I want to scan my comics, in a non-pirating way.

January 31, 2008 6:54 PM

I would like to be able to scan in the bar codes on all the comics of my collection into a software that will track and allow me to manage my collection. Scanning being the main requirement.

I know there are several software packages out there like collectorz.com that will allow me to track and manage my comic collection, but has anyone used one that will allow me to scan in the barcode with a barcode scanner? I allready have the scanner, and just need the software piece. If anyone has experience with intelliscanner and can tell me that its worth the money, I would even be willing to rebuy a scanner. FWIW I use windows xp.

posted by Jonsnews to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

ComicBase supports bar codes.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 7:04 PM on January 31

Well, many barcode scanners just send the text to the computer the same way the keyboard does. With one of these, you wouldn't need any software (or even drivers) to use the scanner itself. You'd just put the cursor in the place you want the text to go and it will appear there when you scan, just as though you typed it. Are the barcodes for the ISBN (or EAN) number, or is it for the UPC number? There are a number of software packages for tracking book collections that will grab all the info from Amazon, etc., when you enter the ISBN or EAN. I think something that uses the UPC database would probably be expensive.
posted by winston at 7:09 PM on January 31

You mean like Delicious Library? There is a Windows version called MediaMan.
posted by idiotfactory at 7:33 PM on January 31

Depending on how and where you get your comics, they probably dont all have bar codes. Only ones packages for retail, non-comic shop, do. Or at least did.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:34 PM on January 31

Most scanners look like keyboards as far as the computer is concerned. If all you want to do is find out whether your scanner is able to pick up the bar codes, open Notepad and try doing some scans. You should see the numbers under the bar code being typed into the Notepad window.

Your scanner will have come with a manual full of mysterious proprietary bar codes used for programming it to do various things. To scan EAN/ISBN numbers properly, you might need to work through the EAN settings section of that manual and program your scanner with the options you want.

Some scanners can translate a 13-digit EAN code with a 978 prefix into the corresponding 10-digit ISBN. Modern cataloging software will probably accept the EAN code directly, but if your software doesn't understand ISBN-13 yet, you might want to turn that translation on.
posted by flabdablet at 7:43 PM on January 31

Scanner is really just a keyboard, what flabdablet said...

Just use excel or ms access or (ew) filemaker for the database. Dont' need to buy anything specific
posted by mattoxic at 10:20 PM on January 31

Right. I understand the scanners as keyboard thing. I want it to look up all the comic info from some existing database when I scan the barcode. I do not want to manually enter it all.
Also, Does anyone have any idea what I need to enable on my scanner to get it to read the entire barcode on a comic book, or the upc on a regular book? For some reason it scans the first part, but drops the last 5 digits.
posted by Jonsnews at 3:25 AM on February 1

Argh. NM, Flabdablet allready answered the second part.
posted by Jonsnews at 3:25 AM on February 1

Librarything accepts data from CueCat scanners, it should work with any other scanner. More information here.
posted by clearlydemon at 9:40 AM on February 1

Seconding Librarything. If you have more than 200 items you want to catalog, it'll cost you a whopping $25 or so, but it's worth it. . . .
posted by FlyingMonkey at 2:27 PM on February 5