Payments to artists and consignors

Primer makes it easy to create payments due to artists and consignors for sold artworks. Each payment transaction also allows you to quickly create a clear payment statement detailing the sales and owed amounts. Like all documents in Primer, you have the ability to make custom edits before saving in a PDF format. Just another facet of managing and tracking all your art related activities with Primer's easy to use functionality. Coming soon: details on our new accounting section that will allow you to analyze your receivables, payables and profitability.

Featured feature: Presentations

This section of Primer allows you to organize and archive any presentations of artwork. Most of our clients use this feature for exhibitions, art fair booths, private salons, curated rooms and the like. Quickly make and edit a variety of related documents including checklists, pricelists, work labels, and full page work previews in any custom order. Edit, save, print and/or email these pdfs directly from the presentation window. Link all contacts who attended the show or transactions, such as sales and offers, related to the event and make a single note that appears on both records. Tap on any image to show in full screen, with the ability to scroll full screen through the entire selection of works. Each individual user can set their own reminders for tasks related to the show. Presentaions are an elegant way to manage and document your exhibition history. One of the many ways that Primer is helping art galleries, art collectors, curators and artists spend more time conceiving and mounting great shows and less time on administration.

A sample presentation page for an art fair booth. Click on a work's image to see in full screen.

Running into the new year!

A huge thank you to our Primer clients, including art galleries, art collections, artists, and art advisors from around the world that made 2017 our best year yet. We traveled to meet new and existing clients in Boston, Berlin, Basel, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Park City, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and more. We introduced many exciting developments such as Gmail integration, and we heard from clients that Primer has allowed them to streamline their activities from several redundant programs to one focused platform, making them more efficient and cost effective -- in additon to helping them sell more! We look forward to further developments and growth in 2018 as we continue to strive to the best art software, providing our clients with their art inventory management, client relationship manager, exhibition archive, mobile apps, and more. Thank you all for your referrals, feedback, suggestions and kind compliments. Nothing is more important to us than providing excellent and honest customer service.

"Weaver" by Jeff Ladouceur, a Primer Ambassador Artist

NEW feature: enhanced Gmail integration

Primer makes it even easier to track and analyze your history with your contacts, with our Gmail correspondence viewer. Clients who use Gmail or G Suite will be able to review all emails with specific contacts as well as all emails in their general inbox from within Primer itself. Just another way, Primer keeps our clients focused on their workflow, operations and sales. While this special viewer is limited to Gmail, Primer users can still email any documents or images from within Primer using Mac Mail, Outlook, or other web-based emails. Primer is constantly developing to be the best tool to manage your art gallery or art collection, including inventory management, exhibition archives, transactional activities, and as a client relationship manager (CRM).

CRM: Client Relationship Manager

Primer was created exclusively for the art world to act as an inventory management database, an exhibition archive and a CRM, client relationship manager. How is Primer a CRM? Our program includes easy to use, unique features to help you better understand your clients and anticipate which artists and artworks to offer. Contact us to learn more about our client analytics and why a great Los Angeles art gallery recently attested that it previously took three separate programs to accomplish what they now do with Primer.

Let us give you a virtual tour of Primer's client relationship manage and other functions.

Hello San Fran

A big welcome to all our new San Francisco based clients using Primer art software to manage their artwork, clients, exhibitions and transactions. In addition to our everyday virtual tech support, we make routine visits to San Francisco for in-person training and support at clients' galleries and office. Just this week, we were delighted to visit "Patio Music," the new exhibition by Primer ambasssador artist, Tucker Nichols, on view at Gallery 16 through October 28th.

Tucker Nichols installation at Gallery 16, San Francisco

Go West

Heading to Los Angeles on July 12th to visit Primer clients and some of our favorite museums like the Hammer. We are currently hosting great galleries from LA to Seattle on our West Coast Server stored with top rated AWS (Amazon Web Services), also used by major companies like Netflix and Expedia. We always use industry standard encryption to protect our clients' data while it moves over the web, allowing them to work from anywhere with peace of mind. We'll be making stops in cities including San Francisco, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Contact us if you would like an appointment to see why art galleries, art collections, art advisors, and alternative spaces are using Primer to better (and more affordably) manage all their activities and archives. With Primer, you can store your information securely and still access it without delay.

Image © creativecommonstockphotos

Berlin Art Gallery Tour

Berlin has long established itself as a contempoary art gallery mecca. We are excited to be back in Berlin the week of June 19th. We'll be seeing great shows at top art galleries and alternative art spaces. Primer gives you the freedom to travel the world while still being able to make offers, complete sales and take care of other necessary business. Primer lets you to access your inventory, contacts and manage all your art dealing and art collecting from your computer, iPad and iPhone from any internet connection

Berlin-Mitte in June.

Art Basel, Switzerland June 2018

Another month, another art fair... but not just any fair. June is the time for Art Basel, the world's premier art fair. Primer will be traveling to Basel, Switzerland June 12-18th for our favorite event of the year. We'll also be visiting Liste, Volta, and other concurrent events as well as hosting private demo sessions around the city. Send us an email if you would like to schedule a demo at your art fair booth or elsewhere to see how Primer is enabling our clients to work efficiently from anywhere, including creating and emailing documents like offers and invoices in seconds. Primer art gallery software, art collection software and art software cloud hosting are being used by exceptional galleries, art advisors and private collections around the world to manage their inventory, contacts, transactions, exhibitions, art fairs, and other activities.

