Movie Explorer

Custom Disc Covers


Traditionally, disc covers in Movie Explorer Pro are based on movie, tv show or collection images from TMDb. By clicking on the cover preview in the Discs view or Disc detail dialog, you can assign an alternative image from the available images in TMDb to a disc as disc cover. This works great in most cases, but sometimes this is too limited. Especially when dealing with special disc editions or collection boxes not covered by a TMDb collection.

With Movie Explorer Pro version 2.8 or newer, you can use your own images as cover for a digital disc in the Discs section of the app. This Help section explains how this works.

Usage custom disc covers

Steps

To use custom disc covers, assign a folder for storing custom disc cover images. Follow these steps to do this:

  • In Movie Explorer Pro, select Movie Explorer Pro > Settings in the menu.
  • In the Settings dialog, click on the Discs tab.
  • In the Disc tab, click on the Select Custom Disc Covers Folder button.
  • Select a folder in the presented dialog and click on the Select Folder button.
Tips
  • Make sure that the selected folder remains reachable when you use the app.
  • Do not forget to backup this folder. This can be done within the app via menu item File > Backup Custom Disc Covers.
Steps

Do one of the following to assign an image to a digital disc:

  • Open the Discs view, select the correct disc and drag-and-drop an image from Finder or a web browser to the poster preview in the Inspector panel at the right side.
  • Open the Discs details dialog, and drag-and-drop an image from Finder or a web browser to the poster preview at the right side of the dialog.
  • Copy a file to the set Custom disc covers folder as discussed above, with the following filename: [Barcode of disc] + .jpg. For example '0883929051069.jpg'.
Tips

Take care of the following when directly copying images to the Custom disc covers folder:

  • Always use .jpg as file extension, even if the image is actually in another format.
  • Make sure the barcode is 13 digits long.
  • Do not use subfolders, place all images in the root of the folder.
Note

Vector based image file types like .pdf, .eps and .svg are not supported.

Steps

Follow these steps to remove a custom disc cover:

  • Select the disc in Discs view or open it in a Disc detail dialog.
  • Click on the disc cover preview at the right side.
  • Select an image in the presented dialog that shows all available poster image for the selected disc.
  • After confirmation of the selection, the previously assigned custom cover image will be moved to the Trash can of the Mac.

Alternatively you can also simply remove the image in the set custom disc cover folder that has the barcode of the disc as filename.

Steps

Follow these steps to move a custom disc folder to a new location:

  • Move the folder to a new location in Finder or any other file manager.
  • In Movie Explorer Pro, select Movie Explorer Pro > Settings in the menu.
  • In the Settings dialog, click on the Discs tab.
  • In the Disc tab, click on the Select Custom Disc Covers Folder button.
  • Select a the new location of the folder in the presented dialog and click on the Select Folder button.
Exporting data with custom disc covers

The only report that contains disc covers is the Discs Overview report, which is can be exported in PDF or HTML format.

  • The PDF version of the Discs Overview report supports custom disc covers out of the box.
  • The HTML version of the Discs Overview report may fail to the show custom disc images:
    • If the custom disc covers folder is located locally on your Mac drive, and you use Safari as webbrowser, then you must change activate setting Show features for developers in the Advanced section of Safari settings. Once activated, the local custom disc cover images will be shown correctly.
    • However, if the custom disc covers folder is located on a network drive, then Safari will not be able to show the custom disc covers images.
    • If you want to host the exported HTML file on a webserver, then you must copy the content of the custom disc cover folder to the webserver, and adjust the links to the custom disc covers in the exported HTML file in a HTML or text editor.

Backing-up custom disc covers

Steps

Follow these steps to backup the folder with your custom disc covers:

  • In Movie Explorer Pro, select File > Backup Custom Disc Covers in the menu.
  • In the displayed dialog, define a target filename and location for the backup file. If you have done this before, the previously selected location will be preselected.
  • Click on the Backup button.

Alternatively you can also include the custom disc cover folder in a TimeMachine backup setup, or similar solution, if it is not already included.

Note

The Backup Custom Disc Covers menu item is only visible when the Custom disc covers folder is set in the Discs section of the app settings.