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Core Concepts

OA Curator uses collector-friendly records and file-safe image handling. You do not need to understand the internal storage model to use it, but these terms appear throughout the app.

Collection

A Collection is the top-level OA Curator workspace. It contains Galleries and Artworks, and it can store gallery-site IDs for ComicArtFans, SNIKT.com, and Raremarq.

A Collection is saved locally. It also has a portable .oacollection manifest file so the Collection can be inspected outside OA Curator and carried to other tools.

A Gallery is a room or grouping inside a Collection.

A Gallery can carry gallery-site mapping when it is connected to an outside collection service. ComicArtFans Galleries can store CAF Gallery Room GSub values, Raremarq Galleries can store Raremarq gallery IDs, and SNIKT.com Gallery tracking can inherit the Collection's SNIKT.com ID.

Galleries have portable .oagallery manifest files. A Gallery manifest lists Artwork membership by local Artwork ID; it does not duplicate mutable Artwork metadata such as title, artist, file count, or format.

Artwork

An Artwork is the catalog record for one original art piece. It can include:

  • Title and description.
  • Artist credits.
  • Media, artwork type, and publication status.
  • Gallery site URLs and IDs.
  • Private collector fields.
  • Attached image files.
  • Cached previews.
  • PNG exports.

Locally created Artworks use neutral IDs such as OAC-00001. Gallery-site IDs are stored separately, so you can prefer CAF, SNIKT.com, or Raremarq labels without losing the OAC identity.

Artworks have portable .oaartwork manifest files. The Collection manifest stores the relative path to each Artwork manifest, which lets one Artwork belong to more than one Gallery without duplicating the Artwork folder.

An Artwork can appear in more than one Gallery in the same Collection. Use this when one piece belongs in multiple useful groupings, such as a character Gallery and a published-pages Gallery, without creating duplicate Artwork records or duplicate image files.

To assign an Artwork to another Gallery:

  1. Open the Artwork.
  2. In Artwork Properties, find the Galleries section.
  3. Click the Gallery add button.
  4. Choose the Gallery and confirm the action.

The Galleries section lists every Gallery that currently contains the Artwork. Use the Gallery remove button beside a Gallery to remove that Gallery assignment. OA Curator keeps the Artwork in at least one Gallery, so the remove button is disabled when only one Gallery remains.

Original Files

Original files are your source scans or photos. OA Curator supports JPG, PNG, and TIFF.

TIFF is useful for preservation scans. PNG is useful for web-ready derivatives and gallery site workflows.

When you attach a file, choose how OA Curator should refer to it:

  • Copy into the Collection creates a Collection-managed copy.
  • Link to existing location keeps the file where it already is and records its path.

Copied files make a Collection easier to move as a unit. Linked files avoid duplicates when you already maintain a separate scan library.

Thumbnails And Previews

OA Curator generates cached thumbnails and previews so the application can browse large images efficiently. These cached files are derived from the original and should not replace it.

PNG Exports

A PNG derivative is an export-ready image created from an attached source file. It belongs to the Artwork record but is not the original scan.

A PNG export can be useful for web workflows such as ComicArtFans preparation, sharing, and review.

OA Curator can store links and gallery-site IDs for:

  • ComicArtFans
  • SNIKT.com
  • Raremarq

Gallery site links help you connect your local catalog to public pages and supported gallery site workflows without making those services the only home for your data.

OA Curator uses common collector terms for local organization and stores gallery-site-specific IDs alongside them when those IDs are known.

  • Collection is the top-level catalog workspace. It can store CAF Collection GCat, SNIKT.com user IDs, and Raremarq user slugs.
  • Gallery is a grouping within a Collection. It can store CAF Gallery Room GSub values and Raremarq gallery IDs, while SNIKT.com Gallery tracking can inherit the Collection's SNIKT.com ID.
  • Artwork is an individual original art piece. It can store CAF artwork URLs, SNIKT.com artwork IDs, and Raremarq piece slugs.

OAA Archives

OAA stands for Original Art Archive. It is the portable archive format for original art collection data.

Use OAA import/export when you want your Collection to travel as collector-controlled data.

For the full format, see Original-Art-Archive/oaa-spec.