Getting started with Archivium

What is Archivium?

Archivium is a universal collection management platform. It lets you catalogue any type of collectible object — books, watches, fountain pens, vinyl records, stamps, coins, and more — using a flexible schema system and immersive visual themes.

The key idea is that Archivium doesn't hardcode collection types. A schema defines what fields a collection has — the field name, data type, and how it appears in layouts. This means the platform works equally well for a library of 5,000 books or a carefully curated set of 12 watches.

Creating an account

1. Go to my.archivium.art/register.
2. Enter your name, email address, username, and a strong password.
3. Check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the verification link.
4. You'll be taken directly to your dashboard on first login.

Your first collection

From the dashboard, click New Collection (or press N).

1. Choose a schema — pick a system schema that matches your collection type, or browse the marketplace for community schemas.
2. Name your collection — e.g. "My Books", "Watch Collection 2024".
3. Choose a theme — each schema has a suggested default theme, or pick any available theme.
4. Click Create. Your collection appears on the dashboard as a tile.

You can change the theme and cover image at any time from the collection settings.

Adding items

Open a collection and click Add Item (or press N while inside a collection).

The form is organised into groups matching the schema's semantic roles: core details at the top, key specifications, acquisition information, and tags. Fill in as many or as few fields as you need — nothing is mandatory.

Save with Save item. The new item appears immediately in the browse view.

Schemas explained

A schema is the blueprint for a collection type. It defines:

• Fields — each with an ID, a label, a data type (e.g. ShortText, Rating, PhotoGallery, MultiSelect), and a semantic role.
• Semantic roles — labels like PrimaryTitle, PrimaryImage, Subtitle, KeySpec, Description, Tag. Themes use these roles to decide how to display items, so a theme never needs to know whether it's rendering a book or a watch.
• Version — schemas use semantic versioning (1.0.0, 1.1.0, etc.). When a schema is updated, a migration descriptor describes what changed.

Archivium ships with system schemas for Books, Comics, Vinyl Records, Watches, Fountain Pens, Stamps, Coins, and Banknotes. The marketplace will add more.

Themes and layouts

Every collection has a theme — a visual environment that defines colours, typography, background imagery, and card style. Themes are assigned per collection, not per account.

Within a theme, you can choose a browse layout:

• Bookshelf — items displayed as spines on shelves; ideal for books, comics, vinyl
• VelvetGrid — items on a dark display grid; ideal for watches, pens, coins
• Gallery — framed on a wall; ideal for art, prints, photography
• Masonry — Pinterest-style cards; good for mixed media
• Showcase — one item at a time in a hero view; ideal for high-value pieces
• ArchiveList — dense, information-rich rows; ideal for stamps, coins, reference collections

Change the theme and layout from the collection's settings panel (gear icon in the collection header).

Search, sort & filter

Search

The search bar in the header becomes context-aware inside a collection — it searches across all text fields of items in that collection. Results update as you type (300 ms debounce). Press / to focus it from anywhere.

Sort

Use the Sort control in the collection browse header to sort by any schema field or by Date Added / Last Updated. Click the direction toggle to reverse the order.

Filter

Click the Filter button to open filter options. You can filter by:

• Text fields: contains
• Select fields: is one of
• Numeric/Year fields: range (min/max)
• Rating fields: minimum rating
• Boolean fields: is / is not
• Date fields: before / after / between

Active filters appear as chips below the header bar. Click the × on any chip to remove that filter.

Bulk operations

Hover over any item card to reveal a checkbox. Click it to enter multi-select mode. All items will show checkboxes.

• Use Select all in the header to select every item currently visible.
• Use Archive selected to soft-delete items (they move to the archive view).
• Use Delete selected to permanently delete items (with a confirmation dialog).
• Press Escape or click Cancel to exit multi-select mode.

Photo galleries

Each item can have up to 4 photos. One photo is designated as the hero — it appears on the collection browse card, the item view header, and all themed layouts.

1. In the item edit form, click the photo field to open the photo editor.
2. Paste a URL or upload an image file.
3. Use the crop dialog to choose an aspect ratio or draw a custom free-form crop.
4. Add a caption (optional).
5. The first photo is automatically the hero. Click the star icon on any photo to designate a different hero.

In the item view, the gallery strip below the main image shows additional photos. Click any to promote it to the main view (client-side only; the hero designation is unchanged).

Document vault

The Documents tab in an item view lets you store important documents alongside the item — receipts, certificates of authenticity, insurance appraisals, warranty cards, service records, provenance documents.

1. Open an item and click the Documents tab.
2. Click Upload document.
3. Select a PDF or image file (max 20 MB).
4. Choose a document type, add a title, date, and notes.
5. Click Upload.

Documents are stored securely and are never publicly accessible. Use the preview button to view a PDF or image inline without downloading.

Sharing an item

In any item view, click the Share button (or open the ⋯ menu on mobile) to copy the item's key details as formatted plain text — title, subtitles, identifier, key specs, and tags — ready to paste into a message, email, or social post.

Importing data

Go to a collection's settings (gear icon) and choose Import. Archivium supports:

• Collectorz XML — Books and Comics exports from Collectorz software, including back covers and extended fields
• CSV — generic CSV import with a field-mapping UI; works for any collection type
• Archivium JSON — full round-trip import from an Archivium export
• FileMaker Pens XML — specialist import for Fountain Pens collections migrating from a FileMaker database

Exporting data

Go to a collection's settings and choose Export. Available formats:

• CSV / JSON / XML — all non-archived items with complete dynamic fields
• Images ZIP — all hero and gallery images in a zip archive
• PDF List — compact table with optional thumbnail, title, identifier, key specs; A4 portrait
• PDF Catalogue — full-page layout per item with large cover image and complete metadata; A4 landscape

All export formats are filter-aware — they export exactly the items visible in your current browse view (search, sort, status, and custom filters all applied).

Backup & restore

Go to Settings → Backup.

Manual backup

Click Download backup to download a ZIP containing all your collections, items, preferences, and vault documents. Check Include item photos to bundle your uploaded photos into the ZIP as well.

Cloud backup

Click Back up now to upload a backup to secure cloud storage. You can list, restore from, and delete cloud backups at any time.

Automatic backup

Enable automatic backups with your preferred frequency (Daily / Weekly / Monthly) and set the maximum number of versions to retain. Older backups are pruned automatically.

Restore

Upload a backup ZIP or select a cloud backup and click Restore. Data in the backup is upserted — existing data not in the backup is never deleted.

Account settings

Go to Settings → Account to update:

• Full name — displayed in the UI and on PDF exports
• Username — must be 3–50 characters; letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and dots only
• Email address — a verification link is sent to the new address before the change takes effect; the old address receives a security notice

Security

Go to Settings → Security to change your password.

Archivium requires a strong password with all of the following:

• At least 8 characters
• One uppercase letter (A–Z)
• One lowercase letter (a–z)
• One number (0–9)
• One special character (e.g. ! @ # $)

The password strength meter on the registration and password change screens shows your progress in real time.

If you signed up with Google or Microsoft, you can link or unlink those accounts from Settings → Security. Note that changing your email address will unlink any associated OAuth accounts.

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