With Blueprints, you can add and organize data fields for any type of object or project in the way that makes sense for you and your team. And, you can use your own terminology and institutional standards.
You know your objects, and you know what data you need to document. You shouldn’t have to skip over extraneous form fields or try to make objects “fit” into predefined categories.
Best of all, Blueprints are flexible and simple to update, whether you're adding, updating, or deleting fields.
What are Blueprints?
Blueprints are data structures for the objects in your Base. Think of them as custom forms with custom data fields. You can create and customize Blueprints for:
- Types of objects
- Exhibitions
- Projects with objects
- Groups of objects
When you set up a Blueprint, you’re setting up custom form fields for information that you'll enter at the object level. If you add a field called Medium, you'll be able to enter medium information in that field on an object page.
The Core Blueprint
The first step in organizing your Blueprints is to create the Core Blueprint.
Your Core Blueprint serves two important functions:
- It is the default Blueprint selection for any object added to your Base.
- It is the foundation upon which all your other Blueprints will be built.
Ask yourself: What information do I want to document for every object?
If all your objects have an accession number and a description, you can add these fields to your Core Blueprint (see Adding Fields below). Once added to the Core, these two fields will be included in any other Blueprint you create.
After setting up your Core Blueprint, you can still make updates as your needs evolve.
The Core can be as simple or as detailed as you like, with one field or thirty. At minimum, it will always include a title field.
Adding Fields
Let’s add fields to the Core Blueprint.
There are two ways to add fields. Below the Fields tab, you’ll see Types and Presets.
Types
Under Types, you’ll see all the available field types.
Click a field type to add a new field to your Blueprint. It will appear at the end.
Click the new field to customize it.
- Add a label (the name of your field).
- Change the field type if desired.
- Toggle on whether data is required and/or if the data to be entered in this field is internal ("internal" means that any data entered in this field will not be available to select for display in Exhibitions or Modules). You can also choose to lock a field (more on this below).
- Add data entry notes for users.
Note: In this example, we selected a Short Text field type for our Date field, because object dates often include language (ca., approximately, mid-seventeenth-century, etc.) or date ranges.
Another option would be to use the Number field type, to enter a single year, or the Date field type, which allows you to select a calendar date (MM/DD/YY).
Blueprints are flexible by design to allow you to capture the object information you need in the way that works best for you. To that end, you might have a Short Text field type called Date, a Number field type called Sort Date, and a Date field type called Acquisition Date.
Presets
Under Presets, you’ll see ready-made field options.
Click the + icon to add a preset field to your Blueprint. You can still customize and update preset fields.
Presets include: Artist, Creator, Credit Line, Date, Description, Dimensions, Location, Maker, and Medium. Fields corresponding to the Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set (DCMES)* are indicated by the words Dublin Core.
Let's add an Artist field, which is a Short Text field type. Once you use a Preset field type, it will be greyed out in the list.
You can reorder fields via drag and drop. Here we've moved the Artist field above the Date field.
You can also reorder entire rows by using dragger (icon with 6 dots) that appears to the right of a row upon hover.
Selecting Field Types
When you add a field, you’ll select a preferred field type (you can update these later, if necessary). These field types determine the type of information you’ll enter when you input data for your objects.
- Short Text: ideal for a single line of information
- Long Text: ideal for multiple lines of text like an object description, with the option to allow Markdown for special formatting (for example, for italicizing titles)
- Rich Text: for text requiring special formatting; allows use of bold, italics, underline, links, and notes
- URL: for including a link to an online collection page or other resource
- Date: allows for the entry of a month, date, and year (for example, 05/25/2025)
- Number: customize numbering with minimum, maximum, and steps
- Auto-Increment: perfect for creating accession numbers or project-specific numbering systems (read more in Field Study: Auto-Increment)
- Select: allows you to enter a list of selectable options like mat colors (can also be multiselect)
- DataSet: allows you to select an existing DataSet to generate a list of selectable options (read more in Using DataSets)
- File Select: allows you to select a preferred file or multiple files from an object’s available files
- Switch: allows you to create a toggle switch
- Tags: ideal for adding searchable keywords for your objects
- Structured List: ideal for adding separate list items, for example Bibliographic Citations or Provenance
- Section Heading: headings for organizing your fields (for example, “Display Plans” or “Bibliography and Resources”); you can toggle on the option to collapse the fields within a section
- Spacer: adds an empty space
For more about fields, see Setting Up Blueprint Fields.
Adding Blueprints
Once you’ve set up the Core Blueprint, you can create Blueprints for specific types of objects, exhibitions, projects with objects, or groups of objects.
Remember, every new Blueprint you create will already contain the fields from your Core Blueprint.
Add a Blueprint by clicking the + icon, giving it a name, and selecting the category (Object for a type of object, Exhibition for an exhibition, Project for a project with objects, or Group for a group of objects).
For Object or Exhibition, you'll have the option to begin with a template.
Under the Settings Tab, you can add a helpful description of your Blueprint and, if necessary, update the type.
Structuring Blueprints
For each of your Blueprints, you can add and customize the fields for your objects and projects, and it’s simple to update them as your informational needs evolve.
For a Prints Blueprint, you might add fields for Printmaker and State.
For a Photographs Blueprint, you might add fields for Photographer and Negative Date.
For a Portraiture Exhibition Blueprint, you might add fields for Sitter and Object Label.
Rows and Fields
- Core fields are always identified.
- Core fields display a padlock (these fields must be edited in the Core Blueprint).
- You can edit or delete a single field by clicking the “…” icon. You can delete a row by opening the action menu to the right of the row.
- You can move a row by dragging the dragger (icon with 6 dots) that appears at right on hover.
Blueprint Options
From the drop down menu at right, you'll see several options, including the option to take a tour.
If you’d like to duplicate your Blueprint, click Duplicate. This will create a copy.
If you’d like to upload information for a group of new objects for a particular Blueprint, you can do this using a CSV. Select Download CSV Template. The column headings in the CSV will correspond to the fields in your Blueprint. Read more in CSV Guidelines.
If you’d like a record of your Blueprint field structure, you can download it as JSON.
When there are no objects using a Blueprint ("0 Objects use this Blueprint"), you'll see the option to delete it.
Your Blueprints in Action
When you add an object, you’ll select its Primary Blueprint.
For this painted portrait:
- Paintings is the primary Blueprint, indicated by the star.
- Nineteenth-Century Portraiture is a secondary Blueprint, indicated by the check.
Just expand the list to see all other Blueprints. You can update your Primary Blueprint by clicking an alternate star, and add multiple Secondary Blueprints by clicking the check. Save your choices.
Here, the Paintings Blueprint generates fields we see. Click another Blueprint to see alternate fields.
Locking a Blueprint Field
After you've entered object information in a field (for example, for the accession number or dimensions) you can go back to your Blueprint and toggle on the option to lock that field.
Locked fields will display a padlock. No data can be entered or updated in a locked field unless that field is unlocked in the Blueprint.
Update a Blueprint for a Selection of Objects
From the Objects page, you can select a group of objects for which you'd like to change the Primary Blueprint or add a Secondary Blueprint.
Choose a Blueprint from the drop down menu and then click Update.
This is helpful, for example, when you create an Exhibition Blueprint that you want to add as a Secondary Blueprint for the exhibition objects. For more on Exhibition Blueprints, see Creating an Exhibition, Step 1.
Blueprints empower you and your team to structure and prioritize data that matters for your objects and your projects.
Want to discuss Blueprint strategies and goals with us? Do you have questions about setting up your Blueprints?
*The Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set (DCMES) is provided by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI).
Copyright © 1995–2025 DCMI
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).