What's new in Comic Collector for macOS?

Fixed:

• Find Cover: the crop button was missing
• The “Field Names” screen was empty

We had tested our software on Big Sur betas before the actual Big Sur release and did not find any problems. However, as soon as Big Sure went live, users started reporting crashes in various areas of the program, mainly when syncing and after adding or editing entries.

With the help of these users, and after trying several test builds with them, we have finally resolved all known crashes, which has resulted in today’s v20.2 Big Sur compatible release.

If you are using Big Sur, we strongly recommend updating to this v20.2 version.

Finally, if you still see problems on Big Sur with this new version, please us know, so that we can fix any remaining bugs.

Faster CLZ Cloud syncing!

We have made several structural changes to the CLZ Cloud syncing, making it much much faster than before, especially when syncing large amounts of entries up to the CLZ Cloud or down from the CLZ Cloud.

To enjoy the faster syncing, you need to use the actual Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.
(The Auto-Syncing in the background is also slightly faster now, but if you need to sync many entries up or down, please use the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen.)

Fixed:

• Link to Core: changing the search criteria could crash the program
• Add screen: changed the “already in collection” font color in dark skin to be more readable
• Add screen: Now allows multiple barcode matches
• Main screen: The “Rating” column could not be moved to a different place
• Improved cover scaling for syncing

Now uses our brand-new CLZ Cloud Sync-server

Previously one big server was handling the Connect website, the CLZ Cloud website AND the CLZ Cloud syncing from the desktop programs and the mobile apps.
But this week we have set up a brand-new dedicated Sync-server to handle just the CLZ Cloud syncing.

In today’s update, Comic Collector has been updated to sync through this new server, which should result in faster syncing and a more stable syncing experience during high load times (weekends).

Fixed:

• For some users, the database conversion of version 20.0.3 caused the loss of data in their User Defined Fields. This problem has been resolved now.
  
  If you lost UDF data, please contact us so that we can help you get the data back.

This update fixes an issue with the sync where it would always re-upload the custom front/back covers if such a comic had any change at all. This resulted in many unneeded re-uploads of custom front/back covers.

Important: After updating to this version:

• the program will run a process to index your custom covers
• all comics with custom front/back covers will re-upload

Both processes might take a while!

Fixed:

• Custom front/back covers were re-uploaded too often
• Quick Search: using arrow buttons and clicking results wasn’t working correctly

A couple of fixes today for Comic Collector macOS:

Fixed:

• Last Modified date wasn’t set correctly when updating values from GoCollect
• Printing a list while in dark mode would print a black page

The year “twenty-twenty is coming up, so here’s Comic Collector v20 for macOS!

In this release we added support for the macOS Dark/Light Mode.

Read more

As you probably know, macOS Catalina (version 10.15) was released earlier this week.
In Catalina, Apple has made two major changes, that will affect all software that you run on your Mac:

• All programs you use need to be 64-bit. No more support for 32-bit applications!
• All programs you download outside the App Store need to be notarized (=approved) by Apple.

Of course, our Comic Collector software has been a 64-bit application since version 18.1 (April 2018). And this week, we got it approved and notarized by Apple too!

So today, we released Comic Collector 19.2, 64-bit and notarized, so fully Catalina compatible!

We found an issue with syncing user plots: they didn’t sync correctly. All fixed and good to go now!

Fixed

• Edit Multiple Comics would set the collection status to “In Collection” for all comics edited.
• Drag/Drop of cover image files in the Edit Screen ignored the “Just link to dropped file” setting.

Fixed:

• Updating values from GoCollect didn’t always start if you had unlinked comics
• The “Lock Value” padlock icon wasn’t showing on older macOS versions.
• Fixed a display issue in the Collection Totals screen
• Drag/Drop image would put image in Downloads folder when using “just link to dropped file”
• Fixed a display issue with shelf-view background
• Link items screen size and position is now remembered between sessions

Fixed:

• When downloading values in some cases it could empty out previously filled in value information

Yes here it is, the BIG ONE!
The biggest and most important Comic Collector update since years, maybe even since its’ launch in 2002.
With today’s 19.1 update, Comic Collector for macOS will finally give you automatic comic values, thanks to our new collaboration with the popular GoCollect.com comic book price guide:

• Automatic “slabbed & graded” values from GoCollect.com
  Find out which are the most valuable comics in your collection. Just set a Grade for your comics, then Update Values from GoCollect based on that grade.
• Lots of new value-related fields:
  Grade, Grading Company, Grader Notes, Slabbed vs Raw, Signed By, Is Key Comic (yes/no) and Key Reason.
• More fields now sync to/from CLZ Cloud:
  New syncing fields: Back Cover, Plot, Nr of Pages, Genres, Country and Language. Also, all new value-related fields immediately sync with CLZ Cloud / Comic Connect.

