[Can't replace a cover]

I would un-check that preference item (i.e. do NOT automatically download...) and see what happens.

[Can't replace a cover]

What he is referring to is, when you installed the covers, did you use the Qucik Start file (that only has Thumbnail sized covers) or did you intall the complete, full-sized covers.

And in Preferences, do you have 'Automatically download larger pictures when viewing items' checked?

If you do, un-checking it may fix the download cover problem.

Normally, when you drag/drop covers to CB, the Picture information (height, width, size, etc.) gets updated. Assuming you have a larger cover, this should have prevented the program from downloading a different cover when selected.

You can sort of check the values in these columns by running an Advanced Find:

I.PictureWidth BETEWEEN x AND y
or
I.PictureHeight BETWEEN x AND y

where x and y are values that bracket the cover size.

For example, if the cover scan is 505 x 776

I.Title = 'Where Starships Go to Die' AND I.PictureWidth BETWEEN 500 AND 510
or
I.Title = 'Where Starships Go to Die' AND I.PictureWidth BETWEEN 770 AND 780

(I added Title to limit it to just the one series)

After you add you new cover, you can run this again (using the same values) to see if the values got updated.

If it IS updating the picture info, I am not sure why it is downloading a smaller cover. If it is NOT updating, there could be a problem.

(unfortunately, you can't view the picture information directly in CB.
-----

As for Preliminary Artwork, these are getting into the system by user submission and not being caught. Any Preliminary Artwork that is added by HC, has a set size for either Height or Width (can't recall which or the exact number but I think it is width of 500-something).

[Cover Scan Maintenance 2022-06-06]

Delete or Move CP 1-D.jpg
From: Pictures\M\Merc Magazine\Born of Blood
To: Pictures\M\Merc\Born of Blood

Delete or Move ALL (1-A.jpg - 1-R.jpg)
From: Pictures\M\Merc Mag\Merc Magazine- Deathrage
To: Pictures\M\Merc\Merc Magazine- Deathrage

Delete or Rename 1.jpg to TPB.jpg
From: Pictures\A\Archie\Archie's Coloring Book

Delete or Rename 1.jpg to Dlx 1-HC.jpg then Move
From: Pictures\M\Marvel\X\X-Men- The Fall of The Mutants
To: Pictures\M\Marvel\X\X-Men- Fall of the Mutants

[Add cover images to new books]

Ah, I see the problem. You are using Album view (which I never do).

I guess I am going to have to modify my 'how to name a picture file' instructions.

The actual Item Number is TPB-10, if you were in Grid View.

Having the Album View display TPB (10th) confuses and complicates the instructions.

The Picture file needs to be  TPB-10.jpg to get displayed.

[Ashcan]

if the issue number is Ash 3/A, then the picture file should be Ash 3-A.jpg.

[Add cover images to new books]

Can you supply a screen print. I have never seen any issues (Comic Boo, Book or Magazine) as TPB (10th).

If it was a tenth printing, the issue  number would be TPB-10.

[Add cover images to new books]

1) make sure the type is a *.JPG.

2) whatever the issue number is displayed as, type exactly the same characters, except replace an / with a -.

 

Examples.

1        1.jpg

1/A     1-A.jpg

HC 1   HC 1.jpg

1/A-2  1-A.2.jpg

0.5     0.5.jpg

PS If it looks correct try leaving the title and then returning. Sometimes the display needs to refresh to display the image.

[Cover Scan Maintenance 2022-06-01]

Delete or Move ALL (1.jpg - 4.jpg)
From: Pictures\Z\Zoo Arsonist\Big Bang (Red Calloway's-)
To: Pictures\Z\Zoo Arsonist\Red Calloway's Big Bang

Delete 48.jpg
From: Pictures\G\Gold Key\Daisy and Donald

Delete 24.jpg (has no barcode)
Rename 24-A.jpg to 24.jpg (has barcode)
Delete 24-B.jpg (duplicate of current 24.jpg with no barcode)
From: Pictures\T\Titan\Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine

[Clean up for 06/01/2022 update]

To add to this list, Title 'Big Bang (Red Calloway's...)' was deleted and replaced by 'Red Calloway's Big Bang'.

Was this intentional? Normally for Titles that have in this format, they are entered as 'Big Bang (Red Calloway's...)' (like 'Walt Disney's Bambi' and 'Bambi (Walt Disney's...)'.

