06 - Format¶
Folder Structure
Formatting has been one of the hardest things for me to automate correctly.
I like to have the following formats on my comics:
- TPB
- Director's Cut
- One-Shot
- Black & White
- Annual
- Limited Series
- Main Series
- Preview
To correctly tag all of these, I use 20 smart lists. It might seem excessive, but it works for me.
6.1 Auto tagged based on Filenames¶
The five lists in this folder are for automatic tagging using Data Manager.
Whenever a comic contains one of these formats in the filename, you can run Data Manager on it to tag it.
Most of these comics will already be tagged in Section 5.0 – Data Manager, but if one shows up in the lists below, just run Data Manager on it.
6.1.1 Original: TPB¶
Download smart list: 6.1.1 Original TPB.cbl
This list contains all Trade Paperback (TPB) comics.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.1.2 Original: Director's Cut¶
Download smart list: 6.1.2 Original Director's Cut.cbl
This list contains all Director's Cut comics.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.1.3 Original: One-Shot¶
Download smart list: 6.1.3 One-Shot.cbl
This list contains all One-Shot comics.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.1.4 Original: Black & White¶
Download smart list: 6.1.4 Black & White.cbl
This list contains all Black & White comics.
If a comic is listed here incorrectly, set Format OK to yes to ignore it.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.1.5 Original: Annual¶
Download smart list: 6.1.5 Annual.cbl
This list contains all Annual comics.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.2 Auto-Tagged Based on Rules¶
Where section 6.1 tags based on filenames, this section tags based on rules, checking the Series and Title.
6.2.1 Director's Cut¶
Download smart list: 6.2.1 Director's cut.cbl
This list contains all Director's Cut comics.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.2.2 Black & White¶
Download smart list: 6.2.2 Black & White.cbl
This list contains all Black & White comics.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Data Manager Mod
Scripts
6.3 Tag Based on Rules¶
With the previous two sections, tagging was done with Data Manager, either based on filenames or series/title.
In this section, you must manually tag the comics based on rules.
Always check that each comic is correctly placed before tagging it.
6.3.1 Rules: TPB¶
Download smart list: 6.3.1 Rules: TPB.cbl
This list should contain all TPBs.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Edit -> TPB
Scripts
None
6.3.2 Rules: One-Shot¶
Download smart list: 6.3.2 Rules: One-Shot.cbl
This list should contain all One-Shot.
A One-Shot is where the count is 1. This can be confusing with a new series where only 1 issue is out. If format is correct and is not One-Shot, set the Format Ok field to yes.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Edit -> One-Shot
Scripts
None
6.3.3 Rules: Limited Series¶
Download smart list: 6.3.3 Rules: Limited Series.cbl
This list should contain all Limited Series. A limited series in my mind is a series with less than 15 issues, so we check if the count is between 2 and 15 (1 would be a One-Shot) and if the number is between 1-15.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Edit -> Limited Series
Scripts
None
6.3.4 Rules: Main Series¶
Download smart list: 6.3.4 Rules: Main Series.cbl
This list should contain all Main Series. A main series is anything with a count over 15.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Edit -> Main Series
Scripts
None
6.3.5 Rules: Preview¶
Download smart list: 6.3.5 Rules: Preview.cbl
This list should contain all Previews.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Edit -> Preview
Scripts
None
6.4 Cleanup: Series with Mismatched Formats¶
Download smart list: 6.4 Cleanup: Series with mismatch Formats.cbl
Checks for comics where the comicvine_volume is the same but the Format differs.
This can happen if a Director’s Cut or TPB was scraped incorrectly, or if a Limited Series was first tagged as a One-Shot before more issues came out.
Column Layout
| State | Series | comicvine_volume | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Edit -> add correct format
Scripts
6.5 Cleanup: Different Series Volumes¶
Download smart list: 6.5 Cleanup: Different Series Volumes.cbl
Sometimes you’ll find comics where two issues have the same Series, Volume, and Format but different comicvine_volume.
This can happen because of scraping errors, or because two series from the same year have the same name.
If you run Library Organizer on these comics, it will create conflicts.
Options to fix:
- Rescrape for the correct volume.
- Add yes to Format OK. If you accept the format, make sure another field (like Title) is used by Library Organizer for renaming, otherwise you will still get conflicts.
Column Layout
| State | Series | comicvine_volume | Format | Volume | datamanager_processed | Format OK |
Action
Rescrape or fix format
Scripts
6.6 Cleanup: Set Missing Format¶
Download smart list: 6.6 Cleanup: Set Missing Format.cbl
This list catches comics that didn’t get tagged correctly. Go through them manually and set the correct format.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Pages | Number | Format OK |
Action
Fix format
Scripts
None
6.7 Cleanup: Black & White¶
Download smart list: 6.7 Cleanup: Black & White.cbl
Verify that comics tagged as Black & White are truly black-and-white comics, not just ones that contain “black & white” in the title or elsewhere.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Fix format if needed
Scripts
None
6.8 Correct Previous Tag for Ongoing Series¶
As mentioned earlier, ongoing series may start out tagged incorrectly:
- First as One-Shot,
- Then Limited Series,
- Then Main Series,
depending on how many issues are released.
These lists help find and correct them.
6.8.1 One-Shot¶
Download smart list: 6.8.1 One-Shot.cbl
This list finds comics where the Format is set to One-Shot, but they were previously not tagged and organized as One-Shot.
It ensures that files tagged as One-Shot are correctly reflected in the folder structure.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Fix format if needed
Scripts
None
6.8.2 Limited Series¶
Download smart list: 6.8.2 Limited Series.cbl
This list finds comics where the Format is set to Limited Series, but they were previously not tagged and organized as Limited Series.
It ensures that short runs (under ~15 issues) are correctly reflected in the folder structure.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Fix format if needed
Scripts
None
6.8.3 Main Series¶
Download smart list: 6.8.3 Main Series.cbl
This list finds comics where the Format is set to Main Series, but they were previously not tagged and organized as Main Series.
It ensures that long-running series (typically over 15 issues) are placed correctly.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Fix format if needed
Scripts
None
6.8.4 Run Library Organizer Since Format Has Changed¶
Download smart list: 6.8.4 Run LO since Format has changed.cbl
This list finds comics that are now organized incorrectly because their format has changed.
For example, a series that was previously treated as One-Shot or Limited Series may now have enough issues to be considered Main Series.
Running Library Organizer on these comics ensures they are moved into the correct folders.
Column Layout
| State | Series | Format | Original Format | Format OK |
Action
Right-click -> Automation -> Library Organizer (Quick)
Scripts