Collection Management for the Studio Artist

Are you ready to organize your studio and get a handle on your inventory of work? Perhaps you have identified a need for an accessible way to view, share and track your art—now what? Following are some of our suggestions for data management systems that excel at functionality and are reasonably priced for the professional studio artist. All of these programs include basic inventory, contact, and sales management, so the decision depends on your specific needs and which interface feels the most suitable to your studio flow. The software should improve your ability to organize and document your artwork, not create a significant distraction.

There are many things artists can do on their own, but if you are looking for a partner, X Gallery assists visual artists in organizing their papers, records, materials, and artwork with the goal of creating a system for career documentation that can be used by the artist or studio assistants into the future. Each project is tailored to the needs of the artist and can range from basic storage system recommendations and materials indexing, to more in-depth database set up and the development of inventories.

Artwork Archive
Features: Inventory management, cataloguing functions, tags and collections, cloud storage, sales tracking, contacts, high-res image capacity, reports and labels, professional documentation, invoice and payment processing integration, schedule and reminders, location management, private browsing of collections online, secure back-ups to Artwork Archive server

Pricing: $6-$19/month subscription
Cost depends on data quantity, includes initial data migration

Art Galleria
Features: Inventory management, custom fields, export .pdf catalogs, labels, sales tracking, web integration with existing site platforms, multi-user access, mobile app, attach documents and multiple images to records, email announcements, invoicing and payment processing integration, online viewing rooms, contacts, sales tracking, location management, reports and labels

Pricing: $10-42/month
Cost depends on data quantity, includes initial data migration and tech support

Arawak
Features: Inventory management, artist & owner fields, framing costs & vendor contacts, sales and expense tracking, contacts, attach documents to records, custom fields, easily import and export data, reports, create collections for events and exhibitions. Pro version includes iPhone app features.

Pricing: $99 ($289 Pro) one-time cost, plus FileMaker Pro software ($540 or $15-20/month)
Includes technical support for data migration

Of course, this is not an exclusive list of your options. If you are not quite ready to invest in a collections management system, you can still make progress on your inventory documentation. Most collections management programs will import from an Excel .csv file, so it is time well spent to build a solid listing of your artworks that you can export later. You will need to label and collect image files for each artwork that will be stored as a compliment to your spreadsheet, and the image file names should be included in the fields in your Excel document.

Spreadsheet
Features: Can adapt fields to your needs easily, import and export .csv data, no image handling
Pricing: $6.99-$20/month or free version on many computers

And if you find yourself wishing you didn’t need to use the computer for inventory at all, you can still do this work in a meaningful way so that both you and others can reference your documentation. Hand written inventory sheets kept in clearly labeled file folders are a viable version of inventory tracking. However, including visual information with the written documentation is very important. This could be a snapshot or a professional portfolio photograph, but don’t neglect to title it and add that to the file.

Still overwhelmed, or want some help with your studio inventory?

We’re happy to work with your system, assist in setting up a new one, or create a thorough documentation of your collection while it is in our climate-controlled vault. At X Gallery Art Storage, we utilize a robust Collection Management System to import or create an inventory for each client and offer private online collection browsing through a password protected web portal. Our staff works together to provide individualized attention to each collection. Our services are tailored to the needs of each client and begin with a complimentary consultation. Send us a note and we can talk more about your needs.