[Clean up for 06/01/2022 update]

I can answer the last one.

Yes the / affects it.  If you did 'American Claimant, The/Pudd'nhead Wilson' it would display as 'American Claimant, The/Pudd'nhead Wilson'.

This is because it treats it as 1 name (that happens to have 'THE' in the middle of it) instead of 2 different names (that are separated by a /).  Therefore, the 'THE' has to go to the end of the 'name' for CB to recognize it as a leading article.

[Onto today's problem]

One more thing to check.

Use the View drop-down box (at the top left of the window, below the menu items.

What do you have under 'Items to Show'?

if it is Owned Items + Regular Issues, then variants won't be displayed (unless an issue only have variants (i.e. 1/A and 1/B instead of 1 and 1/A).

 

[Onto today's problem]

Not sure. I have never heard of variants disappearing before. I would think it is part of the Resources.

Which specific Title / issue number are you not seeing.

Just reaching for a possibility, maybe an Update deleted the 6/C Variation?

Check to see if Setup->Item Variations lists the variants (especially the one that you are missing.

Also check another Title (like 'Firefly (Boom!)') and see if other issues are missing the variations.

[Onto today's problem]

I should have mentioned that Uninstalling does NOT delete your database or any of the Pictures or Media. If just affects the executable and resources.

[All variant letters gone]

Where did they disappear from?
You can use menu item Setup->Item Variations to view the variations.
Or
You can edit an issue (double-click on the line) and use the Variation drop-down box to see a list (just cancel out of the edit so you don't accidentally change something you didn't want to).

If they actually did disappear, you can try to Uninstall/Reinstall CB (CB and CB Resources).

If they still don't appear, you may have to contact support.

[Onto today's problem]

Here are few possibilities. There may be other.

1) You have scrolled right resulting in the first columns being pushed off the display.
Check the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen.
(Granted, this is not likely, but I have to mention it as at least a possibility.)

2) The column was resized until it was hidden.
Use Menu Item->Columns to View.
At the top, use drop-down box Preset and select one of the other options.
This should 'refresh' the grid display and display the hidden columns.
(You can switch back to the original display)

3) Delete the ComicBase Setting.ini file.
The ComicBase Settings.ini file is located in:
C:\Users\<logon-id>\AppData\Roaming\Human Computing\ComicBase
NOTE: This is a Hidden folder.
With CB closed Rename ComicBase Settings.ini to something else.
NOTE: By Renaming, you won't lose it is you want to rename it back to its original name.
Open CB and see if that fixed the problem.
If it did, you will have redo various options in CB
If it didn't fix anything, with CB closed, you can go back and rename the file back to its original name (deleting the one that is current there as it was created when you opened CB).

4) Uninstall/Reinstall the most current version of CB
It won't hurt to uninstall both the CB and the CB Resources file.

If none of those fixes the problem, you will probably have to contact support.

 

[Avengelyne/Shi]

The rule is to match the Item # exactly except you replace and slash ( / ) with a dash ( - ).

Examples:

12.5 would be 12.5.jpg

0.5/B would be 0.5-B.jpg

0.5/A-2 would bee 0.5-A-2.jpg

 

[Entering amazing Spider-Man 794 4th print]

I noticed this problem with Issues with printings a few days ago for a different reason (the Picture Height and Picture Width info does not get updated) and notified Pete about it. Hopefully it is an easy fix and will show up with a future update.

[Entering amazing Spider-Man 794 4th print]

794-4.jpg would be the correct name for issue 764-4.

Sometime when a cover scan is moved in to CB, it is not displayed immediately.

Try leaving the Title and coming back (basically causing CB to refresh the display) and it should show up.

If it still isn't, double check the name (mainly the extension .JPG).

[Moving over program and folders too a spare hard drive]

It's not too difficult. There are two parts.

1) Pictures and Movies
In Windows, create a folder on the new drive to hold the Pictures and Media folders. This folder can have any name you like.
Note: You can create a separate folder on yet another drive for the Media folder if you have a lot of digital comics as these can get quite large.
By default the Pictures and Media folders are located at:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Human Computing

For example,
Create a folder D:/Human Computing
(Create a folder E:/Human Computing if you want the Media folder on a different drive)
NOTE: Human Computing is just an an example, it could be 'ComicBase Data' or any other name you want to come up with. And, if on a separate drive, the folder for Media can have a different name than the folder for the folder for the Pictures.
D:/CB Pictures
E:/CB Media

Copy just the Pictures and Media folders from the C Drive to the folder( s ) on the new drive( s ).

