What programs do people use for cataloging?

[BigTransformerTrev]

I was wondering what programs people use on their computers for cataloging their collections? Having never used Excel, for years I've just been using the old 'chuck a table into Microsoft word' technique. The only problem now is that it is now up to 46 pages and Primus knows how many subcatagories.

Can anyone suggest a better program to use (I'm sure there is many) as I want to transfer/cut&paste the info on my 1300 into something a lot easier and accessible. If I count targetmaster partners and individual kreons in the overall amount of figures I got in my POL from BBTS I've got 50 new entries to do and it's taking forever and seeming like an onerous way to do it.

Any screen shots and/or info on how you break your collections into sub catagories would also be welcome as I'm sure there is a better way then how I am doing currently doing it

[Paulbot]

It's funny, but your mention of cataloging last night actually made me open up my long neglected spreadsheet and get started try to get it up to date with recent purchases and sales.

I use Excel (and previously the OpenOffice equivalent), mostly so I can sort and the auto complete tool and fill down options are useful too.

I have pretty basic categories:

Name, Series, Size/subgroup, Allegiance, Date acquired, Price, Purchased from, Notes

examples:

Blight, Beast Hunters, Legion, Predacon, 17/08/13, $7, Woolworths Parkmore, 
Metroplex, Generations, Titan, Autobot, 16/08/13, $???, Amazon.com
Ratchet, Generation 1, Autobot cars, Autobot, 25/12/86, N/A, Christmas present

In the subgroup field I use G1/2 group names but from Beast Wars on it's mostly size class with occasionally a mix of both (Eg Scout Aerialbot for some Energon toys). Notes is where I'd add variants, multipack details, Nebulon partners (or any similar that I don't count separately) etc. Pricing, dates and purchase spots are the most often missing unless I update right away, but I'm not good at that.

A proper Database would be better, for all it's lookup and cross referencing possibilities, but unless you're good at databases they can be a pain to set up.

Speaking of databases though, I think Jaydisc's ITFB.com site is still active but I've not looked at it either in a long while. Pre-filled descriptions for the most part, just point and click. Adding 1300 could be a chore though.

If you were copying Word to Excel, (or OpenOffice equivalents) it should be pretty straight forward. Each of your new lines in Word would be a new row in Excel. And there's some text to columns features that could space everything out in a bit of an ordered fashion. That'd be the easy part really (well for me anyway - I can play Excel much more than I can play Access).

[GoktimusPrime]

I use excel. My columns/fields are:
+ Total collection count
+ Series (e.g. G1 1984, Transformers Prime etc.)
+ Toy name
+ Function
+ Sub Group/Class
+ Notes -- this is where I may mention what peripheral figures are included, e.g. Nebulans, Action Master Partners, if it's exclusive or whatever doesn't fit in other fields
+ Condition
+ Series count; so this will let me instantly know how many say Beast Machines Transformers I have.

I find the Excel formula useful as it automatically updates counts as I add new toys, all I have to do is copy-paste the formula from the cell above.

[Megatron]

Yep, Excel here, too - a very versatile and powerful program that is well worth learning. It is extermely useful for cataloguing your collection, no matter how large or complex it is, as well as for a million other applications.

[Bartrim]

I use a shelf and my eyes... But then again I only have a couple of hundred TF's

[Ravagecat]

I was wondering what programs people use on their computers for cataloging their collections? Having never used Excel, for years I've just been using the old 'chuck a table into Microsoft word' technique. The only problem now is that it is now up to 46 pages and Primus knows how many subcatagories.

Can anyone suggest a better program to use (I'm sure there is many) as I want to transfer/cut&paste the info on my 1300 into something a lot easier and accessible. If I count targetmaster partners and individual kreons in the overall amount of figures I got in my POL from BBTS I've got 50 new entries to do and it's taking forever and seeming like an onerous way to do it.

Any screen shots and/or info on how you break your collections into sub catagories would also be welcome as I'm sure there is a better way then how I am doing currently doing it

I have been wanting to catalog my collection for some time now and have tried various applications without much confidence or satisfaction (found some that are meant for home contents etc). However just trawling the boards here I noticed some members with shmax.com signatures and was intrigued by the info displayed about the members collections. I am a complete novice at this site having only just signed up myself but might be worth looking into as after adding transformers you own to your profile you have the ability to download the info to an excel sheet compiled automatically (with the click of a button) with menu's and columns showing different info about the toys in your collection. I'm thinking about using the download as a basis for my catalog then adding some more columns as needed.

See pics:

Goto shmax.com and create an account. Once signed in follow the steps on the pic to add bots to your collection.



After clicking the add to collection it automatically assumes that the item is sealed in box but click the blue bar and it allows you to edit the item with exactly what you have. You can even click add to collection twice if you have a boxed and loose version of a toy



Once you have entered all your bots (or even if you just want to test out what the download looks like) click your username (top right) and choose download collection.



Here's a pic of the exel sheet that the website downloads. I have only added my action masters and a few others but you get the idea



Hope this helps some people

[Sinnertwin]

I've always wanted to invest some time on Shmax. Thanks to your step-by-step, RC, i just might

[Paulbot]

Why not try local first? With iTFdb.com you get friendly local support from a fellow board member.

[1orion2many]

Why not try local first? With iTFdb.com you get friendly local support from a fellow board member.

It's been so long since I have been on the site i have forgotten my log on details

[BigTransformerTrev]

Cheers everyone! Ozformers turns out to be mega helpful as always!

By the looks of it, the easiest for me at this point is to transfer everything over from Microsoft word tables into a Microsoft excel spreadsheet so will go with that for now. Does everyone give every category its own page (example, G1 Autobots get their own page, Animated Decepticons, Armada Mini-Cons etc) or combine multiple lists on one page (all the G2 stuff on one page, all the Cybertron etc)? Thinking will give everything it's own page, even if that means I end up with 40 separate pages.

Not sure I've got the time to tackle Shmax - but damn does it look cool!