Vinyl Curator

A camera app for archiving vinyl records on a phone (built for a Motorola Razr, works on any modern phone). It walks you through a fixed checklist of shots per album, detects the record or sleeve outline and crops the photo (with draggable corners and side handles to fine-tune), names every file from the artist + album, and saves the set to your own Google Drive.

This repository holds the phone app only. The companion Google Sheet, its research and valuation tools, and the user documentation are private and supplied to licensed users directly. Contact [email protected].

The shot checklist (per album)

01 Front Cover · 02 Front Cover Grade · 03 Back Cover · 04 Back Cover Grade · 05 Other · 06–13 Side 1–4 Labels and Vinyl Grades · 14/16/18/20 Side 1–4 Matrix/Runout (typed text + up to 4 optional photos each)

Grade entries (02, 04, 07, 09, 11, 13) are typed, not photographed, and export as .txt. A Barcode row (optional, newer pressings) scans the barcode on the back cover with the camera, or takes the digits typed; it travels with the album so the sheet can tell one edition of a record from another. A 1-disc album shows only sides 1–2; choosing "2 discs" adds sides 3–4. The "Other" shot is optional and can be skipped.

Files are named like:

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - 01 Front Cover.jpg
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - 14 Side 1 Matrix Runout.txt
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - 14 Side 1 Matrix Runout A1.jpg

Getting it on your phone

Open https://pnicol66-sketch.github.io/vinyl-curator/ on the phone and install it — Android: Install app on this phone on the home screen (or menu ⋮ → Install app); iPhone: Share → Add to Home Screen, which the app prompts for. It then runs full-screen and works offline after the first load.

Check a record before you buy

Two photos - the front cover and a label - and the asking price go to your appraiser's sheet, which reads the record off them and answers whether the price is reasonable; a full check adds the pressing, the condition and a value. The appraiser gives you the check address and lists your Google account; the reading runs on a key you hold. Set up under Settings, step by step.

Saving to Google Drive

Tap Upload to Google Drive, sign in with your own Google account, allow. The app uploads into My Drive / Vinyl Curator / <Artist>_<Album>/, updating files in place if you re-shoot, and queues the album so the files go up in the background while the next record is being shot. The queue survives an app close and resumes on the next open; an expired sign-in pauses it behind a sign-in button.

The app requests only Google's drive.file scope: it can see and write the folders it created itself and nothing else in your Drive. On the first upload it asks whether to share that one folder, read-only, with the curator; you stay the owner, nothing else in your Drive is shared, and you can stop sharing at any time from Drive itself. Declining is remembered too.

Shooting tips

• Lay covers and discs on a plain background that contrasts with them (light for dark covers, dark for light ones) — that's what the outline detection keys on.
• For matrix/runout shots use the 🔦 torch button and tilt the disc slightly so the etched characters catch shadows; use the zoom slider to get close. If the image goes blurry up close, drag the Focus slider (left = nearest) or tap AF to re-run autofocus (both appear only on cameras that support focus control).
• If auto-detect misses, drag the four amber corners, drag the amber bar on any side to move that whole edge in or out, or drag inside the frame to shift the whole crop box. Tap Auto to retry / Full to keep the whole frame. ⟳ rotates the saved photo in 90° steps. Dragging a corner, a side, or a circle's ring pops a 3× magnifier in the far top corner so your fingertip isn't hiding the edge you're lining up.
• Matrix/Runout shots crop as a strict rectangle — corners carry their neighbours, so the frame stays square-on and the photo is never warped to straighten it. ◇ Skew (in place of Auto on those screens) releases the corners; ▭ Rect snaps back.
• Label shots crop as a circle (saved on a white square): drag inside the circle to move it, drag its edge to resize.
• Matrix/Runout entries are typed (keyboard or 🎤 dictation) and export as .txt. Dictation converts spoken symbol words: numbers, dash - slash / dot . hash # star * plus + equals =, the stamped shapes triangle △ square □ circle ○ diamond ◇, "bracket" (the first in a phrase types (, the next )), the named stamps "Sonic Arts logo" (or symbol, stamp, mark) → ⊏◯⊐, "anvil" (Capitol Scranton) → [Anvil symbol], "Monarch logo" (or "MR logo", "MR in a circle") → [MR logo], "Specialty logo" (or "SRC logo") → SRC, "Keel logo" (or "air force logo") → ⊂◯⊃ and "IAM triangle" (or "triangle I A M") → IAM, written as Discogs writes them, and "space", which types a space like the spacebar ("M R space triangle" → MR △). Each side also holds up to 4 optional photos — pick a slot in the dropdown on the text screen, tap 📷, and the photos export as … Matrix Runout A1.jpg–A4.jpg (B/C/D for sides 2–4).

Privacy

Everything (photos, album info, settings) is stored locally in the browser's IndexedDB on the phone. Album photos leave the phone only when you upload them to your own Google Drive. Two things are sent elsewhere: crop training data (a reduced copy of each photo you crop and the outline you set, to improve automatic cropping; on unless you turn it off in Settings) and, if you use it, a record check to your appraiser. See privacy.html.

Developer notes

Local testing on a PC. Run powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File serve.ps1 in this folder and open http://localhost:8321/ — on localhost the camera works without https (or use the 🖼 import button to test with existing image files). Unregister the service worker first (DevTools → Application → Service Workers → Unregister, and Clear storage), otherwise the previous build is served from cache and a change looks like it did nothing.

Shipping an update. Edit, commit, git push — Pages redeploys. Installed phones then show a bar ("A new version is ready") and reload when the user taps Update. That relies on the service worker's cache name changing, so bump-version.ps1 rewrites it — along with APP_VERSION in app.js, which Settings displays — on every commit that touches index.html, app.js or detect.js. The hook that runs it is in hooks/, and hooks don't survive a clone, so install it once per working copy:

cp hooks/pre-commit .git/hooks/pre-commit

make-icons.ps1 regenerates the PNG icons from icon.svg's artwork. Re-run it if you change the artwork, and update the $art table in it to match.

License

© 2026 pnicol66. Shared for personal use; please don't redistribute the app, the sheet template, or the script without permission — contact [email protected].