Organizing your Collection--Neat Software

Balislinger

Balislinger

Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
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Hey guys, just wanted to share a neat piece of software I came across. Folks have asked in the past what is a good program for organizing one's knife collection. There have been some decent options available for PC users for years, but not for Mac users. recently, I noticed that Collectorz had updated some of their offerings and made them Mac-friendly, so I went ahead and tried one.

You can download their Book, Music, or Movie collector programs for free, then buy a license later if you like them. If your collection is under 100 knives, you may not even need a license. I tried their book collector software, and it is the best organizing software for knife collectors I have ever seen for the Mac (and I've tried almost everything out there). I've even tried PC programs in the past, and did not find one I liked any better than this.

You can customize the input fields, so instead of "Title" and "Author" you can have "Name" and "Maker." Instead of "Publisher" you can have "Build Type" (as in custom vs. production), and instead of "Format" you can have "Knife Type" as in folder, fixed blade, etc.

There's room for purchase price and date, knife condition, lots of room for notes on the knife, a place for pictures, both front and back, whether it's a user or collector piece, and you can rate it from 1 to 5 stars.

Then you can create all kinds of neat graphs and reports based on every imaginable values, such as money spent in a given year, knives sold, knives by a certain maker, etc.

There are even tags for if the knife is in your collection, was sold at one point, is a knife you want to sell, or one you want to buy.

Honestly, I think this is a great tool for knife collectors, and far superior to Excel in its features. If you're OCD and like to organize things, you may enjoy it.

Cheers, G
 
That sounds like something I could really use, thanks for sharing. I think I will give it a try.
 
This is so timely. I was just surfing the net looking to purchase a database program to catalog my collection. I definitely will check this one out.

Thanks.
 
Cool, I was planning to organize my collection in Excel but this looks to be much better.
 
i have collectorz for books ,dvd's and cd's
i use keeper pro for knives and coins and mystuff for everything else

the keeper pro has many fields and options as well
and hooks up with your ebay account as well so it can easily import purchases made on ebay
 
buckman#10 said:
i have collectorz for books ,dvd's and cd's
i use keeper pro for knives and coins and mystuff for everything else

the keeper pro has many fields and options as well
and hooks up with your ebay account as well so it can easily import purchases made on ebay
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to these online? I can't find the keeper pro to get technical info
 
OK, for those of you who are going to use Book Collector from collectorz, you can benefit from the work I've put into customizing the settings. First of all, to be able to access all the features of this program, you need to upgrade to a regular license ($29) or a pro license ($49). But the free version may be enough for some of you, and lets you try it out. All my settings below were done in the pro version, so I can't say for sure if they would all show up in lesser versions. I also tried the Collectorz Music Collector and Movie Collector software, but I like the Book Collector best for knives. The Music collector has a slightly better input screen for a knife collection, but a much worse display screen, so I say use the Book Collector, and modify the settings like this:

Go to Tools, Field Defaults, and click "yes" under "in collection"

Go to Tools, Field names, and change Title to Name/Model #, Author to Maker, Publisher to Build Type*, Genre to Knife Type, and Publication Date to Manufacture Date. You can also change Format to Blade Steel if you want.

Go to Tools, Edit Lists, Knife Type (Formerly Genre), and add Folder, Fixed Blade, Balisong, Push Dagger, Auto, and any other category you want.

Go to View, Columns, and list, from top to bottom: Index, Name/Model #, Maker, Purchase Year, Build Type, Knife Type

Go to View, Sort Order, and list, form top to bottom: Build Type, Knife Type, Maker, Purchase Year

Next go to File, Print, and on the third scroll down menu in the print window (the one that sometimes says "Copies & Pages", click on that menu and scroll down to "Book Collector". Click on "Custom List Template". In Title, put "Knife Collection", in Font, change it to 10pt type. Click "Include report . . ." and "Enable row shading." Click on "Choose Fields". From top to bottom, list: Build Type, Knife Type, Maker, Name/Model #, Manufacture date, Purchase Date, Purchase Price, Current Value. Click OK. Check the box that says "Save in Template List" and save this sucker as the template for printing your reports.

Now, every time you want to add a newly purchased knife, or one from your collection you want to add to the database, go to Edit, and "Add Book Manually"

One nice thing about this program is the statistics mode, which lets you view info and graphs in all kinds if different ways, including what you spent on knives of a certain kind or in a given year. I don't think you can print from statistics mode, so if you want totals in your printed report, I would print the report first, then pencil in info from the statistics view.

Hope that helps! Let me know if any of you try it and use my settings, or come up with a different system yourself.
 
What about plain old Excel? What does this do that an Excel spreadsheet doesn't?
 
See my first post. If you're an Excel wizard, you might be able to squeeze more functionality out of Excel than I can. This program allows anyone to create a killer database without having to learn the ins and outs of Excel. Even then, I think this program tops Excel in its ability to connect pictures to each entry, the way it organizes information in the database window, great interface design, and overall ease of use.

