Version 10.0 is here, with one HUGE new feature: Add Comics by just scanning the cover!
No need to scan barcodes, no need to search by series title. Just take a picture of your book and the app will recognize it!
Add Comics by scanning the cover!
For most comics, just scanning the barcode is a quick and easy way to add them to your database. For comics without barcodes, you would need to search by typing the series title and find your comic that way.
But not anymore! With the new CLZ Comics v10.0, there is new tab in the Add Comics screen, called “Cover”.
There, you can just take a picture of the cover and the app will automagically find the matching comic(s) in our CLZ Core!
If there are multiple similar covers in our CLZ Core, it will show multiple matches. For example Direct vs Newssstand editions, virgin vs trade-dress covers, etc…
Just tap the one you own to add it to your app.
Already have pictures of your comics? Tap the gallery icon on the bottom right to select an image from your Camera Roll.
When do I use this new way of adding comics?
This new method of adding comics is ideal for:
Comics from the pre-barcode era (before 1976)
Direct Editions without barcode
Modern comics without barcode
But of course, the cover scanning works very well on any comic, including ones that do have a barcode!
TIP: use this method if your comics are bagged and boarded and the barcode is on the back of the comic. That way, you don’t have to pull the comic out of the bag to scan it
See it in action!
Here’s a demo video that shows how we add a range of various comics by scanning their covers:
I just tested what happens on a comic that doesn’t exist in the database. As expected, it conveniently offers me the option to manually add the issue. I have a couple of questions about the manual addition process though:
Once I finish my manual entry, will it automatically be submitted for evaluation by the content processors there? Or do I need to take the extra step of submitting it myself?
The covers that get scanned while I’m holding the comic aren’t exactly perfectly aligned to provide a nice cover on the manual entry. Does the software go as far as doing perspective correction on the image? Please note that I have NO expectations it will do this since I realize the app isn’t intended to be a full-featured image editor. I’m just curious what to expect from the new feature.
Hi Chris,
I must say I am a bit surprised about your questions, I mean, with you having been with us for over 20 years?
I just tested what happens on a comic that doesn’t exist in the database.
This feature take a picture of your cover and then tries to find matching covers in our CLZ Core. So it will, by definition, never work on comics that are not in Core.
Manual entries are never automatically submitted to Core. But you knew that, right? That would be far too risky in terms of data quality.
No it does not do any of that. The photo you take is only used to find matching comics in Core. It is not used for the manual entry you create at all.
The “Add it Manually” option that is shown here is the exact same as it is on the Barcode, Series or Issue tab. Nothing magical going on for the Cover tab
This is an absolutely AMAZING addition and is a game changer for this already wonderful and important app! It’s so fast I couldn’t believe it!
I am curious… After the photo is taken of the comic and it’s been identified, is it possible to make it so that simply tapping on the comic cover will add it to your collection instead of having it take you to the info about the comic and then having to hit the add to collection button from the second screen?
I don’t need any info about the comic when I’m adding it, so being taken to the second screen seems completely unnecessary, at least for me.
Would that be possible to add as maybe an option in the settings maybe?
Thanks SO very very much for this killer addition to the app!
is it possible to make it so that simply tapping on the comic cover will add it to your collection instead of having it take you to the info about the comic and then having to hit the add to collection button from the second screen?
Mmm, I don’t know. That “Confirm popup” is used in all add method of the Add Comics screen.
There needs to be some way to confirm that you want to add, otherwise it would be very easy to inadvertently touch the screen and add the wrong one. Also the popup lets you switch between adding to collection and wishlist.
I did notice a minor quirk that may have existed with a previous version…
Last week I placed a very large order and added them as On Order. Those arrived yesterday.
As I was playing with the new cover scan feature, I scanned one of those On Order comics, it found it flawlessly, then asked if I wanted to add it as new or change it to In Collection. I changed it to In Collection.
That all worked as I expected.
But I noticed that the “you’re out of sync” icon didn’t show. I checked the sync screen in the Main Menu and it showed one pending change to sync.
I made a different change to a comic and the icon showed right away.
So, the quick summary is that it doesn’t look like the act of changing a comic’s collection status when adding a comic is enough to trigger the “out of sync” icon to appear.
As a test, I changed the collection status in the Edit screen of the comic and it did show the icon immediately.
I assume this is a really minor thing and likely won’t impact too many people (basically, I assume that people rarely JUST change that collection status through that process and instead maybe add a purchase price, a grade or something else that does seem to trigger that “out of sync” icon).
