Comic Collector Manual
for Windows edition
Welcome to Comic Collector Download and Install Navigating the Main Screen Adding your first comic How to search your Collection Adding Comics Automatically Adding Comics Manually Barcode Scanning Importing from text Search Settings Field Defaults Editing Comics Editing Multiple Comics Adding Links and Backdrops List Items and more Updating Comics Find Cover Image Update File Links The Options Screen Managing Loans Editing List Icons Managing your Wish List Customizing Comic Collector Changing the layout Custom Field Names Sorting your Collection Custom Views Edit, Merge List Items Using Folders Activating Connect Sync & Share Synchronizing with Connect Linking your comics for Connect CLZ Comics for iPhone/iPod CLZ Comics for iPad CLZ Comics for Android Printing a Simple List Collection Statistics Using the Filter screen The Collectorz.com comic database Updating Comic Collector Print screen Keyboard Shortcuts Field Reference Creating a Backup Glossary of comic related terms Lists for insurance purposes Data Submission Guidelines Validating Comic Collector
Adding Links and Backdrops
Contents:
- Introduction
- The Links Screen
- Online
- Local
- **NEW!!** Template Backdrops - v5.1 and above
- **NEW!!** Preview Art v5
Introduction
Comic Collector allows you not only to catalog your collection, but to interact with it as well. You can add hyperlinks to both online and local sources which can be accessed from within your database. You can add images, preview art, digital comics, background images and more.
Figure 1: Detail Template showing the location of images and links
Note: Comic Collector does not open your linked files, it uses your default Windows software. For example if your default viewer for .pdf files is Adobe Acrobat and you click a .pdf link, Comic Collector will tell Acrobat to open the pdf. Find out how to change your Windows default programs here.
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The Links Screen
The links screen (Figure 2 below) can be accessed via the Edit Comic window. Here you can control which hyperlinks will appear in your Detail Template. Click the topics below to learn more about the different kinds of links you can create.
Figure 2: Edit Comic > Links
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Online Links
You can create links to webpages which will appear in your comic's Detail Template. Figure 3 below shows the icons available when creating an online link.
Figure 3: Online Link Icons
The icons from left to right:
- Add URL - Link to a website of your choice; clicking the link in your Detail Template will open your default browser and display the page.
- Edit URL * - Click to Edit an existing link from the list
- Remove URL * - Click to delete the selected link from the list
- Move Up * - Move the selected link up the list, this changes the position in the Detail Template
- Move Down * - Move the selected link down the list, this changes the position in the Detail Template
- Open * - Opens the selected link in its default program
N.B. Icons with a * will appear grey if a link is not selected from the main list.
Back to Links
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Local Links
Adding a local link allows you to open a file on your computer from within Comic Collector. This can be .pdf of the comic itself, an additional image or anything else. You can link to any file on your computer and it will appear in your comic's Detail Template. Images will also appear embedded (as shown in Figure 1 above) in selected templates. Linked files will open using your default Windows software.
For example, if you have a pdf of a comic stored on your hard drive you can link it to your database and open it by clicking the link within Comic Collector's Detail Template. The comic will open in your default pdf viewer.
Figure 4: Local Link Icons
The icons from left to right:
- Add Interior Art - Add interior art for the comic; clicking the link in your Detail Template will open your default image viewer and show the artwork.
- Add Other File - Create a link to any other type of file on your computer, e.g. a pdf of the Comic.
- Edit * - Here you can change the details, e.g. give it a description and change how it appears in your Detail Template
- Remove * - Click to delete the selected link from the list
- Move Up * - Move the selected link up the list, this changes it's position in the Detail Template
- Move Down * - Move the selected link down the list, this changes it's position in the Detail Template
- Open * - Opens the selected link in its default program
N.B. Icons with a * will appear grey if a link is not selected from the main list.
Template Backdrops
Comic Collector 5 allows you to add background images which can be used in your Detail Template. Adding a Backdrop is easy, you can even use Comic Collector's Cover Finder to locate a wide variety of HD backdrops.
To add a backdrop image:
- Open the Edit Comic screen and click the Covers tab.
- Click the Backdrop tab and you can now add your own image:
- Click Browse to find a local image
- Click Find Online to use our built in Cover Finder to find images from Google
- Click Acquire to obtain an image from an image scanner (must be setup and selected via the Options menu)
- Click Settings to view the Image Settings screen within Comic Collector's main options
To use a backdrop image as a background for your Detail Template you will need to select an appropriate template. You can change your Detail Template by clicking View > Details View Template > Vee 5 > Backdrop.
Already have a database? You can add backdrops to your existing collection simply by updating your comics. Comic Collector connects with our central database to provide you with backdrop images automatically. You can update your entire collection by clicking:
- Edit > Select All
- Edit > Update Comic(s) Automatically...
Series Backdrops
With Comic Collector, you can assign backdrops for series, as well as individual comics. If an individual comic does not have a backdrop assigned, it will use the series backdrop by default.
Follow the steps below to assign a backdrop for a series:
- Click Tools > Edit Lists
- Use the yellow folder icon in the top left to locate the Series folder set
- Right click on the series to view the Edit Series screen, then click the Backdrop tab.
- Select a method for adding a backdrop, you have 3 choices:
- Click Browse to find a local image
- Click Find Online to use our built in Cover Finder to find images from Google
- Click Acquire to obtain an image from an image scanner (must be setup and selected via the Options menu)
Comic Preview Art
When adding a comic, preview art will be downloaded automatically. If no backdrop is available for the series or comic, preview art will be used as a backdrop image automatically. You can disable this option via Tools > Options > Images. If you wish to add your own preview art, the process is similar to adding a backdrop image;
- Open the Edit Comic screen and click the Covers tab.
- Click the Preview Art tab and you can now add your own Preview Art:
- Click Browse to find a local image
- Click Find Online to use our built in Cover Finder to find images from Google
- Click Acquire to obtain an image from an image scanner (must be setup and selected via the Options menu)
- Click Settings to view the Image Settings screen within Comic Collector's main options
Figure 5: Selecting a Backdrop using the Cover Finder
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