Read more

We got rid of some bugs today, check it out:

Fixed:

• Drag & drop of images from a webbrowser was broken
• Grouping on “My Rating” didn’t work sometimes
• Some year entries weren’t set correctly
• Removing entries from the Link screen was not possible with keyboard
• Edit in List behaviour modified for dropdown field types

Small bug fix build today for your Comic Collector on macOS:

Fixed:

• Editing the personal rating in the template and edit screens missed the star images
• Better handling of the filename in the export screens

Because the version we released yesterday was built with a new Xcode, the program automatically supported Mojave’s “Dark Mode”. Unfortunately, we all run “Light Mode” here, and we didn’t see that the program looked completely wrong in Dark Mode!

We do plan to support Dark Mode on Mojave, but this is a different project and will be addressed later this year.

Fixed:

• Mojave’s Dark Mode made the program look bad so we switched the program to light mode for now.
• Export to XML, Text, and other export functions were broken
• Images Shelves styles were broken.

Trial Mode improvements:

• Bigger “+” button on the default toolbar.
• Improved “My CLZ Account” messaging when logging in with a CLZ Account.
• New hints to Sync with CLZ Cloud after adding some items.
• Removed the ugly blue “hint box” that appeared when starting with an empty database.

Only supports macOS 10.9 or higher

This is the first version to not support macOS 10.8 Mountain Lion anymore.

To stay current with Apple we’ve just updated to Xcode (the software used to create Comic Collector for macOS). In order to do this we had to drop support for macOS 10.8 (Mountain Lion) from 2012 as Apple doesn’t support it anymore in Xcode.

If you still use macOS 10.8, make sure to not upgrade Comic Collector to this version.

Fixed:

• Auto-mark custom images didn’t flag items as “dirty” for the sync.
• Drag and drop image on Details Panel to change the front cover was broken.
• Index number sometimes didn’t increment correctly.

Comic Collector version 19 has arrived! Here’s what’s new:

• Manage multiple “collections” within one database file
• Automatic Cloud-syncing of your own “custom” images
• A new super-adaptive “Flex” template for the Details Panel

Read on for the full details:

Read more

Some of you reported some issues in the Edit Screens in Comic Collector using macOS Mojave, which have now been addressed and fixed!

Fixes:

• Searching for a creator or character wasn’t working (dropdown wasn’t opening to show all options)
• The dropdown to choose a role for a creator wasn’t working
• Dragging and dropping of images on the template or edit screen didn’t do anything
• The price field in the Quick Fill pop-up (that pops up just after adding a comic) didn’t accept a value

The Add Comics Automatically screen is now called “Add Comics from CLZ Core” and includes improvements to make it both easier-to-use and easier-on-the-eye:

• Renamed the “by Title” tab to “by Series”
• Big blue buttons for the main actions, Searching and Adding, can’t miss ’em 🙂
• Use the checkboxes in front of found issues to reveal a big blue “Add x as TPB” button!
• Automatic Preview, just select a result (no more need for double clicking)
• Right click on a Series title to Add Series to Pull List
• Right click the results list to enabled In Collection filtering

In the main screen under View > Folders > Select Folder Fields you can now folder group on “My Rating”.

A BIG update for your Comic Collector software today, with two important changes:

1. Secure HTTPS connections, for your security and privacy

As indicated in last week’s GDPR email, we are updating our software and services, to be more secure and to better protect your privacy.

Starting with version 18.2, Comic Collector now uses secure HTTPS connections for all communications with our servers:

• for logging in with your username and password
• for syncing your data with CLZ Cloud
• for sending your searches to Core.

To make this possible, we have created new secure “entry points” on our servers, that are only allowing secure HTTPS connections. The new Comic Collector software only communicates with those secure entry points.

For your privacy and security, we strongly recommend updating to version 18.2.

2. More sync fields

Last week, our CLZ Cloud (and Comic Connect) has been updated with 9 more fields and loan information. Today’s version 18.2 now supports the syncing of all these new fields and your loan information to and from the CLZ Cloud!