The stats function is also very straightforward and easy to learn. I've been using Excel for years (although granted, I'm not certified or anything), and it would be a PITN to figure out how to process the info the way this program does with one button.

I think the Excel spreadsheet is useful as a way to cram everything into a neat list that can then spit out totals. This program provides you with a much larger and more colorful area for each entry, and its easy to upload pics.

BTW, if anyone has used the new File Maker Pro (with picture capability) as a knife collection database program, I would be interested to hear results. Also a comparison between it and this one, or between this one and the two PC programs mentioned above (keeper pro and my stuff).
 
Try Bento from Filemaker. It's inexpensive and has an inventory feature that will let you add photos. You can also customize the fields.
 
tedwca said:
Try Bento from Filemaker. It's inexpensive and has an inventory feature that will let you add photos. You can also customize the fields.
Click to expand...
Thanks, tedwca. Bento 2 looks like a neat program. I look forward to trying it one day, but right now it only works with the new Mac OSX "Leopard," and I'm still using OSX 10.4. I looked around for a Bento 1 download but could not find it. If anyone sees a link to the original Bento version for download, please let me know. Thanks
 
Balislinger said:
Hey guys, just wanted to share a neat piece of software I came across. Folks have asked in the past what is a good program for organizing one's knife collection. There have been some decent options available for PC users for years, but not for Mac users. recently, I noticed that Collectorz had updated some of their offerings and made them Mac-friendly, so I went ahead and tried one.

You can download their Book, Music, or Movie collector programs for free, then buy a license later if you like them. If your collection is under 100 knives, you may not even need a license. I tried their book collector software, and it is the best organizing software for knife collectors I have ever seen for the Mac (and I've tried almost everything out there). I've even tried PC programs in the past, and did not find one I liked any better than this.

You can customize the input fields, so instead of "Title" and "Author" you can have "Name" and "Maker." Instead of "Publisher" you can have "Build Type" (as in custom vs. production), and instead of "Format" you can have "Knife Type" as in folder, fixed blade, etc.

There's room for purchase price and date, knife condition, lots of room for notes on the knife, a place for pictures, both front and back, whether it's a user or collector piece, and you can rate it from 1 to 5 stars.

Then you can create all kinds of neat graphs and reports based on every imaginable values, such as money spent in a given year, knives sold, knives by a certain maker, etc.

There are even tags for if the knife is in your collection, was sold at one point, is a knife you want to sell, or one you want to buy.

Honestly, I think this is a great tool for knife collectors, and far superior to Excel in its features. If you're OCD and like to organize things, you may enjoy it.

Cheers, G
Click to expand...


I was unfamiliar with how to use this program, obviously since I just heard about it :rolleyes: I played with it and finally was able to get all of my collection into this awesome program :thumbup: I am not Excel oriented, but I was able to put together a nice sheet of my collection. I love this :thumbup: Thanks Balislinger :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
I'mGatMan!, you wrote:
Tony G, Jaxx and Lunde just lost hours of their lives with this post.:D:thumbup:
Click to expand...
Uh yeah, but at last count, I have only a few Busse Combat knives... :confused:
 
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Balislinger said:
Do you have a link to these online? I can't find the keeper pro to get technical info
Click to expand...

the keeperpro i see is for windows xp or 2000 only and $50 to purchase
here is the site
http://www.ravenlabsinc.com/keeper-index.htm

here is a link to download the demo
http://www.ravenlabsinc.com/public/keeper2-demo-setup.exe


and the mystuff is home inventory software $40 to buy
http://www.contactplus.com/products/freestuff/mystuff.htm

i also use an address book by parsons technology but i cant find a site for them anymore
 
Fellow Hogs. I have a spreadsheet that I use on my PC. If you have Microsoft Works. Send me an email and I will forward you a copy and you will be able to use this one. Very simple and it adds up the total value of your knives. Email listed below in my signature. Thanks, porkybear....
 
Balislinger said:
Thanks, tedwca. Bento 2 looks like a neat program. I look forward to trying it one day, but right now it only works with the new Mac OSX "Leopard," and I'm still using OSX 10.4. I looked around for a Bento 1 download but could not find it. If anyone sees a link to the original Bento version for download, please let me know. Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm using Bento and it works pretty well. I haven't upgraded to v2 yet as Filemaker is pissing me off (a bit) by not providing an upgrade price/path. That said, the software is only $50 so I will probably upgrade soon. Here's the link for downloads, but I believe it's always been Leopard/10.5.x exclusive:
http://www.filemaker.com/support/downloads/index.html


BTW, If you are looking to organize/inventory books, cd/dvd's, and video games, Delicious Library always gets great reviews:
http://www.delicious-monster.com/
 
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