discussion Paint spreadsheet

[pjgtech]

Got nothing much to do today, (for a change), no little chores, no gardening, no DIY, no shopping, just a nice easy, lazy day....
So thought I'd do myself a little spreadsheet, for all my scale model paints, as I keep bloody losing track of what I've got, and what I need, and I keep ending up buying multiples of the same paint!

Yes, yes, I know its a sad geeky thing to do, and its not for everyone, and some peeps may not have enough paints to warrant the effort, or simply don't care to keep track, or they hate spreadsheets, or they just have a life and better things to do!

But I quite like a spreadsheet, been using them at work for 30+ years and at home for 40+ years, and I'm a bit OCD about stuff, so I tend to keep lists for everything anyway, and I do have a (relatively) lot of paints, and no, I don't have a life and yes, I am a bit geeky/nerdy..... don't judge.

Anyway, it turns out I have quite a lot of duplicates, and I found a few that I'd forgotten about, and a few that I didn't know I had, so it was worthwhile, for me....

 

[yak face]

Nice one peter , havent done the same myself but got the same result in a roundabout way . Made myself a new shelf unit to put all my paints on ( the old one was way too small ) then put them all on in colour groups and found out I had loads of duplicates , some two or three times over . If I had had some sort of reference ( like a spreadsheet ) I could have saved myself a fair bit of money . Thing is I’m not computer savvy , my only experience of a spreadsheet is when I used to go to my grandmas as a kid and she had IZAL toilet paper

 

[Neil]

Erm, mine has models and paints on different sheets. I've thought about making a pivot table too - but that is just excessive (but I have thought about it). And in top nerdy behaviour, I have both XLS and Numbers versions (because I use a Mac).

 

[pjgtech]

I did a training session on pivot tables years ago, it was fantastic, learnt a lot, amazing what you can do with the data and a pivot table,.....but I did not use a spreadsheet for a couple of weeks, and by then I had forgotten all the bloody pivot table training! Doh!

 

[Geoffers]

I’m not a spread sheet compiler but I do use this app on my phone

Helps prevent buying paints I already have.

paintRack App - App Store

Download paintRack by Courageous Octopus on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like paintRack.

apps.apple.com

Geoff.

 

[flyjoe180]

I store my paints in small plastic drawers in numerical order, I can see at a glance what I have, and as I approach the end of a jar or bottle, I make a note for my next reorder.

 

[LeytonO]

I do have a very simple spreadsheet for Paints, not that I could make a complicated one anyway.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I did a training session on pivot tables years ago, it was fantastic, learnt a lot, amazing what you can do with the data and a pivot table,.....but I did not use a spreadsheet for a couple of weeks, and by then I had forgotten all the bloody pivot table training! Doh!

Been there, done that . I was a diva on Word though, used it so much I could pretty much do anything on it.

With paint, I find it easier to keep colour charts of the ranges I use and just tick the chart when I’ve got the paint.

My music collection is listed on a simple spreadsheet though, created on Numbers on my iPad and ported to my phone. Just has Name, Artist, Record label, type, catalogue number, condition, and notes. It means that I always have it to hand if I’m out and about and go in a record or second hand shop. I found it necessary because I’ve sometimes managed to go to record fairs and go home with two copies of the same record….

 

[pjgtech]

Its a fairly simple spreadsheet TBH, but I ended up doing a separate tab for each manufacturer, as it was getting a bit unwieldy all on the one page! Originally it was just gonna be paints only, but then also added all my primers, varnishes, washes and pigments. I thought oh why not, once I'd started I may as well do a "proper" job, lol....

 

[pjgtech]

Been there, done that . I was a diva on Word though, used it so much I could pretty much do anything on it.
With paint, I find it easier to keep colour charts of the ranges I use and just tick the chart when I’ve got the paint.
My music collection is listed on a simple spreadsheet though, created on Numbers on my iPad and ported to my phone. Just has Name, Artist, Record label, type, catalogue number, condition, and notes. It means that I always have it to hand if I’m out and about and go in a record or second hand shop. I found it necessary because I’ve sometimes managed to go to record fairs and go home with two copies of the same record….

Cool, I always liked IT, yep geeky I know, so taught myself to program at around 17/18 ish, on my first computer (ZX Spectrum 48k) only basic stuff (literally BASIC) and then later did a bit of HTML coding, made a couple of webpages, etc. Now you can do it all without knowing any code at all, eg: MS Frontpage / MS Publisher or its modern equivalent.
I used to give many MS Powerpoint presentations, so was ok with that, wrote many letters, memos, reports, via MS Word, etc so was ok with that, Excel I used a lot, but only basic stuff, nothing advanced. Used a fair few IT databases, and also did a fair bit with Sharepoint at work, managing doc libraries, etc. Lastly I used to use CAD fair bit (as a building surveyor I had to produce many floorplans, etc) so used Autodesk AutoCAD fair bit back in the day.
Even though my job was surveying, I was my team's nominated "IT" person, so dealt with a lot of IT related issues in the team (about 40 people). So yes, I don't mind a bit of IT stuff.... luckily though I do also have other interests, Lol....

 

[Neil]

Well, it is kind of my day job, as I do tech support for a very big data and now AI platform. I use this kind of stuff daily. TBH, Numbers, Excel, Sheets will all do the pivot table for you. You can get free templates, and you can get Claude, Warp, pick an AI tool, and they will design one - now why you really need a pivot table for paints and models is another thing.

For home finance, they are good at categorising your weekly/monthly/annual spending, which is what I usually use them for.

 

[pjgtech]

TBH, Numbers, Excel, Sheets will all do the pivot table for you. You can get free templates, and you can get Claude, Warp, pick an AI tool, and they will design one - now why you really need a pivot table for paints and models is another thing.

Yeah, I don't, which is why I've not bothered, as I know a quick google will remind me how to use them, but just don't need that level of data manipulation. Cheers

 

[Neil]

You'll know you've gone too far when you take pics of any new paint or model, feed that to your Claude or whatever, and it updates the spreadsheet for you. My inner nerd kind of thinks that is a good idea.