Manage artists in your collection

For a plain-language introduction to artist records and what each field is for, see Artists in the basics. This page covers where the feature lives, what you can do with it, and how artists behave in imports, exports and transfers.

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Where to find it

Artists has its own section in the sidebar on desktop, and in the bottom navigation on mobile. Clicking any artist opens their own page.

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The Artists list

The list shows every artist in your collection, with a search box, a sort menu and a New artist button at the top. You can sort by last name or by first name, both A to Z. Last name is the default. Each artist appears as a slim row with a thumbnail, their display name and the number of works linked to them. Clicking a row opens their page. The thumbnail is pulled from one of the artist’s artworks rather than their profile photo, so a new artist with no works yet shows a placeholder until you link one. Before you have added anyone, the list is empty and prompts you to add your first artist.

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Adding an artist

New artist opens a short form. First name, Last name, Known as and Years are visible straight away, and only Last name is required. Add more info opens the rest: Nationality, Based in, Profile photo and Biography. Profile photos are chosen from your Media library. For what each field means and how it is used, see the basics article.

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Artist detail page

Each artist has a page with their profile photo and display name, plus their legal name underneath if the two differ. Below that is a line combining nationality, years and where they are based, followed by their biography if you have added one. The rest of the page is a grid of their works, each showing title, dimensions and medium. More load as you scroll.

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Linking artists to artworks

On the new artwork or edit artwork forms, the Artist field is searchable. Start typing to narrow the list, or open it to browse. If you have not added any artists yet, the field prompts you to create your first one. Otherwise you will find an Add new artist option, which opens the same form without leaving the artwork you are working on. The artist you create is selected automatically. After creating an artist anywhere in Artopia, you are asked whether you would like to add an artwork for them. Saying yes takes you straight into the new artwork form with the artist already filled in. Creating your first artist also completes the Artists step in the Get started checklist.

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What is public

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Imports and exports

• CSV export includes a single Artist column with the display name. See Exporting data.
• CSV import recognises an Artist column and splits full names into first, last and known as. Single-word names are kept as they are. Names are matched against your existing artists, and new records are created for anyone not already in your collection. If an import fails partway through, nothing is saved, so you are never left with half-created artists.
• PDF export includes the artist name on every artwork page. See Creating PDFs.
• Media ZIP export organises files into folders named after the artist and the artwork.

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Transfers

When an artwork is transferred to another Artopia user, the artist goes with it. If the recipient already has an artist with a matching name, the artwork links to that record. If not, a new artist is created in their collection with the name, years, nationality, based in, biography and profile photo copied across. The artist becomes an independent record in the recipient’s account rather than a link back to yours, so later changes on either side stay separate.