
+| ↵ Breaks | Newlines preserved as line breaks |
 
-### UI Details
+**Premium dark-mode typography** tuned for long-form reading:
 
-- Custom frameless title bar with minimize, maximize/restore, and close buttons
-- Draggable title area for window repositioning
-- Menu bar with File, View, and Help menus
-- Right-click context menu with: Copy (when text is selected), Open File, Toggle Search, Toggle Sidebar, Focus Mode, Keyboard Shortcuts, About, Exit
-- Text selection preserved visually on right-click via overlay rendering
-- Context menu stays within window bounds and respects UI zoom
-- All panels, modals, tabs, and menus animate with Framer Motion (slide, fade, scale)
-- Subtle noise texture overlay on the app background
-- Keyboard shortcuts modal listing all bindings
+> - **Inter Variable** at 17px with 1.7 line-height
+> - ~65 character measure for optimal readability
+> - Progressive heading color cascade — H1 near-white through H6 muted
+> - Accent-colored list markers on both ordered and unordered lists
+> - Gradient-fade horizontal rules
+> - Subtle persistent link underlines that intensify on hover
+> - **JetBrains Mono Variable** for code at 14px with ligature support
 
----
+<br>
 
-## Keyboard Shortcuts
+### 📑 Tabbed Interface
+
+- Open **multiple documents** simultaneously in tabs
+- 🔁 **Duplicate detection** — re-opening an already-open file switches to its tab
+- ✨ Animated tab enter/exit with layout transitions
+- ◀ ▶ **Scroll arrows** appear on overflow with hold-to-scroll
+- 🖱️ **Mouse wheel** scrolling over the tab bar
+- 📌 New tabs **auto-scroll** into view
+- ✕ Close tabs with the button or `Ctrl+W`
+
+<br>
+
+### 🧭 Navigation
+
+- 📋 **Table of Contents** sidebar auto-generated from headings (H1–H6) with indentation
+- Click any heading to **smooth-scroll** to that section
+- Sidebar opens even with no headings (shows "No headings" message)
+- ↔️ **Resizable** sidebar via drag handle
+- 🔍 **Full-text search** with real-time highlighting, match counter, and `Enter` to cycle
+
+<br>
+
+### 👁️ Reading Experience
+
+| Feature | Details |
+|:--|:--|
+| 🖥️ Focus Mode | `F11` hides title bar and menu for immersive reading |
+| 🔎 Content Zoom | `Ctrl+Scroll` — 50% to 200% |
+| ↔️ Content Width | `Shift+Scroll` — 400px to 1200px |
+| 🔲 UI Scale | 50%–200% via View menu spinner, persisted across sessions |
+| 🏀 Kinetic Scroll | Right-mouse drag with iOS-style rubber band overscroll |
+| 📜 Custom Scrollbars | Thin, auto-hiding, accent-colored on hover |
+| 💾 Window Memory | Position, size, and maximized state remembered between sessions |
+
+<br>
+
+### 📂 File Handling
+
+- Open via **File menu**, **`Ctrl+O`**, or **drag-and-drop** from Explorer
+- Supports `.md` · `.markdown` · `.txt`
+- Native Tauri drag-and-drop integration with real file system paths
+
+<br>
+
+### 🎨 UI Details
+
+- Custom **frameless title bar** with minimize, maximize/restore, and close
+- **Right-click context menu** — Copy, Open File, Toggle Search, Toggle Sidebar, Focus Mode, Keyboard Shortcuts, About, Exit
+- 🖊️ **Text selection preserved** visually on right-click via overlay rendering
+- Context menu **stays within bounds** and respects UI zoom
+- All panels, modals, tabs, and menus **animate** with Framer Motion
+- Subtle **noise texture overlay** on the app background
+
+<br>
+
+## ⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts
 
 | Shortcut | Action |
-|---|---|
-| `Ctrl+O` | Open file |
-| `Ctrl+W` | Close current tab |
-| `Ctrl+Q` | Exit application |
-| `Ctrl+F` | Toggle search |
-| `Ctrl+Shift+S` | Toggle sidebar |
-| `F11` | Toggle focus mode |
-| `Escape` | Close search / sidebar |
-| `Ctrl+Scroll` | Zoom content in / out |
-| `Shift+Scroll` | Adjust content width |
+|:--|:--|
+| `Ctrl+O` | 📂 Open file |
+| `Ctrl+W` | ✕ Close current tab |
+| `Ctrl+Q` | 🚪 Exit application |
+| `Ctrl+F` | 🔍 Toggle search |
+| `Ctrl+Shift+S` | 📋 Toggle sidebar |
+| `F11` | 🖥️ Toggle focus mode |
+| `Escape` | ← Close search / sidebar |
+| `Ctrl+Scroll` | 🔎 Zoom content in / out |
+| `Shift+Scroll` | ↔️ Adjust content width |
 
