Does anyone have a program (for the Mac) that allows you to
catalogue and track the development of a piece that you are working
on? I’ve looked and can’t find one.
I’d like each entry to contain photographs. A small thumbnail, once
clicked would reveal as many photos of the piece, at as many stages,
as necessary.
There would be different fields, some customizable. Some might be:
design process, materials, technical customer
sources and inspiration, etc. and there would be a
clickable link to web pages, either of suppliers or selling location,
etc.
It would have a search engine by name of piece and also searchable
by a “contact sheet” of images of all pieces in the program (these
could be ordered by date, or material, etc), which would be
clickable, and would take one to the stored of the entry.
Anyway, I hope it exists, because in a dream I was using it, and as
soon as a more conscious part of me began to look over my dreaming
shoulder at the program, I woke up in a start thinking “I WANT one
of those!” So, I hope it’s out there and not just vaporware.
Silani
Anyway, if you don’t have something like this how the heck do you
keep track of it all?
Reading the description of what you’re looking for, it occurred to
me that the Project feature of Microsoft Entourage 2004 (which is
part of the MSFT Office package) may be exactly what you’re looking
for. It allows you to create a project name and then link just about
anything on your computer (from any application) to it. That
includes images, documents, etc. You’ll probably want to take a look
at Filemaker as well. It’s not a program that I’m familiar with
myself, but I know it also contains a very flexible database
function.
I don’t know of an off-the-shelf program that does what you are
asking, but it is certainly possible to program one. What you are
talking about is simply a relational database. I programmed
something very similar in FileMaker Pro on a Mac years ago. You can
find a FileMaker programmer who could custom design your program at:
or if you are adventurous you could purchase the program and try
writing it yourself. FileMaker is a fairly easy to work with, has a
good support base, and you can be using the program while you are
expanding it.
There are several other good options. Pretty much any relational
database would work. You don’t need an enterprise level solution, so
if you happen to know anyone (a teenager?) who programs in PHP and
MySQL or a similar system they could probably write something for
you. If you are looking for free programming it is always great to
find a student with a project assignment.
Good luck with it. It sounds like a great dream. If I still had time
to program it would be a great project to undertake.
I know the feeling, as I was in the same place for many many years.
I would do tracking, costing Bill of Materials, the whole 9 yards on
spreadsheet, it worked, but only to a point. Sometimes I would have
errors in my formulas that I wouldn’t catch until it was too late,
etc. etc. Then I came across a program that began to give me a bit
more organisation and peace of mind. My suggestion for you is as
follows:
The biggest problem you will have is finding something that
“really works” with your Mac. Although Mac’s are very good computers
for designing and graphics, when it comes to number crunching, IBM
compatible are the ones that fit the bill, when it comes to number
crunching, don’t fight it, give in and you’ll be glad. Keep the Mac
for designing, they are great computers.
To begin with I used a program called Jewellery Designer Manager,
you can find the website on Craft Maker Pro | Inventory and Pricing Craft Software. It is a great
program to help you get organised, and was a real bonus for me
during my interim period. I did get very good service from the
software developer, Barbara Carleton. I believe the program cost me
around $100. Very good price for what you get. You can get directly
from her or from Rio Grande.
On her website she says that “Mac Users can only run this program if
they use a Windows emulation software program such as Virtual PC.
This is Mac software that allows you to use Windows applications on
a Mac.” Mac users might have some comment about this possibility,
but from what I’ve heard it isn’t all that wonderful in Windows
Emulation Mode.
After using this program for some time I then migrated to a
dedicated ERP software program that gave me all the bells and
whistles… and at much higher price! But it is worth every
penny, knowing your costs and having organisation is simply a must
in our profession.
For PCs there is a product called Jewelry Designer Manager that does
some of what you want. You could run it on a mac on Virtual PC,
though I wouldn’t want to buy a program from a company that doesn’t
support macs.
What’s your goal? To track production or to track the actual process
as it’s in your shop?
