Thread: Workshop Inventory Software

Functionality creep...
Perhaps ask your insurance company how they would like the information provided to them. It should be easier to make a claim if the insurer has been given a typical list of contents, for the record, before a claim is needed to be made. It also provides them a clearer idea of the potential liability and may affect the premium.

Memory keeps getting cheaper and processors faster, I wonder how big a spreadsheet needs to be before it bogs down loading on a modern machine? (And whether Excel or OO makes a difference.)

If it's just for insurance purposes there's no need to take individual photos of single items - if you can photograph quite a number of smaller items in the one photo which will save you and the insurance company a lot of time.

If you have drawers or cupboards with the tools laid out so they can easily be seen then just take photos of those. Power tools and accessories can be photographed in groups on the floor or on a bench top.

If you want to you can number each item on the photos in a photo edit program and then add detail in text list which can be edited if you wish.

To add to the inventory just group and photograph new stuff you acquire every 6 months or so, and no one I know gets rid of much of their old stuff.

Its not very librarianary (as I say to SWMBO) but it's quick and will cover you for insurance purposes..

I just downloaded an app from apple called Home Content..Looks like it might be ok. I have lots of pictures of groups of tools but maybe individual shot would be better. This app also lets you insert replacement costs. I'll try it for a while.

If looking for an app solution, I use an Android app when I'm travelling to track expenses. It's really quite flexible and lets you attach an image to an entry, is multi currency aware, you can assign different categories to each record and it lets you export reports in a number of formats including spreadsheets or a comprehensive pdf report. It could easily be tweaked to be used as an asset register.

ChrisParks.jpg

Hi Chris,
Is something like the above what you want? There is no need to take a whole pile of new photos or to fiddle with links . As you can see I didn't even bother with resizing the images.

Load the image as you would for any image on the forum. When it loads into your spreadsheet it will be probably way too big. Click on the image and the resizing points will appear at the corners and mid-point of the sides. Click and drag on any point and drag the image to size.

If its what you want and you need more help yell out. I used the free Open Office Calc for the above - I wouldn't expect it to be very difficult from Excel as you can open Excel spreadsheets and save spreadsheets as .xls

Its about 25 years since I did any serious programming, but what you have been describing in linking a spreadsheet to a database is not too big a deal. It will take a month or so I guess to get up to speed with the latest programming language, but if a few months wait /collaboration is not a problem, I am happy to help.

Bob

I do have excel 2010, but am too lazy this morning to fire up the other computer

Its funny how things "pop up". This subject was brought up by my wife and kids 12 months ago. They wanted to have a list of what I have and what the likely value would be if I wasn't around. I got as far as writing a note in word about it but didn't get any further. Not having superlative computer skills, I need to find program that is easy for my spongy brain to follow. I just went to Excel and had a play with it. Maybe this will be the way forward

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

I suppose that is my point though I didn't say that. The ones I saw years ago were a database not a spreadsheet but everyone seems to have gone to Excel or similar. I used Excel to build the list and put the pertinent details in but never intended to use it as the end result. Most people ignore Access as being too hard to learn and they aren't far wrong in my experience. My version of Office hasn't even got it included.

Having used Access for work related purposes can honestly say I've never linked an image or imported an image into access before. Access does have its place, but for majority of users Excel is more than sufficient especially those who are making simple lists etc

Also from my experience insurance companies generally are compliant with claims made and only start to question when they are out of the norm, but are more than happy to comply once you've satisfied their queries. So having a spreadsheet of the list of items that are in your shed which has a date stamp of x years prior will more than satisfy the criteria of ownership. Just make sure your contents insurance adequately covers everything (including whats inside your home).

As Bob says its probably not essential to photograph everything you own, as from an insurance point of view all they care about is proof of ownership, so if you've got an invoice, a list scribbled on paper or spreadsheet, photographs etc it should be fine.

Plus as i mentioned earlier the more complicated the process you make the less likely you'll remember or bother to update it so make it as easy as you can.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

Exporting the sheet and maintaining the links is the problem I see.

Google Suite FTW!
Upload all your images and scanned copies of your invoices to Drive using the 'High quality' setting (see here) and then create a spreadsheet using Google Sheets and link/insert the uploaded images/PDFs from Google Drive.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

There used to be heaps of these inventories but I am sure they were done in MS Access which most of us do not know how to use. Using Access from memory imbedded the file into the database with no links IIRC.

MS Access... Do you want to lose your will to live?

Originally Posted by tonzeyd

Having used Access for work related purposes can honestly say I've never linked an image or imported an image into access before.

Plus as i mentioned earlier the more complicated the process you make the less likely you'll remember or bother to update it so make it as easy as you can.

My understanding of Chris's requirement was that he wanted a simple way to backup files and retain the relationship between textual details related to his tools etc and images which would help other people to identify them.

There have been suggestions that such a record would be useful for supporting an insurance claaim, but it could also be of great benefit to 'those we leave behind' to identify our toys, thier likely value, age etc and maybe even advice on the most appropriate marketplace.

Agreed it needs to be simple or it wont be used. Chris appears to be reasonably comfortable with Excel, so to my mind a simple excel solution is perhaps appropriate. As BobL pointed out, it probably isn't necessary to photograph every item e.g. if you have 20 turning chisels, surely a group photo would be sufficient.

I am planning a similar project, but for my photographic equipment, and I will probably use a database (SQL) solution with PHP and / or c# programming software . But that solution is likely to be too complex for Chris's requirements as I understand them.

I started a simple Excel spreadsheet for insurance purposes. started at the front of the property, and worked my way back room by room.

No need to ask you guys which 'room' turned out most expensive Yep, the shed by a long streak.

One thing i did, and recommend to all, put your database/spreadsheet up on the cloud somewhere and make sure someone reliable knows where. If the house burns down and the PC and your backup drive are in it, that list is no use to anyone is it?

Hadn't thought of things like serial #'s or pics, bit too busy for that myself.

Yep, Bendigo Bob is bang on.

Spreadsheet is the way to go. Just have a column with the related photo/s number/s in it. Keep the photos in a subfolder and keep the whole lot on Google Drive. For the spreadsheet I just use Googles native spreadsheet, its excellent.

For the last 5 years Ive been sending this to my insurer each year. They absolutely love it. This year they said it wasn't needed for their records, but to keep it myself Just In Case.

In addition to the usual item, serial, etc... I have brand, where I bought it, from whom, AUD price and separate price column for others (if second hand the replacement price new), a few notes fields and serial numbers.

There are separate sheets for tools, timber, consumable, sandpaper (!!!!), books and items I sold. The timber isn't insurable, but I keep it for reference.

Each timber has a number on the end and that number in the sheet details all the info: type, size, species, cost, notes.

Every time I buy something I add it on. So, thats only twice a week

No NBN here, it would take a year to upload all the photos to G Drive if I was to do that. I think I might load all the photos and the spreadsheet on a biggish USB drive or an SD card and name the photos with the cell number from the spreadsheet. Park that off the premises and update it by swapping another equivalent drive every now and then. If we had the NBN it would be simple to update over the net, thanks Mr Turnbull for nothing.

Apologies for going off topic, but why would anyone trust their images, inventory, or anything to a third party hosting site. Just look at what Photobucket has done to its customers, and google has dropped NIK, I'm sure there are many other instances of similar things happening. Large capacity hard drives are cheap as now, you can easily afford a couple and store off site.

https://petapixel.com/2017/05/30/goo...ting-software/

https://petapixel.com/2017/07/01/pho...-embedded-web/