----
+<br>
 
-## Installation
+## 📦 Installation
 
 ### Prerequisites
 
@@ -107,125 +132,128 @@ A beautiful, distraction-free markdown reader for Windows. Vesper renders your m
 
 ### Download
 
-Download the latest `vesper.exe` from the [Releases](https://github.com/yourusername/vesper/releases) page. No installation required -- Vesper is fully portable.
+Download the latest **`vesper.exe`** from the [Releases](https://github.com/yourusername/vesper/releases) page.
+No installation required — Vesper is fully portable.
 
 ### Build from Source
 
-**Prerequisites:**
-- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) v18+
-- [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install) (stable toolchain)
-- [Tauri v2 prerequisites](https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/)
+> **Requires:** [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) v18+ · [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install) stable · [Tauri v2 prerequisites](https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/)
 
 ```bash
-# Clone the repository
 git clone https://github.com/yourusername/vesper.git
 cd vesper
-
-# Install dependencies
 npm install
+```
 
-# Run in development mode (hot-reload on localhost:1420)
+```bash
+# Development (hot-reload on localhost:1420)
 npm run tauri dev
 
-# Build for production
+# Production build
 npm run tauri build
+# → src-tauri/target/release/vesper.exe
 ```
 
-Build output: `src-tauri/target/release/vesper.exe`
+<br>
 
----
+## 🔧 Technology Stack
 
-## Technology Stack
+| | Layer | Technology |
+|:--|:--|:--|
+| ⚙️ | Runtime | [Tauri v2](https://tauri.app/) — Rust + WebView2 |
+| ⚛️ | Frontend | React 19 · TypeScript · Vite 7 |
+| 🎨 | Styling | Tailwind CSS 4 · DaisyUI 5 · Custom CSS |
+| 📝 | Markdown | [markdown-it](https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it) + plugins |
+| 🌈 | Syntax | [highlight.js](https://highlightjs.org/) |
+| 🎬 | Animation | [Framer Motion](https://www.framer.com/motion/) |
+| 🔤 | Fonts | [Inter Variable](https://rsms.me/inter/) · [JetBrains Mono](https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/) |
+| 🖼️ | Icons | [Lucide React](https://lucide.dev/) |
+| 📜 | Scrollbars | [OverlayScrollbars](https://kingsora.github.io/OverlayScrollbars/) |
 
-| Layer | Technology |
-|---|---|
-| Runtime | [Tauri v2](https://tauri.app/) (Rust + WebView2) |
-| Frontend | React 19, TypeScript, Vite 7 |
-| Styling | Tailwind CSS 4, DaisyUI 5, custom CSS |
-| Markdown | [markdown-it](https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it) with plugins (task-lists, sup, sub, mark) |
-| Syntax Highlighting | [highlight.js](https://highlightjs.org/) |
-| Animation | [Framer Motion](https://www.framer.com/motion/) |
-| Fonts | [Inter Variable](https://rsms.me/inter/), [JetBrains Mono Variable](https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/) |
-| Icons | [Lucide React](https://lucide.dev/) |
-| Scrollbars | [OverlayScrollbars](https://kingsora.github.io/OverlayScrollbars/) |
+**Tauri Plugins:** `dialog` · `fs` · `opener`
 
-### Tauri Plugins
+<br>
 
-- `tauri-plugin-dialog` -- native file open dialog
-- `tauri-plugin-fs` -- file system read access
-- `tauri-plugin-opener` -- system default app launcher
+## 💼 Portable
 
----
+Vesper is **fully portable** — zero installation, zero system footprint.
 