I heard a talk recently by a successful jewelry who uses both a
(custom?) computer system AND paper – complete and total
duplication. Seems like a good idea to me.
The biggest problem you will have is finding something that
"really works" with your Mac. Although Mac's are very good
computers for designing and graphics, when it comes to number
crunching, IBM compatible are the ones that fit the bill, when it
comes to number crunching, don't fight it, give in and you'll be
glad
I try not to get too involved in the whole “Mac vs. PC” argument on
Orchid because I know I am a fanatic, but this is a statement I just
can’t let go past. All that any computer does is crunch numbers.
“It’s all ones and zeros”. Mac OS X is built on UNIX, which is an OS
that is in far greater use in number crunching world wide than
Windows. Many countries, laboratories, educational- and research
institutions long ago switched to UNIX (or started there) because it
is a far more stable platform. And remember, unlike Windows Apple
has made great strides forward every year for the last 5 years. Most
of what you “know” about Macs likely isn’t true today.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, any relational database program
is (at least) theoretically capable of doing what you are asking,
whether it runs on Windows, OS X, Solaris, Linux, or on a Commodore
64.
You can run Jewelry Design Manager on a Mac using emulation software
such as Virtual PC, Guest PC, iEmulator. There is nothing in the
program that makes it “better” on Windows or that it wouldn’t
“really work” on Mac other than the fact that the person who wrote
the program knew Windows programing. All it would take to port it to
Mac would be the desire and knowledge to do so. By the end of next
year you likely will be able to run almost any Windows application
directly in OS X, either on the new processors or through programs
such as Darwine.
Epaul
Aritst Member GANA - Gem Artists of North America
... Many countries, laboratories, educational- and research
institutions long ago switched to UNIX (or started there) because
it is a far more stable platform.
I realize that this is a bit off topic but I thought it would be
worth mentioning nonetheless.
Actually the original reason that many educational and research
institutions started using UNIX was because DEC (Digital Equipment
Corp) gave it and the machines to run it to them for free. As a
result most of the engineering, computer, chemistry and physics
students throughout the US and Canada in the 70s and 80s grew up on
UNIX. It was all we knew, or needed for that matter. So it was both
the freebies and the fact that it was, and is, a damn good OS that
led to it’s widespread acceptance.
Care to guess what those students wanted to use when they graduated
and got out into the real world? Yup, UNIX again. So in due time
almost all labs and R&D facilities in the science and science related
fields were dominated by UNIX or it’s derivatives.
While it’s true that Mac OS X is indirectly UNIX-based it’s not the
only UNIX-derived OS out there. Linux is another important UNIX
descendant and it’s quite popular on PCs.
I think when Digital Equipment Corporatio was giving out computers
in the 70’s and 80’s, it was VMS and RSX that they were pushing and
hoping to take over the world, not UNIX (and it did work for a
while). Digital INVENTED “not invented here” and was painfully slow
to recognize the worth of anything they didn’t make first.
The proliferation of UNIX (developed at Bell Labs) was due to it’s
low- or no-cost distribution policy and source code availability.
On her website she says that "Mac Users can only run this program
if they use a Windows emulation software program such as Virtual
PC. This is Mac software that allows you to use Windows
applications on a Mac." Mac users might have some comment about
this possibility, but from what I've heard it isn't all that
wonderful in Windows Emulation Mode.
In some cases a mac can run Virtual PC faster than an actual PC can
run. Using Virtual PC is a valid option for people who only want to
use a couple of PC only programs and don’t have the room or desire
for an entire Windows box.
In some cases a mac can run Virtual PC faster than an actual PC
can run.
Virtual PC has another advantage over an actual PC. When you quit
VPC it happens almost instantly and you can save the operating state
so VPC starts up right where you left off, again almost instantly. It
takes you there without having to go through the Windows start-up
procedure–even after you have shut down and restarted your Mac. Of
course you can also leave VPC running and move back and forth between
Mac and Windows platforms and use all of your Mac peripherals and
internet providers, etc. in both modes. You can also drag and drop
items between the two environments.