Movie Collector Manual
for Windows edition
Welcome to Movie Collector Download and Install Navigating the Main Screen Adding your First Movie How to search your Collection Adding Movies Automatically Adding Movies Manually Barcode Scanning Adding Movie Files Field Defaults Search Settings Importing from text Managing your Wish List Adding a Box Set Importing from Windows/XML Editing Movies List Items and more Editing Multiple Movies Find Cover Image Adding Trailers, Links and Files Editing List Icons Loan Manager Update File Links Customizing Movie Collector Changing the layout Custom Field Names Sorting your Collection Using Folders Custom Views Edit, Merge List Items Activating Connect Sync & Share Synchronize with Connect Linking your movies for Connect CLZ Movies for iPhone/iPod CLZ Movies for Android CLZ Movies HD for iPad Using the Filter screen Collection Statistics Printing a Simple List Browsing your movies on Vista Media Center Print Screen Updating Movie Collector The Collectorz.com movie database Field Reference Data Submission Guidelines The Options Screen Keyboard Shortcuts Creating a Backup Validating Movie Collector Add/Edit Movie Screen
Find Cover Image
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How It Works
Movie Collector 7 has a built-in Cover Finder which helps to fill missing gaps in your collection. This Google-powered image search makes it easy to find missing cover images, as well as fixing incorrect ones.
The Cover Finder takes the title, barcode and format of the movie from your database and uses it to find you the best possible match. This allows you to quickly find DVD or Blu-Ray specific covers.
The new Find Cover Image tool can be opened up from multiple places in the program:
Find Cover Image Screen
The Find Cover Image screen is split into 2 sections. The search results on the left and a preview of the selected image on the right. Each section also has various options at the bottom.
On the left you have the search box, below that you have 3 check boxes which allow you to quickly add or remove data from the search field. The search will automatically include the Title, Barcode and Format of the movie.
Tip: If you are looking for an alternative cover it can help to remove the barcode from the search results.
Figure 1: Find Cover Image Screen - Movie Collector 7
Edit Search Criteria
When finding a cover for your movie, Movie Collector might add a barcode or the phrase 'DVD' to the movie title to provide for better results. When no (or poor) results are found, you can edit the Search Criteria manually in the text field and hitting the Search button.
Figure 2: Edit Search Criteria - Movie Collector 7
Find Cover Image from Main Screen
When browsing your movies in the Main Screen and you want to add a missing cover image for one of your movies simply click on 'No Cover Image' in the detail view to open up the Find Cover Image Screen (see Figure 3 below), you can also right click anywhere on the template and click 'Find Cover Image'
Figure 3: Find Cover Image From Main Screen - Movie Collector 7
Find Cover Image from the Cover Tab in the Edit Movie Screen
When you're in the Edit Movie Screen, you can add or change the Cover Image on the Covers Tab. Click the Find Online Button to open up the Find Cover Image Screen (see Figure 4: Find Cover Image Screen).
Figure 4: Find Cover Image Screen - Movie Collector 7
Find Cover Image from the Add Movies Automatically Screen
If you search and find a movie in our database but the cover doesn't match your own, or one isn't provided by our database, you can access the Cover Finder from the Add Automatically screen.
- Right click on a movie from the main search results
- Click the No Cover Image template in the preview
Figure 5: Add Movies Automatically Screen - Movie Collector 7
Cropping
When you find an image with both front and back cover, you can crop the image right here! Just point, click, then drag your cursor over the part of the image you want to keep and click Crop. When okay, click Use This Image.
Cropped off too much? Just select the image from the Search Results on the left and give it another go!
Demo Video
Alternative ways to add your own Images
When adding a new movie to your collection, Movie Collector will automatically retrieve a whole lot of information from our databases right to your computer. But sometimes you might want to add your own cover image to one of your movies. Or perhaps you've found a different image, that's more to your liking. Here we go...
Updating a Cover Image from the Collectorz.com database
Our databases are constantly acquiring new images and up-to-date information. If an image isn't found when you first add a movie we may add one at a later date, or perhaps you added your movies manually and don't want to spend time adding covers for each movie individually. Updating will also download additional information such as cast and crew information.
You can update your movies and images in a variety of ways.
- Right click on a movie and click 'Update Movie'
- From the Edit Movie > Cover screen, click Clear followed by Update
- By selecting the movie, and clicking Edit > Update Movie(s)
Adding an Image from your Hard Disk
When you want to replace a cover of one of your movies, you need to go to the Edit Movie screen (select movie and click Edit > Edit movie) and go to the Covers tab. Click the Browse button and search for the image on your computer.
Figure 6: Browse for Image on your Computer
Note: Images you add manually are NOT transferred or copied to the Images folder of Movie Collector. So, to keep things tidy and organized, save your images in the default Movie Collector folder. This way you make sure, that when creating a Backup, all images are being copied.
Drag-and-Drop
Another very easy way to add/change images for your movies is the old Drag-and-Drop routine. You can Drag-and-Drop an image file from your computer or from a website.
Figure 7: Drag and Drop from your Desktop
Figure 8: Drag and Drop from the Internet
You'll notice that Movie Collector will prompt you to make a choice. Choosing "Copy dropped file to default image folder, then link" will, well, copy the image to the Movie Collector Images folder. This is highly recommended.
Simply linking to the dropped file just creates a link to the location of the image. If you drag and drop an image from the Internet, you will loose your images, once the online image is removed. Renaming or moving a linked image from your computer (outside the Movie Collector images folder, will also result in one of these:
Please note: Different browsers may behave differently. If one browser does not allow you to drag and drop the image, please try a different browser, or drag the image to your desktop first, and drag it from there.
More Image Settings
You can tweak the default settings to fit your needs by clicking the Settings Button in the Edit movie Screen. When not in Editing Mode, click: Tools > Options > Images.
Figure 9: Image Options Screen
