You can set up automatic inventory numbers that include the current year and start again at 1 each January.
For example, new works by an artist with the initials ML are numbered ML2026.1, ML2026.2 and so on this year. The first new work in 2027 is numbered ML2027.1.
Set it up
Click your initials in the bottom-left corner, then click Settings.
Under Organization, click Inventory, then Number Formatter.
In Inventory # Format, enter [initials][year].[artist#year].
Set Pad Serial with Leading 0s to 1. The default is 4, which numbers works as ML2026.0001, ML2026.0002 and so on.
Check the Inventory # Preview, then click Save Changes.
How the numbering works
[year] adds the current four-digit year. This is the year the number is created, not the year the artwork was made.
[artist#year] adds the next number in that year's series, starting at 1 each year.
Put [artist#year] after the other parts of the format. If it comes first, new works don't get a number.
The next number continues from the highest existing inventory number that starts the same way. Numbers you typed in by hand count too, as long as their capital letters match.
Archived works are counted. Deleted works are not.
Numbers with an extra part, such as ML2026.1.1, are ignored when counting.
A work with no artist doesn't get a number. When you add an artist, the work gets its number.
Good to know
The format applies to every new work your gallery adds. Existing inventory numbers are not changed.
The Next Artist Serial on an artist's profile is not used by this format, but it still goes up by one with each new work. It applies to formats that use [artist#]. See How to Edit an Artist's Initials.
The year changes at midnight UTC. In the US, a work created on the evening of December 31 may get the new year.
This does not fix any duplicate numbers you already have.
