iPhone / Apple Collection Management

[mackenzie999]

Managing Collection on iPhone / Mac system

 

Hi everyone...

 

I've seen a few posts discussing collection management Apps for iPhones. I've found Mac users have far fewer options, and so I've decided to post how I manage my collection using only my iPhone and my Mac with no additional software purchase required.

 

This system may not be perfect for those with larger collections, but for someone like me with a smaller, newer collection, this system works just fine. It is also obviously iPhone and Mac-centric, but the basic principles should be applicable to similar Android / Windows-based methods.

 

At the heart of my system is iPhoto, which comes free with all Macs. Every time I get a new comic, I import a picture of it into iPhoto. The bulk of my purchases are made online, so I generally snag a copy of the pic used in the sale or auction (these pics may come in handy in the event of Ebay dispute shenanigans as well). My meatspace purchases simply get scanned.

 

Once imported into iPhoto, I name the photo with the comic's title and number, i.e. Tales of Suspense #39. Then in the keyword area I enter "Marvel Comics Iron Man CGC 4.0." Keywords are the, well, key to all of this. I might have also included information about artists, signatures, first / guest appearances, restoration, source, price paid, etc, basically whatever information is pertinent to me about this particular issue.

 

Once your books have been titled and keyworded it's time to create useful groupings. One way to sort images in iPhoto is by using what are called Smart Albums. Smart Albums automatically sort images based on user-definable criteria; for example, I might create a Smart Album for Iron Man, and all comics that have Iron Man in the keywords will be a part of this album (Iron Man, Tales of Suspense, Avengers, guest shots etc). You can create albums using multiple criteria for things such as title, character appearances, artists, CGC graded, autographed, publisher, restoration, etc., basically whatever criteria are important to you. I make sure every book has the word "comic" as a keyword which automatically places it in the My Collection Smart List.

 

Once you have created your various Smart Albums you simply sync them to your iPhone and you have a visual document of whatever lists you feel like carrying around with you. I can easily fit my entire collection on my iPhone, but you may prefer to list only specific categories you are actively pursuing at the time, it is a very simple matter to add and subtract as many albums as you care to create, and there is no duplication of image files. If I only want to see E.C. comics I simply view the E.C. Smart Album.

 

This is probably too labor-intensive if you have large, undocumented collections, but for someone like me who has a small collection I find this method very manageable. I had no real backlog of books, and part of my purchasing routine is to grab whatever scans are available at the time. One could also simply use the iPhone's camera, although the image quality is pretty poor.

 

This may seem obvious to many of you, but I figured I'd share my system for anyone who may be interested.

 

 

This is how it looks on my desktop in iPhoto. This is where you import, sort, label, etc.

 

Two views from the iPhone; one is the thumbnail view of a Smart Album, the second is a single image selected. Depending on the size of your scan you can zoom way in if you like, or if you're more interested in conserving disk space than image detail simply keep your images at 320 x 480 pixels, or whatever the native screen size of your phone may be.

 

PS while I haven't (and hopefully never have occasion to) test this, it's possible that this visual record may come in very handy for insurance claims.

 

[CJ]

Thanks for the info. I am planning to buy a Mac in the next few weeks so I may give this a try.

[mackenzie999]

Thanks for the info. I am planning to buy a Mac in the next few weeks so I may give this a try.

 

Check Apple's website this Friday, they are rumored to be having some pretty decent deals that day.

[CJ]

Thanks for the info. I am planning to buy a Mac in the next few weeks so I may give this a try.

 

Check Apple's website this Friday, they are rumored to be having some pretty decent deals that day.

 

Will do thanks for the information.