Importing Items into NM Collector CP: The Basics
Typing a collection in one item at a time is slow. If the details are already in a spreadsheet, in another program, or on paper or a web page that an AI assistant can read for you, NM Collector CP can add them all at once with File > Import > Items From External Sources.
This post covers how that import works: the blank import file that serves as your template, how to fill it in, and the import itself, from matching the columns to undoing an import you don’t want. The other posts in this series build on it:
What you need: NM Collector CP for Windows, Mac or Linux, version 2.3.2 or later (the import is on the desktop version, not the phone and tablet versions), and the collection you want to add to, already set up. Any collection works.
Your data stays with you. The import reads the file you choose and the picture files it names, and nothing else. It never goes on the internet, and nothing from your collections leaves your computer.
How it works
The import reads a CSV file: plain text, one line per item, with commas between the values. The first line is the heading row, which names what each column holds. You tell NM Collector CP which field each column goes to, it shows you a preview, and it adds the items.
The easiest way to get a CSV file the import understands is to let NM Collector CP write the heading row for you. That is the blank import file.
Step 1: Make a blank import file
Select the collection on the main window. The screenshots in this post use Recipes.
Choose File > Export > Blank Import File.
Pick a folder and click Select Folder (on a Mac, the button that confirms the folder). A folder of its own is easiest, because your filled-in file and its pictures will go there too.
A message lists the two files saved. Click OK.
The template: the heading row
Recipes Import.csv holds one line: every field of the collection, written as Tab > Label, for example ID > Name or Desc > Prep Time, and a last column, Picture file(s). Using the tab in each heading keeps fields with the same label apart (several tabs have a Notes field), and it is what lets the import match every column to its field without asking you.
You don’t have to use every column. Delete the headings you won’t fill (with the comma after each) and keep the rest exactly as written. The columns can be in any order.
The column guide
Recipes Import Instructions.txt says what goes in each column:
text, one line: any text. Where the field has a drop-down list, the guide lists the values already in it. Use the same spelling when one fits; a new value is added to the list for you.
notes: text that can run to several lines.
date: written as MM/DD/YYYY.
number: no currency sign.
yes or no: yes, y, true, 1 and x count as yes; no, n, false and 0 as no.
Picture file(s): the file names of the item’s pictures, described below.
To open either file, right-click it and choose Open with, then Notepad (on a Mac, Control-click and choose Open With, then TextEdit).
Step 2: Fill it in
Add one row under the heading row for each item. You can do it in two ways.
In a spreadsheet (Excel, Numbers, LibreOffice Calc). Open the CSV file, type one row per item, and save it as CSV again:
Excel: File > Save As, and choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) as the type.
Numbers: File > Export To > CSV.
LibreOffice Calc: File > Save As, choose Text CSV, and keep the current format.
A notes value with several lines can be typed in one cell: press Alt+Enter (Excel on Windows) or Option+Return (Mac) for a new line within the cell.
As text. This is how an AI assistant gives you the file, and you can also write it yourself. The rules are short:
Commas between values, one line per item, the heading row first and unchanged.
A value that contains a comma, a quote or a line break goes in double quotes, and a quote inside it is doubled: "about 1""x2""".
An empty value is just nothing between two commas.
Here is a filled-in file, one recipe under a shortened heading row. The ingredients and directions are one value spread over several lines, so they are in quotes; the picture’s file name is last.
Saving text as a CSV file
If you have the text but not a file, for example an AI’s answer shown in a box rather than as a download:
Windows: open Notepad and paste. Choose File > Save As, go to your import folder, set Save as type to All files, type a name ending in .csv, set Encoding to UTF-8, and click Save.
Mac: open TextEdit and choose Format > Make Plain Text first. Paste, choose File > Save, type a name ending in .csv, and if TextEdit asks, choose Use .csv.
Pictures
Put each item’s pictures in the import folder and their file names in the Picture file(s) column. Several pictures for one item are separated by ;, for example front.jpg;back.jpg. The import attaches them to the item in that order. JPG, PNG, GIF and BMP pictures work.
The import does not download pictures. A web address in the Picture file(s) column is listed as not imported, with a reminder to save the picture and use its file name.
Step 3: Import
Select the collection on the main window and choose File > Import > Items From External Sources.
Choose your file and click Open.
The import window lists each column of the file, an example value from it, and the field it Goes to. A file made from the blank import file is matched completely, every line marked ✓.
If your file didn’t come from a blank import file, for example a spreadsheet you already keep or another program’s export, the import matches what it can by comparing the headings with your field labels and common other names (Make for Manufacturer, Price Paid for Amount). Fix the rest with each line’s Goes to list:
Don’t import leaves the column out.
Add a new field… gives an unused field a label for that column.
A line marked check this is a guess worth a look.
Two or more columns can go into one text field, joined together (first and last name, for example). A notes field can take several columns as “Heading: value” lines.
Save Matching… keeps your matching under a name. The next file with the same headings is recognised and matched for you, as the line at the top of this window shows.
The settings below the list usually need no change. Date order and Number style are worked out from the file. Add new values to the drop-down lists adds new values to the lists. Put columns not matched into keeps every Don’t import column in a notes field, so nothing is lost. Skip rows that match an existing item on keeps you from adding an item twice (choose a field such as Serial Number). Picture folder is where picture file names are looked for; it starts as the CSV file’s folder.
Click Preview to see the items as they will be stored (up to the first 10). Anything that couldn’t be understood, such as a date or a missing picture, is counted at the top. “Row 2” is the second line of the file; the first is the heading row. Back returns to the matching.
Click Import. The report lists the new items, the pictures attached, and anything left out.
Step 4: Check the items, and undo if you need to
Leave the report open. The new items are already in the item list, and you can open them while the report stays beside the main window.
If something isn’t right, click Undo This Import on the report. After you confirm, it removes the items this import added, with their pictures and any drop-down values and field labels it added. Fix the file and import again.
When you’re happy, click Done. Undo is there until you close the report. Save Report… keeps a copy as a text file. If you pick a folder in OneDrive, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive or Box, NM Collector CP first shows a Cloud Storage Folder warning, because the report holds the names of your items and that service copies the folder to its servers.
You can add more pictures to an item later on its Pics tab: click Add, or drag a saved picture file onto Drop Here.
If something goes wrong
A column isn’t matched. Its heading doesn’t match a field label. Choose the field in its Goes to list, or correct the heading in the file.
A date or number is reported as not understood. It is left empty. Check Date order and Number style on the import window, or correct the value in the file and import again.
A picture is reported as not found. Check that it is in the folder with the CSV file and that its name matches exactly, including the ending (.jpg or .png). If your pictures are elsewhere, click Choose… beside Picture folder.
A picture ends in .webp. The Pics tab can’t show WebP pictures. Open it in Paint (Windows) or Preview (Mac) and save it again as JPEG.
A new item shows as a blank line in the item list. None of the fields that make up its line in the list were filled. NM Collector CP warns you about this at Preview when no column goes to any of them. Undo, fill in a name in the file, and import again.
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