How to Use One-Click Reports to Improve Your Art Career

Artwork Archive | April 16, 2019 (Updated April 12, 2021)

On your own, it would take hours. With Artwork Archive, it takes minutes.

How many hours have you wasted messing around with design programs, copying and pasting printouts, or struggling to format something in Word to present to a gallery or buyer?

And, how much of that time was spent wishing you were in the studio instead?

Well, say no more! Artwork Archive lets you quickly and easily produce info-packed reports, so you can impress clients, stay organized, strategize for success and save time in one fell swoop.

Buyers, collectors, galleries—and even you—will be impressed.

Take a look at 12 polished reports you can create with Artwork Archive and how they can help your art career:

Invoices for easy transactions

While a last-minute, hand-written, invoice technically does the job, it’s so much better to have a clean, professional invoice to hand to a buyer. That way they know what they’re paying and when the money is due. And you know you’re getting paid what you deserve—and on time!

What should it include?

Both your contact information and the client’s contact information for easy correspondence. Plus an image of the work, the title, dimensions, and price, so you both know which transaction is taking place. To make sure everyone understands the specifics, the price should be broken down into piece price, framing, tax, shipping, and down payment (if any).

It speaks professional volumes to have all this laid out nicely and creates a streamlined, transparent experience for the buyer. And with Artwork Archive’s one-click invoices, both parties have a seamless experience and buyers will trust you enough to come back for more.
 

Consignment reports for gallery representation

Consider a consignment report the absolute essential for working with a gallery.

Because it ensures the gallery has the exact information on hand that they’ll need to sell your artwork—and work with you confidently.

“The look on the gallerist's face when they see a detailed report complete with images is so fun to see!" said Daryl D. Johson. "I stood in line to drop off works at a group show this week and watched the artist struggling to give the info about her works on a piece of scratch paper. I'm up next and just hand them a print out of the report. Priceless!'"

They’ll know its price, dimensions, any notes you want to include, its consignment ID, and the date it was consigned. Your gallery will also have your contact information—and you’ll have theirs—so they can easily get in touch with you about a piece.

Hopefully, it’s to tell you it’s sold!

It only takes seconds to create a consignment report on Artwork Archive, and you’ll end up looking (and feeling) like a total pro. Lori Putnam agrees. "I get asked why I am in love with Artwork Archive. There are SO many reasons... here is just one." She continued, "Today I am shipping a piece to a gallery and need to include a consignment sheet. Super easy; so professional; everyone wins!"

Portfolio pages for promoting your art

Your potential buyers want to see what is available, but impressing them can be hard when trying to dig through big and bulky pieces or realizing a piece you want to show them is actually on display in a gallery.

Instead of racking your brain to remember each piece’s size and price, keep a simple portfolio filled with all the information potential buyers will need to make a purchase.

These pages give artists the ability to share their art in a clean and polished way and include every important detail from title, size, artist name, description, and price to inventory number, creation date, show history, and your contact information.

"Using Artwork Archive, it’s so easy when someone is interested in a piece I can just make a report for them of all the works available and it’s just done—instead of spending all my time on Photoshop trying to figure out what I have in stock and laying it out on the page," said ceramic artist Ben Medansky.  "It is making life really easy." 

And they’re not just for studio visits! Working with a gallery? Some may request a portfolio book of your artwork. Impress them with your timeliness and professionalism by easily generating portfolio pages in bulk on Artwork Archive, instead of taking days trying to design every page yourself on Microsoft Word and adding in details one by one.

Talk about a time saver!  “You have taken hours of computer work off my plate with the Consignment and Portfolio Pages reports," said artist Andy BraitmanThat’s a lot of time you can now spend on creating art.

 

Gallery labels for a polished presence

It’s so nice to have wall labels available at the click of a button. Because when it comes to a show, you should be preparing to wow the crowd, not spending hours exasperated by this one little task.

Thankfully, you can easily print off gallery labels through Artwork Archive.

With the click of a button, choose to display everything you need to land a sale—your name, the title, dimensions, medium, price, a description of the work, your website, email, and more. Choose what size you want, and we’ll even tell you which Avery label is a perfect match for printing. It’s as simple as that!

Time will be saved, and you’ll be all set to impress at your next art show, festival, or solo exhibition. “I just love Artwork Archive! I have been busy framing and preparing for an upcoming show," said artist Lena Thynell. "I used Artwork Archive to print nice labels and voilà! I just printed an inventory report to bring with me, too.”

 

Address labels for simple shipping

Who doesn't want to save time and showcase their professionalism? Printing custom address labels when shipping your work is one of those ways.

With a click of a button, you can print address labels for any contact within Artwork Archive onto two different sizes of Avery labels.

Shipping is now simple and streamlined. It’s every artist’s dream!

 

Inventory reports for staying organized

What would you do if a gallery or art dealer asked what landscapes you currently have available?

