The Library Manager

Using the Library Manager

The Library Manager operates behind the scenes. It's where all styles and clip art are organized into collections and categories.

To open the Library Manager, choose Window > Library Manager from the main menu (note, you can add the Library Manager to the toolbar by customizing the toolbar). The Library Manager uses an interface which is very similar to other applications such as Finder and iTunes(TM), and this familiarity should make it quick and easy to learn and use. Similarly to the Styles & Clip Art palette, items can be dragged directly from the Library Manager to your drawing canvas.

The Library Manager's left sidebar lists the collections and categories, and its main window displays items an icon view or list view. The Library Manager view is customizable.

The Libraries

The Library Manager contains two libraries – the Mapdiva Library and the user's My Library.

Mapdiva Library
The Mapdiva Library contains a Built-In Collection with hundreds of fun styles and clip art ready for making your next masterpiece. Items in this library cannot be edited, though they can be reorganized into various categories and subcategories, and also copied (cloned) to My Library for further customization.

My Library
My Library is the location of user created styles and clip art. Organize your styles and clip art into categories as desired.

Categories

Categories keep your styles and clip art organized and easy to find. You can freely add categories to organize the collections, and categories can be divided into subcategories.

Adding a New Category
To add a new category, click the '+' button or choose "New Category" in the Action Menu (looks like a gear). A new "untitled category" is added to the active collection (or, if you have selected a category, a new subcategory (child) of the selected category is added). Type a name for the category. A category can be renamed at any time by double-clicking its name and typing a new one. Category names must be unique within a collection.

Deleting Categories
To delete a category, select the category and click the '-' button or choose "Delete Category…". Deleting a category does not delete the styles and clip art it contains – items remain available in the "All Items" category unless intentionally deleted – but they may be harder to find later. This operation cannot be undone.

Adding Items to Categories
Individual styles and clip art can belong to one or more category. Items are organized into categories using drag-and-drop. Simply select the "All Items" category to show the content of the library, then drag items (shift-click to select multiple items) to the desired category in the left-hand list. To nest and unnest categories, just drag-and-drop the category where you want it.

Removing Items from Categories
To remove items from a category, select the items, right-click and choose "Remove From Category" from the contextual menu. Alternatively, select the category and drag items out of the window to some empty space. Removing an item from a category does not delete it from its collection – it will remain available in the "All Items" category unless intentionally deleted. Items can't be removed from or directly added to any of the automatically managed categories, such as "All Items."

Smart Categories

In addition to normal categories, a special type of category exists called a "Smart Category." Smart Categories are shown having a purple-colored icon.

Smart Categories work by filtering the entire collection based on a set of criteria you establish. As such, their content is dynamic and will change automatically as items are added, removed and edited. Smart Categories are similar to Smart Folders and Smart Playlists feature in applications such as Finder and iTunes(TM).

Adding a New Smart Category
To create a Smart Category, select the collection to add it to and choose New Smart Category… from the Action Menu. The criteria editor is opened ready to edit the category. You can build up the desired filter by combining different criteria as you wish; click '+' to add a new criteria to the query, '-' to remove a criteria. You can also limit the content to a fixed number of results if you wish. Click 'Save' to establish the Smart Category which will immediately display the content matching the query. Double-click the name or right-click and choose "Rename" from the contextual menu to change a Smart Category's name.

Editing Smart Categories
Smart Categories are not directly editable in that you can't drag items into or out of them, but you can edit the filter criteria. To edit the filter criteria, select the category and choose "Edit Smart Category…" from the Action Menu. The criteria editor is opened ready to edit the category.

Deleting Smart Categories
To delete a Smart Category, select the category and click the '-' button or choose "Delete Category…". Deleting a category does not delete the styles and clipart it contains – items remain available in the "All Items" category unless intentionally deleted. This operation cannot be undone.

Editing Styles and Clip Art

Editing within the List View
To edit an item's name, double-click it. Items can be locked and unlocked from within the list view (the Mapdiva Library cannot be edited).

Editing within the Icon View
Double-clicking a style within the icon view opens the Style Inspector for further editing.

Get Info on Styles and Clip Art

The "Get Info" drawer slides out and displays information about the selected style or clip art. This information includes the name and other item metadata.

Importing and Exporting Collections

If you receive a collection from another user (or from Mapdiva), you can import it by first unzipping it as necessary, then choosing "Import Collection…" from the Action Menu. The collection will be imported into My Library and displayed.

Export from My Library to create a zip file on disk of the entire collection, allowing you to backup and share it with other users. Select the desired collection to export, then choose "Export Collection…" from the Library Manager – Action Menu (looks like a gear).

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