Thread: Inventory Software For PC

Hi Chris,

Depending on your requirements, Excel is by far the best application for this purpose. Particularly from an ease of use and cost perspective.

If you're running a medium to large business then there are other applications that you could consider but these are pricey to setup and essentially provide you with the same functionality of Excel. Albeit more robust and user friendly platform.

The way i'm currently doing my inventory is similar to yours, but the photos are in the spreadsheet rather than in a separate folder. The spreadsheet can get quite large depending on the quality of the photos but is manageable. You can also add hyperlinks to photo location if you want to cut back the file size.

In terms of creating backups, i create duplicate files. Ie create a copy and save it in dropbox or similar. That way you can have a file if you need to go back in time or if your current live file gets corrupted.

If on the other hand you need a platform where you need to change details regularly (ie daily) then there are loads of applications even mobile apps available depending on your budget.

The hyperlink won't work if I back everything to another drive? I already have done the the spreadsheet and there are just over 400 items with quite a lot to be added so I can see it being over 500 items. How do I insert the photos into the spreadsheet because I was advised this can't be done for that many photos, from the little I looked at inserting a large amount of photos would be unworkable if they were visible when the sheet was opened. I just tried it while typing this post and I can't see how that is workable in my case. This is only for my personal tools and will always be separate from any business activities. I have kept an inventory for some years after a mate had his workshop emptied while he was on holidays and he could not remember even half the stuff that was in it when he claimed for insurance and when you accumulate stuff over a lifetime and get old the chances of memory working on a scale of nought to ten is about -20.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

I could create a separate photo folder and include it with the spreadsheet...

That’s what I’ve done. Anything else sounds too complicated and prone to corruption. Just give the photo the same name as the item name in the spreadsheet. Pics and spreadsheet stored in dropbox.

Do you have Microsoft Access? It has a template called Asset Tracking. It may be overkill, but it allows you to records things like manufaturer, condition, purchase price, etc and images.

Asset Screen.jpg

You could also try using Microsoft Word (or any wordprocessor) using a two column table with one column for written details and the second column to insert the picture.

You can insert photos just like word. Personally I use screenshots rather than the actual photo as it reduces image size.

I also create separate tabs to make things easier to manage. Eg machinery, hand tools, technology, jigs etc. I'm sure you can break it down further if required.

If you have OneDrive/dropbox you can also create a URL to the online location and insert the url into a cell.

At the end of the day many ways to skin a cat. Unfortunately you've already done most of the work so any advantages from going with an application will require you to redo what you're already done.

Access also works, but isn't as user friendly as Excel.

Excel and Snipping Tool. At work I built an Excel spreadsheet running around two-dozen seperate sheets detailing various spare parts and consumables held in our inventory; many of them have tiny snipped photos next to the description. To see the picture more clearly you just grab a corner and expand it. I have the spreadsheet saved into my work OneDrive profile which allows me to share it with others.

Snipping Tool is dead easy to use; it is literally draw a box around a picture on your screen and copy and paste. You can highlight, draw lines, rotate, crop and shrink/enlarge.

Thanks for all the interest and suggestions so far. I have broken the spreadsheet into different categories and I am now finessing it with stuff I know I haven't included and stuff I removed because I sold it. Breaking it down revealed a few problems I did not see and it is definitely the way to go.