Keep a small library you can actually find again
LIBRARY DESK / ORGANIZATION & RECOVERY
A collection is easier to revisit when its title explains what it is and its backup lives somewhere other than the browser that created it.
Name the board for the moment you will look for it
“Favorites 2 final” is difficult to distinguish a month later. Try “Handheld years — nine memories,” “This year so far — private notes,” or “Quiet evenings — sharing copy.” These names distinguish subject, time, and purpose without needing a complex folder system.
Use library search to find a saved work by its name. If the expected result is absent, clear the search and check the archive before concluding it was deleted. Open a result and check its title before editing.
Create, duplicate, archive: three different jobs
| Action | Use it when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Create | You are beginning a separate subject. | A new childhood album beside an existing taste map. |
| Duplicate | You want another edition of an existing work. | A public version with shorter, spoiler-aware notes. |
| Archive | You are keeping a completed work out of the active list. | A mid-year snapshot you may revisit later. |
Archiving does not move a board to the cloud, free a library slot, or replace a backup. Archived work still belongs to this local library.
Understand the two limits before the ninth board
The library holds at most eight works and has a 3 MiB serialized storage budget for the whole library. These are different limits: image-heavy boards can reach the size budget before the eighth work. Three MiB means 3 × 1024 × 1024 bytes of serialized data, not three megabytes of original photos.
Browser storage permissions and quotas can be lower. A progress count or a visible board is not proof of a successful save; read the save status. If saving fails, keep the current tab open, download a backup, and verify the file before reloading or changing storage settings.
Before making room, save the work you intend to remove and check the backup file. Archive alone does not reduce the count. Keep source photos outside the studio; imported images are processed copies, not an original-photo archive.
Choose the backup scope deliberately
| File | What it is for | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Single-work JSON | Keep or transfer one editable collection. | Its board title, all sixteen stored slots, notes including spoilers, and processed images. |
| Library JSON | Keep the collection of saved works together. | Which works and archived entries the file contains. |
| PNG / printed PDF | View, print, or deliberately share the finished composition. | Every row, text, crops, and visible spoiler notes; it cannot restore editing data. |
JSON is not encrypted and can include personal text, images, and notes hidden from a sharing export. Keep backup files somewhere appropriate for their contents. A useful filename is “game-library-2026-10-05.json”; the date is your own snapshot label, not a promise of automatic version history.
Restore as a review, not a guess
- Back up the currently open library before restoring a file.
- Select the JSON and review its scope: a single-work backup adds a separate work, while a library backup replaces the current library after confirmation.
- Confirm only when the selected file and affected work match your intention; cancel if they do not.
- After restoring, inspect names, layouts, notes, image crops, and archive state before making new edits.
The importer supports earlier v1, v2, v3, and supported my9games-format data. Keep the original file and let the importer validate it; a filename or renamed extension does not prove compatibility. If rejected, preserve the file and use another known backup rather than repeatedly rewriting its data.
Two warnings that need different responses
If another tab changes the saved library, saving here pauses. Back up this tab before loading the saved version, because its unsaved changes will be replaced after confirmation. If the saved data itself cannot be read, download the recovery file before confirming a new library. That file preserves the raw record; it may still require repair and is not a guaranteed valid backup.
When a library seems to have disappeared
Check the browser profile, device, and exact site address, including protocol and port. A different origin has separate browser storage. A local preview at one port does not read another port’s drafts. Private browsing can also end with its stored data removed.
There is no account recovery or cloud synchronization. Restore a saved JSON copy when available. If the only remaining copy is an image, it can help you re-enter visible text, but it cannot reconstruct hidden notes or editable image data.