Collection Sorting for More Efficient Appraisals

Appraisal Scribe offers flexible sorting options to help you organize your collections efficiently. Whether you’re working with a small focused collection or a large diverse estate inventory, these tools allow you to arrange properties in the way that best suits your needs.

Collection Sorting Options

Manual and Alphabetical Sorting

Manual sorting gives you complete control over the order of properties in your collection. Use drag-and-drop functionality to arrange items exactly as you want them to appear.

When to Use Manual Sorting

Manual sorting is ideal when:

• You want to arrange properties in a custom order that doesn’t follow alphabetical or categorical rules

• You’re preparing a presentation or report where specific sequencing matters

• You need to group related items together in a way that automatic sorting can’t achieve

How to Use Manual Sorting

To access:

• Navigate to the Collection tab and click on Collection Sort

• Choose Manual Sort to arrange properties

• Click on the drag handle next to the property and drag to its new position

• Release to drop in place

Your manual sort order will be saved automatically and will remain in place until you choose a different sorting method or manually rearrange items again.

Automatic sorting instantly organizes your entire collection based on a single field, saving you time and ensuring consistency.

Available Sorting Options

You can automatically sort your collection by:

• Location - Arranges properties by their physical location

• Alphabetically by Artist/Maker - Orders properties from A to Z by the artist or maker’s name

• Type of Object - Groups properties by their object type (paintings, furniture, decorative arts, etc.)

• Medium/Material - organizes properties according to their material (wood, bronze, acrylic on canvas, etc.)

• Subject/Title - Organizes properties alphabetically by title/subject

• Date/Period

• Valuation (high to low)

How to Use Automatic Sorting

Navigate to the Collection tab in your appraisal

Click on Collection Sort

1. From the dropdown menu, select your preferred sorting option (e.g., Alphabetically By Location, Artist/Maker, Type of Object, Medium, Location, Subject Matter, or Title, Valuation etc.)

2. Your collection will immediately reorganize based on your selection

The automatic sort will remain active until you select a different sorting method. If you add new properties to your collection, they will automatically be placed according to your current sort setting.

Switching Between Sort Methods

You can switch between different automatic sort methods at any time:

• Simply select a new option from the Collection Sort dropdown

• Your collection will instantly reorganize

• There’s no limit to how many times you can change sorting methods

Primary and Secondary Sorting

Primary and Secondary sorting is the most powerful organizational tool in Appraisal Scribe. It allows you to create a two-tiered structure: first grouping properties by a major category, then ordering items within each group by a secondary criterion.

When to Use Primary and Secondary Sorting

This advanced sorting method is particularly valuable when:

• You’re appraising diverse collections with multiple object categories

• You need to organize estate inventories containing various types of property

• You want to group similar items together while maintaining a specific order within each group

• You’re preparing reports that require professional categorization and sub-organization

To access:

• Go to the Collection tab and click on Collection Settings

• Under Primary Sort, select the field you wish to use to group properties (e.g., Type of Object)

• Under Secondary Sort, establish the order properties will follow within the group defined by the Primary Sort (e.g., Artist Name)

Why this matters for diverse collections:

Appraisers dealing with estates, corporate collections, or collectors who have items spread across various locations frequently face extensive collections that cover a range of categories, such as fine art, decorative arts, furniture, jewelry, and collectibles, all within a single assignment. Primary and Secondary sorting feature is designed specifically for this complexity.

Consider an estate appraisal containing paintings, sculpture, furniture, silver, and porcelain. Using Primary Sort by "

Type of Object" and Secondary Sort by "Artist/Maker" or "Date/Period," you can:

• Group all furniture together, then order by material.

• Organize collection by Type Of Object (Sculpture, painting, print) and then by artist’s name within their category.

• Arrange silver by Maker

• Sort decorative objects by Type of Object, Material or Country

  
  

This layered organization helps you work more efficiently, ensures consistent presentation across object categories, and makes it easier to navigate large inventories during the appraisal process. You can quickly locate items, compare similar objects, and present your findings in a logical structure that resonates with clients and follows professional appraisal standards.

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