(Leave the other folders so CB can find them.)

In CB use menu item File->File Tools and select 'Manage Pictures and Movies'.
Change the Location of Pictures and Movies to point to the new Folder that contains the Pictures and Media folder (NOT the actual Pictures folder).

That should free up most of the space. But if you need more, you can do the second item.

2) Database file
In Windows (with CB NOT running)
Move the database file from the default location of
C:\Users\<logon-id>\Documents\Human Computing\ComicBase Databases
To some other folder. This can be anywhere you like.
Once it is in the new location, double-click on it to open that database in CB.
Once you close CB, it will remember the location.

NOTE: I didn't mention a specific folder because, unlike the Pictures and Movies, the database file does not have to be in a folder (although it is probably best if it is).

[Problems problems problems]

By default the database files are located in:

C:\Users\<logo-id>\Documents\Human Computing\ComicBase Databases

Look there to see what *.cbdb files you have.
Hopefully, you only have one but you probably have 2 (or more) if you have been using Save A Copy.

Open CB and look at the Title bar (very top left corner) and see what database is being opened. (Red circle in attachment).

CB will open the last database that was opened when you closed it.
You can use File->Recent Databases to get a list of Databases that CB knows about (I happen to have 3 that I use). (Blue circle in attachment)

Find the one you want to use as you actual database and select it.
Once this is opened (check title bar to be sure), close CB.
The next time you open CB that is the database that will be opened.

Note: In the list of databases CB knows about, you can right-click and remove any you don't want to be there. This does NOT delete any actual database. It just removes it from this list.

I am not sure why you used Save a Copy in the first place, but if you were trying to make a backup, this is done through the menu item Setup->Preferences where you can control making backups.

Any covers you added should still be there as all CB databases use the same Picture Folder.
If you have a significant number of entries in the incorrect database, I believe the Pro edition can Export and Import data.
You should be able to export data from the copy (or copies) and import into the correct database.
There are a few issues with the way the data is handled but that can be covered if you need to do this.

[Problems problems problems]

Can you be a little more specific? Just stating you have problems doesn't really help much.

If you are having problems for simple things like Check for Updates (which works fine for me), you may have to contact support.

[where is my comic db SUPPOSED to be and what is it SUPPOSED to be called]

By default the database file is located in:

C:\Users\<logo-id>\Documents\Human Computing\ComicBase Databases

Save a Copy does not work the way I think you are trying to use it (which is as a backup).

What Save A Copy does is make a Copy (a second) database. If you don't rename it it is Copy of Database. Saving A Copy again from that database with make a File called Copy of Copy of Databases, etc. (or naming like this).

Each of these are valid databases. If you entered some issues in the first one and then Saved A copy,

If you want a backup of your database, use menu item Setup->Preferences and change the backup part to what you want (see the Blue section in the Attachment.

 

[Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children was a comic book]

I have looked at some of these and they are definitely text stories with illustrations. If you removed all the illustrations, you could read the story without any problem.

Where they stay in Books or get moved to Magazines (the only two options) is a question for the editors.

If left in books, they are not TPB and should probably be changed to Staple 1 - Staple 30.

PS I am not finding any indication of these being collected in to books. That doesn't mean they don't exist but the major sites (Amazon, MyComicShop, Mile High Comics, GCD) don't have then listed.

 

[why aren't all comics in comic base indexed by title?]

Articles (A, The, El, etc.) are moved to the end of the name (i.e. Weird, The and 'Nam, The)

I believe it has to do with sorting Title lists.

When searching for a title, it would be best not to include the leading article. Just type Weird or 'Nam (or just Nam) and you should find most of the problem ones.

Something else to watch out for titles like 'Autumn Adventures (Walt Disney’s…)' where you may think to look for 'Walt Disney’s Autumn Adventures'.

[Clean up for 05/25/2022 content update]

Unfortunately, (from my preferences), it look like it is correct the way it is per the indicia (which is attached from an on-line copy). It really should have a colon but...