Something I have been meaning to do for a while: there is now a free trial of the Doll Collector’s Catalogue, so you can see what it is before deciding whether you want it.
The reason is simple enough. Most of the questions I am asked before someone buys are not really about dolls at all — they are “will this work on my computer?” and “will I be able to understand it?”. Those are perfectly fair questions, and no amount of description from me answers them properly. Ten minutes with the thing itself does.
What the trial is
It is the whole catalogue, working exactly as it should. There are only two limits:
- Three items in each section — three dolls, three clothing items, three on your wishlist.
- One section of your own, so you can see how those work. The full catalogue lets you make as many as you like.
That is the whole of it. Nothing else is held back or switched off. Add photographs, look at the statistics, print the schedule for your insurer, change the colours, put a photograph of your own collection behind the title, make a backup and restore it again. Please do try all of it — that is what it is for. The full user guide is in the download too, and it is the same guide that comes with the paid version, not a shortened one.
Nothing you enter is wasted
This is the part I am pleased with. If you try it, put three of your dolls in properly with their photographs, and then decide to buy — open the full catalogue in the same browser and those dolls will already be sitting there waiting for you. You will not type anything in twice. So there is no reason to hold back and enter something half-hearted while you are trying it.
The download
It comes as a zip file — a folder squashed into one file so everything travels together. Inside you will find the catalogue, the user guide, and a short note called START HERE that tells you what to do first. On a Mac, double-click the download and it opens itself. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. On a phone or tablet, tap it once in your Files app. Then open the file ending in .html and you are away — there is nothing to install and nothing to sign up to.
If you get stuck, ask below
The trial is yours to explore on your own, and between the guide and the Help button inside the catalogue you should find most answers. But if something puzzles you, do please ask in the comments underneath this post rather than by email. I answer here, and then the answer is there for the next person who wondered the same thing — which saves us both a good deal of repeating ourselves.
Comments are approved before they appear, so do not worry if yours does not show up straight away.
And if you like it
The full catalogue is here on my website, and also in my Etsy shop if you would rather buy there. Buy it once and every future update is free, however long ago you bought — I do keep improving it, and those improvements go out to everybody who owns it.
Petrana
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