-## Portable
-
-Vesper is fully portable. It stores all data in a `data/` folder next to the executable:
-
-- `data/window-state.json` -- window position, size, and maximized state
-- `data/EBWebView/` -- WebView2 data including localStorage (UI zoom preference)
-
-Nothing is written to AppData, the registry, or any other system location. To move Vesper to another machine, just copy the exe (and optionally the `data/` folder to preserve settings).
-
----
-
-## Design Philosophy
-
-1. **Content First** -- the reader is the primary focus; all UI chrome can be hidden
-2. **Typography Matters** -- Inter Variable at 17px, 1.7 line-height, ~65 character measure, generous whitespace
-3. **Dark by Default** -- deep onyx base color (#282C33) reduces eye strain
-4. **Keyboard Driven** -- every feature accessible via keyboard shortcuts
-5. **Minimalist Chrome** -- the interface gets out of your way
-
----
-
-## Color Palette
-
-| Color | Hex | Usage |
-|---|---|---|
-| Base | `#282C33` | Main window background |
-| Surface | `#252A31` | Title bar, sidebar |
-| Elevated | `#2D333C` | Active tab, modals |
-| Overlay | `#333942` | Dropdowns, context menu |
-| Text Primary | `#E4E6EB` | Main content |
-| Text Secondary | `#ABB0B8` | UI labels, muted text |
-| Text Tertiary | `#6B7280` | Placeholders, hints |
-| Accent | `#6B8AFF` | Interactive elements, highlights |
-| Link | `#7CA9F7` | Hyperlinks |
-
----
-
-## Project Structure
+All data lives in a `data/` folder next to the executable:
 
 ```
-md-reader/
-  src/
-    App.tsx            # Main application component (all UI logic)
-    main.tsx           # React entry point
-    styles.css         # All styles -- variables, UI components, markdown typography
-  src-tauri/
-    src/
-      main.rs          # Rust entry point
-      lib.rs           # Tauri builder and plugin registration
-    tauri.conf.json    # Tauri window, bundle, and build configuration
-    Cargo.toml         # Rust dependencies
-    icons/             # App icons (ICO, PNG, ICNS)
-  index.html
-  package.json
-  vite.config.ts
-  tsconfig.json
+vesper.exe
+data/
+  ├── window-state.json    ← window position, size, maximized
+  └── EBWebView/           ← WebView2 data (localStorage, cache)
 ```
 
----
+> Nothing is written to AppData, the registry, or any other system location.
+> To move Vesper, just copy the exe and optionally the `data/` folder.
 
-## License
+<br>
 
-This project is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication -- see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
+## 🧠 Design Philosophy
 
----
+| | Principle |
+|:--|:--|
+| 📖 | **Content First** — all UI chrome can be hidden; the reader is the focus |
+| 🔤 | **Typography Matters** — Inter at 17px, 1.7 line-height, ~65 char measure |
+| 🌙 | **Dark by Default** — deep onyx base `#282C33` reduces eye strain |
+| ⌨️ | **Keyboard Driven** — every feature accessible via shortcuts |
+| ✨ | **Minimalist Chrome** — the interface gets out of your way |
 
-## Acknowledgments
+<br>
 
-- [iA Writer](https://ia.net/writer) for design inspiration
-- [Tauri](https://tauri.app/) for the excellent desktop framework
-- [markdown-it](https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it) for robust markdown parsing
-- [highlight.js](https://highlightjs.org/) for syntax highlighting
+## 🎨 Color Palette
+
+| Swatch | Name | Hex | Usage |
+|:--|:--|:--|:--|
+| 🟫 | Base | `#282C33` | Window background |
+| ⬛ | Surface | `#252A31` | Title bar, sidebar |
+| 🔲 | Elevated | `#2D333C` | Active tab, modals |
+| ◾ | Overlay | `#333942` | Dropdowns, context menu |
+| ⬜ | Text Primary | `#E4E6EB` | Main content |
+| 🔘 | Text Secondary | `#ABB0B8` | UI labels |
+| 🩶 | Text Tertiary | `#6B7280` | Placeholders, hints |
+| 🔵 | Accent | `#6B8AFF` | Interactive elements |
+| 🔷 | Link | `#7CA9F7` | Hyperlinks |
+
+<br>
+
+## 🗂️ Project Structure
+
+```
+vesper/
+├── src/
+│   ├── App.tsx              Main application component
+│   ├── main.tsx             React entry point
+│   └── styles.css           Variables, UI, markdown typography
+├── src-tauri/
+│   ├── src/
+│   │   ├── main.rs          Rust entry point
+│   │   └── lib.rs           Tauri builder, portable data, window state
+│   ├── capabilities/
+│   │   └── default.json     Permission declarations
+│   ├── tauri.conf.json      Window, bundle, and build config
+│   ├── Cargo.toml           Rust dependencies
+│   └── icons/               App icons (ICO, PNG, ICNS)
+├── index.html
+├── package.json
+├── vite.config.ts
+└── tsconfig.json
+```
+
+<br>
+
+## 📜 License
+
+This project is dedicated to the public domain under **CC0 1.0 Universal** — see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
+
+<br>
+
+## 🙏 Acknowledgments
+
+- [iA Writer](https://ia.net/writer) — design inspiration
+- [Tauri](https://tauri.app/) — desktop framework
+- [markdown-it](https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it) — markdown parsing
+- [highlight.js](https://highlightjs.org/) — syntax highlighting