Track Your Comic Book Collection On Your Mac.

I admit it. I collect comic books. Lots of comic books. I’ve been doing it for a few decades.

Now I use my Mac to track and catalog my collection.

Just as the Mac is being used to catalog CDs, DVDs, Books, and Games, so be it with comic books.

My two favorite Mac applications for comic collecting are Comics 2 from Xidiar, and Comic Book Lover.

While both applications are strong collection, catalog, and viewing tools, Comic Book Lover wins your heart right away.

Digital comics are the future and much of my modern collection is stored on the Mac.

Yes, I have a tree-killing paper and ink collection, too. It’s not as much fun. I’m always afraid I’ll crease a priceless paper treasure.

Not so with Comic Book Lover and digital comics.

I can read comics in single page mode, and get over-sized pages to fit the screen. Did I fail to mention the screen?

If you can handle iTunes and iPhoto, then you’re right at home with Comic Book Lover.

There’s a full screen mode and a dual-display option for those of you blessed with lots of digital real estate for the eyes.

Comic information can be edited, comic by comic, in English and Japanese. I have some Japanese comics, but honestly, they’re more difficult to read.

For the newbies to digital comic collections, there are a number of file formats that set the standard for the online comics world.

CBZ is a Zip type file, and CBR is a Rar type file, therefore, cross platform, though Comic Book Lover will also handle PDFs.

The similarity between Apple’s most popular iLife applications and Comic Book Lover’s onscreen layout are remarkable.

Again, Apple sets a standard for applications to follow, and that makes the learning curve brief and beneficial.

Smart lists? Got ‘em? Search bar? Got it. Summary page with graphics to identify the comic? Got it.

One of the best ideas ever is Auto-Fill. Many times the detailed information is the same from comic to comic; publisher, artist, writer, genre, etc.

Auto-fill makes filling in the details quick and easy. Even better is the ability to edit details on more than one comic at a time.

If you have a comic collection and want to enter the digital world, check out Comic Book Lover.

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