For example, you can create a collection "My Stuff," create a subject "Our Family," then add as items the BMP files you created from scanned family photographs.

Or you can create collections and subjects containing clip art that you use frequently, so it's conveniently available in one location. You can even copy items from another subject into your personal subject.

Media Manager can be accessed through the Clip Art tab on the Effect Gallery, or by going to the Insert Menu and selecting clipart, or by opening it through the icon on your Windows start menu.

Main Micrografx Media Manager window

Thumbnails of each item in the current subject are displayed in the main Micrografx Media Manager window. The name of the subject appears in the title bar. You can move or resize the window to occupy as much or as little of the screen as you want. When the window isn't big enough to show all items in the subject, a scroll bar lets you access additional items.

There are scrollable drop down list boxes for viewing and selecting collections and subjects.  The collection list (represented by the folder) is on the top of the subject list (represented by the window.)  Use the forward and back arrows to easily move from one subject to another.  You can also highlight the collection or subject text, and type the desired subject name.  The subject entered will display.

With the Properties Option, you can resize the thumbnail bitmaps to show a larger or smaller picture. The button can display pictures only, names only, or both. Tool Tips are also available.

The Options menu lets you switch to other subjects and collections, set properties, enter item information, and perform other functions. You can access the options through the menu bar, or by right clicking in the thumbnail area.

To create a new collection

1. On the File menu in the Choose a Subject dialog box, click New Collection.
2. In the New Collection dialog box, enter the name for the new collection.

To create a new subject

1. Highlight the collection in which you want to create a new subject.
2. In the Choose a Subject dialog box, click the collection in which you want the new subject.
3. On the File menu, click New Subject.
4. In the New Subject dialog box, enter the name for the new subject.

Note
If you didn't select the correct collection in step 1, you can specify it in the drop-down list box, which lists all collections.

To add a graphic file to a subject

1. On the Options menu of Micrografx Media Manager, click Add Files. The Add Files dialog box appears.
2. Highlight the thumbnail of the file or files you want to add. You can restrict the search by using the arrow at the right of the Files of Type box to select from the list of clip art types recognized by Micrografx Media Manager.
3. Click Add. A dialog box indicates the progress.  The files will be added to the subject currently open.
4. If a Designer or Windows Draw drawing is comprised of multiple elements, you're asked if you want to add them as independent items or as a whole.

Tips

You can use SHIFT and CTRL to select more than one file to add at a time.

You can add an item to a subject via the Clipboard or OLE drag and drop.

You can drag and drop multiple items from Windows Explorer.

To disable the thumbnails, click the Show/Hide Thumbnails button in the top right corner of the Add Files dialog box.

If thumbnails are being created and you want to stop this process, highlight a thumbnail and click the right mouse button. Micrografx Media Manager opens a right mouse menu. Deselect Update Thumbs Automatically to stop thumbnails from being created. You can select Update Selected Thumbs to create thumbnails for any highlighted files.

To add an item with drag and drop

1. Open the program and document containing the clip art (a photograph in Picture Publisher, for example), if necessary.
2. Edit the clip art as necessary (cropping to fit the newsletter and converting to gray scale, for example).
3. Select the clip art that you want to copy to Micrografx Media Manager.
4. Open Micrografx Media Manager with the correct subject, if necessary. The main Micrografx Media Manager window should be visible.
5. Click the clip art, and while holding the left mouse button, drag it onto the main Micrografx Media Manager window.
6. Position the cursor where you want the thumbnail to appear, and release the mouse button.

To copy an item to a new subject

1. On the Windows task bar, click Start, point to Programs, then click Micrografx Media Manager to open a second copy of Micrografx Media Manager.
2. On the Options menu, click Subject.
3. Create the new subject, if necessary.
4. Double-click the new subject.
5. Click the item in the old subject in the first copy of Micrografx Media Manager.
6. Holding the left mouse button, drag the item to the new subject in the second copy of Micrografx Media Manager. The thumbnail appears in the new subject, and all Item Information is transferred.

To change Item Information

1. Click the item.
2. On the Options menu in the main Micrografx Media Manager window, point to Item, then click Information. The Item Information dialog box appears.  (You can also right click in the thumbnail area and choose Item Information)
3. You can change the name of the item appearing on the thumbnail. This doesn't change the name of the source file.
4. You can add or change keywords for searching.
5. You can enter free-form descriptive information about the item.

You can't change the preview.

Tip
Take advantage of the Keywords and Description boxes to help you find the item in future searches.

Note: According to the help file, Item information can be accessed by double-clicking on the thumbnail of an item. I did not find this to be true.  Double-clicking on the thumbnail in my case, inserted the item into my drawing.

To Find an item

1. On the Options menu in the main Micrografx Media Manager window, click Find. The Find dialog box appears.
2. Enter the text for which you want to search. The text must be in the Name, Keywords, or Description boxes of Item Information.
3. To restrict the search to a single collection, click the arrow at the right of the Search Collection box, then click the collection.
4. Indicate whether you want a whole word or substring search. For example, if you select Substring Search for "cat", the search will find items containing "cat" (cats, scatter). If you select Match Whole Word, the search will find only the item "cat".
5. Use the Search Descriptions check box to indicate whether you want the free-form Description included in the search, or if you only want to search the Keywords and Name.
6. Click OK to begin the search. Micrografx Media Manager builds a temporary subject "Last Find" and displays it in the main Micrografx Media Manager window.
7. To switch between the Last Find subject and the active subject, on the Options menu, click Last Find.

Note: Whole words are defined by spaces and punctuation.