Your artist website may not showcase all of the important details they are looking for, even if it is up-to-date with new and sold works, and individual portfolio pages would take too much time for busy eyes to sort through quickly.

Instead of scrambling at the last minute and praying to the Microsoft Word gods, Artwork Archive lets you quickly create a detailed, curated list of your art inventory in a few clicks.

Plus, you choose the pieces and details you want to include or keep out. Customize everything from contact info and report design to every single detail that collectors are asking for and how the pieces are sorted.

In an instant, you have a professional inventory report to hand off that’s just begging clients to work with you! Artist Laura Letchinger uses Inventory reports to share her work instantly. "Being able to generate updated inventory reports that can be stored on my phone/computer and shared so easily, including links to hi-res images, is just a huge time-saver," she said.

 

Tear sheets for a quick overview

Like an inventory report, a tear sheet is a great report to present to galleries, art dealers, etc. who want to see your available inventory quickly with smaller thumbnails of your artwork.

You and your clients can get a quick overview of your inventory and where it is located, with up to 15 images of your artworks on each tear sheet page.

No fuss, no muss!
 

Certificates of authenticity for increasing value

Lately, we’ve heard a lot of artists asking about whether or not to include a Certificate of Authenticity with their art. Even if you are just starting out or feel doubtful your art will ever become that collectible—the answer is yes!

You never know when your art career will take off, and a signed, detailed Certificate of Authenticity helps collectors immensely when it comes to tracing your piece’s history and proving it’s the original.

That being said, having this provenance in place can greatly increase the value of your art.

And why not include one with every purchase when it only takes seconds? Provide authenticity to your work, bolster its worth, and convince collectors you’re taking your profession seriously by producing an easy and reliable Certificate of Authenticity.

Sales and donation reports for financial insights

Every time you sell a piece of artwork, there are insights that can be found to influence your selling strategy!

Are you selling enough pieces? Are your prices right? Which locations are prospering and which should you move on from? Is there a certain time of year you’re selling more? Which collectors should you reach out to again?

All of these answers can help you market better and sell more art, but you won’t know unless you analyze your sales. But who has the time and how is this even capable when your sales info is scattered all over the place?

It’s so much easier to get these insights when you can click a button and have a sales report instantly at your fingertips!

Sales reports on Artwork Archive list the sale dates, title, values, and sale info for each piece sold, as well as your sales totals, including pieces sold, total price, net total, and taxes. What’s more? Sales are broken down even further by Location and Buyer, so you can get a more accurate picture of your art business and use these insights to strategize for future sales.

Not to mention, you can stay informed about your art business income for tax season and beyond. Which leads us to our next report…

 

Expense reports for easy bookkeeping

If you want to get a truly accurate picture of your art business, you need to stay on top of your expenses as well. And, not just once a year when you’re scrambling to find receipts for your tax accountant!

Easily get a snapshot of where you are investing your money in your career with Artwork Archive’s one-click expense reports.

From advertising and studio rent to painting supplies and professional development, gain insight into how much you are spending in certain categories, for certain clients, over certain time frames—so you can strategize going forward with how to best spend your money.

You want to save as much money as you can, right? You can even use these reports to easily write off certain expenses during tax season.

Your bank account (and tax accountant!) will thank you.

 

Exhibition reports for streamlined showing

Artists are notoriously disorganized. And how unprofessional is it when a gallery has to call and remind you to pick up pieces after a show—or worse, you have to call a gallery to see if they have one of your missing pieces?

It doesn’t have to be this way!

Impress gallerists and stay organized with an instant exhibition report tied to all of the important show dates, location information, and pieces in a specific exhibition. You can even mark which pieces were submitted, accepted, and rejected to build provenance and better understand what jurors were looking for.

Share with galleries or serve as documentation for your records, so everyone stays organized! Just ask artist Lesley Riley. “Yes, there is paperwork and recordkeeping involved in a show. Thanks to a great program, Artwork Archive, I’ve finally got it all under control.” 

 

Contact reports for future sales

Your contacts mean the world to your art business because these are the people who are either buying your work or helping it to get sold.

With a simple and easy contact report on Artwork Archive, you can get a snapshot of who your biggest collectors are, where they’re located, and what types of connections you need to be focusing on.

Do you only know one curator or designer? Maybe it’s time to start networking. Have an important question about showing a piece? Your gallerist’s phone number and email are ready for you.

No more rummaging for a lost business card or guessing which collectors to reach out to next. Knowledge is power!

 

One of the best parts about Artwork Archive reports?

Not only does it save you a ton of time, help you appear more professional, and give you major insight into your art business, but you can customize your reports with font choices, headers, and more to brand your art business even further.

Made a mistake? No problem, you can edit the reports you’ve already generated.

Then share your reports directly with your contacts as easily as you created them. Buyers, collectors, and galleries will open their inboxes and say, “I love working with this artist!”

So easy, it’s hard to believe you haven’t been doing this from the start.


Ready to save time and impress clients? Sign up for a free trial to start generating reports!

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