Exporting and backups

Your catalogue is yours to take with you. There are three ways to get it out of the app, and two kinds of backup.

Export

Settings ▸ Data ▸ Import & Export:

• Export Everything writes a complete copy of the library as a single bundle: a full JSON file with every record and relationship, a flat CSV of the items, every image and document, and a readme. It opens in the share sheet on iPhone and saves to a folder on the Mac. Nothing leaves the device unless you send it.
• Prepare JSON Export writes just the records.
• Prepare Insurance Report PDF is a shortcut to the Insurance report.

Other exports live where the data is: Export as CSV… and Export as PDF… in Sales and Power Search, Export First Images… in the report builder on the Mac, and Download on any report in the Report Library.

Sending a copy of one collection

Share ▸ Send a Copy on a collection produces a self-contained archive with the collection's items, makers, valuations, documents and images. The recipient opens it in Collections. and gets an independent copy. It has no link back to your library and cannot be revoked. See Sharing a collection.

Opening an archive from Files, Finder or Mail imports it and confirms with Collection imported.

Local backups

Settings ▸ Data ▸ Backups keeps encrypted snapshots of the whole library on the device.

• A backup is taken once a day at launch, and whenever you press Create Backup Now. The last three are kept.
• Every delete and merge in Tidy Library, and every bulk delete, takes a snapshot first.
• Backups are encrypted. The key is kept in your iCloud Keychain, so a backup made on one of your devices also opens on your others signed into the same Apple Account. If iCloud Keychain is off on a device, that device uses its own key and its backups open only there.

Each snapshot offers:

• Roll Back to This Snapshot… puts the whole library back the way it was: collections, items, makers and locations. Reports, saved searches and settings are kept. A safety copy of the current library is saved first, so you can roll forward again. Other devices signed into your iCloud follow.
• Restore a Copy… adds the snapshot's contents to your library as new records and changes nothing you have now.
• Share Encrypted File sends the backup file somewhere else.
• Delete.

Cloud backup

Settings ▸ Data ▸ Cloud Backup keeps a copy of the whole library in your own Dropbox or OneDrive.

1. Under Account, press Connect… beside Dropbox or OneDrive and sign in. One provider at a time. The backup lives in an Apps ▸ Collections. folder and the app can see nothing else in your account.
2. Under Include, choose whether to include Images, Documents and Videos. Records are always included. Videos are off by default because they can be large.
3. Under Schedule, choose Manually, Daily or Weekly. Scheduled backups run in the background on Wi-Fi while the app is open. Back Up Now runs one immediately.

The Backups in Dropbox or Backups in OneDrive list shows what is there. Download brings one into the local Backups list, where Roll Back and Restore a Copy work on it. Cloud backups are sealed with the same iCloud Keychain key as local ones.

Disconnect… forgets the sign-in. Backups already uploaded stay in your account.

What to keep where

• iCloud sync keeps every device current and is the day-to-day safety net. See iCloud sync.
• Local backups are the quick way back from a mistake, such as a merge you regret.
• Cloud backup protects against losing every device at once.
• Export Everything is the copy you keep for yourself, outside the app.