Added for syncing:

• Crossover
• Imprint
• Story Arc
• Age
• Edition
• Cover Price
• Cover Date
• Release Date
• Loans

Heads up: after updating to version 18.2, the software will automatically mark most of your comics as “changed”, to force the upload of your data for the new fields to the CLZ Cloud.

BTW: Updates for the CLZ Comics mobile apps are coming up soon, so that you can fully sync the above new fields from desktop to mobile and vice versa.

Fixed:

• A crash could occur in the “Frequency” manage pick list field.
• Grouping on “Series First Letter” would sometimes not show all series.

Never a dull moment at the CLZ HQ… Here we were, working on nice improvements for our software, when suddenly… the guys at Apple had a brainwave: In their ultimate wisdom, they decided to start phasing out 32-bit applications.

Since April 12, users of macOS High Sierra are getting a “not optimized for your Mac” warning when they start a 32-bit application. Which includes the Comic Collector software for macOS 🙁

On top of that, Apple have already stopped allowing 32-bit applications in their App Store and rumours are that they may even stop supporting 32-bit applications in a future version of macOS, requiring every application to be 64-bit!

Of course, we were already aware that Apple would be going this route some day; the rumours have been around for quite a while. So we had already been working on a 64-bit version of our software, as a “back-burner project”.

But the introduction of last week’s “not optimized” warnings suddenly made this a high-priority project. So… we dropped everything we were doing and finalized our 64-bit project. And I am happy to report:

A fully 64-bit v18.1 version of Comic Collector is available now!

Not exactly what we were planning to do this month, but hey, this is what the Update Plans are for: your guarantee that we deal with everything the world throws at us 🙂

Fixed:

• Sync with CLZ Cloud:
  • Sometimes the “Local changes to be uploaded” counter didn’t show the correct number.
  • When a cover could not be downloaded during down syncing it would stop and not continue. Now it will continue and show a report of any possible errors that have occurred.
  • Sometimes covers weren’t uploaded when they should have.
  • The error: “This database is different from the one in CLZ Cloud” would show up in rare cases when it shouldn’t.
• Main Screen:
  • There were still some cases where “follow edited item” option was not working.
  • Folder grouping on a credit role would show folders for all credit roles instead of just the one selected.

Version 18 is finally here! And it not only bring the promised Auto-Cloud-Syncing, but also many improvements to the main screen, making it both faster and more stable.

NEW: Fully Automatic CLZ Cloud Syncing!

The free CLZ Cloud service is at the center of all our cataloging solutions (desktop, mobile and web), the glue that binds them all together.
Tens of thousands of users are using the CLZ Cloud syncing every day, to transfer data between their desktop, Connect and mobile software, to update their online collection list, or simply for keeping an online backup of their precious database.

Now, it is time to take the CLZ Cloud to the next level, with automatic syncing:
Add or edit comics in Comic Collector and these changes will auto-upload to the CLZ Cloud instantly. Did you make changes using the CLZ Comics mobile app or directly in Comic Connect? Just start your software and changes will download automatically.
No more need to go to the Sync with CLZ Cloud screen, ever.

With “Sync Automatically” switched on…

1. Your online cloud backup is always up-to-date.
2. Your cloud viewer always shows the current state of your collection.
3. All your CLZ tools (desktop, mobile and Connect) will always be in-sync.

Automatic Cloud Syncing is an optional feature, switched OFF by default. If you don’t want to auto-sync, or don’t want to sync with the CLZ Cloud at all, just leave it switched OFF.

Main screen now faster and more stable

In the past few months, we have spent a lot of time rewriting important parts of the main screen. For instance, the code that refreshes the folder panel (which was slow, especially with the “counters” switched on) and also the part that restores your selection in the list after editing. At the same time, we reduced the program’s “memory footprint”, making it more stable overall.

The result is that the program is now a lot more enjoyable to use. It starts quicker, it refreshes much faster (after adding or editing) and switching between folder types is quicker.

The speed-up will be most noticeable on large collections, with thousands of comics. Especially when having LOTS of folders in the folder panel (e.g. Character folders).

Fixes

• Cloud syncing:
  • After duplicating a comic, the duplicate would not be marked for syncing to cloud.
  • In some situations, a down-sync could update empty fields with data from Core.
  • In some situations, cover images would not upload automatically.
• Main screen:
  • After editing, the edited items would not be selected after refresh.

Fixed

• Quick Search suggestion box could crash the app.
• Alphabet bar wasn’t working anymore.