Courtesy Art Basel

Meet us during Frieze New York 2017

We look forward to the 2017 edition of Frieze New York and welcoming many of our Primer clients to New York City. They will use Primer throughout the duraction of the art fair, both with collectors and curators to showcase additional works that may not be in the booth and also to create and immediately email sales offers, invoices and client notes via their laptops, iPhones and iPads. Prospective users: we are offering special in-person demos throughout the week. We cater to your art fair schedule, including efficient, early morning appointments at locations throughout the city. Book a private session today and see how Primer art software can change the way you run your art gallery and sell more work.

Frieze New York 2016. Photograph by Mark Blower. Courtesy of Mark Blower/Frieze.

New feature: Tasks/Reminders

We are pleased to announced a major new feature in Primer art software. Now you can create reminders for any record including a contact, artwork, exhibition page, or transaction. For example, you can remind yourself to follow up on a sales offer or to request the return of artwork at the end of a consignment. Or create more extensive tasks that involve multiple records and users. For example, a project such as an artist's catalogue can be accessed by multiple users, list all the details of the job that need to be completed and give multiple reminders about deadlines. Our home page features all your upcoming tasks and reminders. Our thanks to our client Kate MacGarry Gallery for their assistance in developing this feature to make Primer even more useful software for art gallery management and art collection management.

A detail from a homepage featuring a user's tasks and reminders.

Affordable data imports

Many of our clients are initially hesitant to switch to a new art database because they worry about the hassle of importing their crucial data from their old art software. Primer makes it easy and affordable. Our clients have come to us from other companies such as ArtBase, ArtSystems (GalleryPro), ArtLogic, Gallery Manager (exhibit-E), Masterpiece Manager, Art Stacks, and many others. Whether you are frustrated by using a bloated, expensive system or struggling to get by with simple Excel spreadsheets, let us do the import for you. Start saving time and money by using Primer to manage your art gallery or art collection.

Primer helps you make better offers to your clients because you can now visualize their interests.

Armory Week in NYC

Primer Archives continues its art fair tour in New York this March, and we are currently booking appointments for in-person demos. We currently have some availability between Monday February 27 - Friday March 3. We are happy to visit you at the ADAA fair, the Armory Show, Volta, NADA, Independent, Art on Paper, Spring/Break, Scope or wherever might be convenient. We are able to host you at our office, as well. We look forward to showing you how our art software is helping art galleries and art advisors become more profitable and efficient. Primer is more than just an art database and we look forward to showing you why!

Photograph by Teddy Wolff | Courtesy of The Armory Show

Primer video update: Transactions

We have released a newly updated video covering Primer's 15 transactions, including our flexible custom transaction option. This meaty video covers everything from sale to consignment to donation and everything in between. If you need a refresher on a specific topic, use the times stamps listed below the video (be sure to watch on our Vimeo page to use this function). As we continue to enhance Primer to be the best art software for our clients' needs, we will continue to update our instructional videos. 

Sell and invoice your artwork quickly with Primer art software

Thank you!

Thank you to all our great clients and supporters who helped Primer Archives triple in size in 2016. We are honored that so many great businesses from New York to Los Angeles to London, and everywhere in between, choose Primer as their art gallery software to manage inventory, contacts, transactions, artists and exhibitions. This year we also expanded our client base to include art advisors and private collections. Primer was developed by art dealers who saw a need for better functioning, less expensive art gallery database software. We look forward to expanding in 2017 to include artist software and to continue to meet the needs of the art gallery, art advisor, and art collecting communities. 

Courtesy of artist Tucker Nichols

Primer Archives in Miami for Art Basel Miami Beach

Primer Archives will be in Miami to support our many clients taking advantage of the convenience of our cloud hosting services. We are also offering in-person demonstrations. To secure an appointment, please contact us: info@primerarchives.com . We are happy to host you in the lounge at the Untitled Art Fair at 12th St and Ocean Drive or we will be conducting demos at other fairs throughout the city as well. 

Untitled Art Fair, Miami Beach

Free Trial of Primer at the Miami Art Fairs Have your art gallery or art collection software available 24/7

We are offering select galleries and collections a free trial of Primer Archives from now until the first week of December when nearly 80,000 members of the art community descend on Miami Beach. Please contact us as soon as possible to secure one of these complimentary cloud hosting spots. Whether you are at Art Basel Miami Beach in the convention center, the Untitled fair right on the beach, up Collins at NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance), Pulse, and Miami Project, or at the many events in Wynwood like Art Miami and everything in between, maintain constant access to your gallery inventory or private collection on your iPhone, iPad, or laptop. Share images of work not on site with clients or colleagues. Email follow-up from the Primer app. Instantly create price lists or work labels for the pieces in your booth. Our clients have reported increased sales at art fairs thanks to having immediate access to their full inventory, which can easily be viewed in fullscreen and quickly emailed. This special offer is available to new clients.

Art Basel Miami Beach 2015, Courtesy Art Basel

Primer Archives Cloud Hosting

With servers located across the US and internationally, each user’s Primer Archives database is securely cloud hosted, providing an easy networking solution with convenient access to their information. Don't be limited by a database that you can't view on any Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPad.

Primer named Official Gallery Software Partner for Texas Contemporary

We are pleased to announce that Primer is now an Official Partner with Texas Contemporary. We will be at the fair and still have a few slots left for personal demo appointments. Using Primer not only makes your business more efficient and focused on sales, we make it very easy to upload your VIP list for the Texas Contemporary Fair. Primer can be rapidly developed and therefore continues to evolve to meet our clients needs. We always listen to our partners and clients, and we look forward to working with Texas Contemporary and the Art Market Productions team.

Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Courtesy of Art Market Productions.

Primer in Houston, Texas

Primer will be in Houston Texas, September 28 - October 2, 2016  and will be visiting Texas Contemporary and the Houston Art Fair. We do have a limited number of slots available for personal demo presentations. Contact us to make an appointment!