#Getting Started with Spool Inventory

Spool Inventory is a free desktop app for tracking your 3D printer filament — how much you have, what's running low, and what it's costing you.

This guide walks through every part of the app.

#Keyboard shortcuts

Click the ? button (bottom-left) any time to see these:

#Installing

1. Download the installer from the Releases page.
2. Run it — no admin rights needed. A desktop shortcut and Start Menu entry are created automatically.
3. The app checks for updates automatically every time you open it, and will prompt you to restart when a new version is ready.

If Windows shows a "protected your PC" warning the first time you run the installer, click More info → Run anyway. This is normal for small independent apps that aren't code-signed.

#First launch

The first time you open the app, a short welcome walkthrough appears with an Add my first spool button that takes you straight into the add-spool form.

#The Overview tab

This is the first thing you see when you open the app — a quick-glance dashboard:

• Add spool / View inventory buttons
• Stat cards: active spools, lifetime kg printed, spools finished, on-hand value
• A Running low list, if anything is under its low-stock threshold
• A Recent activity feed of your last few logged prints and restocks

#The Inventory tab

This is where your actual spools live, shown as cards in a grid.

#Adding a spool

Click the + button (bottom-right) or press N. Fields include:

• Photo (optional) — upload an image, or paste one from your clipboard with Ctrl+V
• Material, Color, Brand
• Spool weight and Remaining (in grams)
• Price paid (optional) — enables cost-per-gram tracking
• Notes, Tags (comma separated), Location, Printer
• Reorder link — a URL to wherever you buy that filament
• Low stock alert at (%) — customize per spool; defaults to 15%

New spools default to whatever material/color you used last time, to speed up adding several in a row.

#Logging usage and restocking

Each card has two actions:

• Log usage — subtract grams after a print. You can also log optional hours printed.
• Add inventory — add grams back, for restocking or correcting a count.

Click History on a card to see a running log of everything that's happened to that spool.

#Other card actions

• Edit — change any field
• Duplicate — add another spool with the same details, at full weight
• Archive — hide a spool without deleting it (view archived spools via the Archived toggle near the filters)
• Delete — asks for confirmation, and gives you 20 seconds to undo

#Finding what you need

• Search — matches color, brand, or notes. Press / to jump to it.
• Filters — material, tag, location, and printer (each only appears once you have 2+ distinct values, or 1+ for printer)
• Sort — by recent, remaining %, name, or material
• Your filter/sort/search choices are remembered between sessions.

#Multi-material prints and bulk actions

• Multi-log — log one print that pulls grams from several spools at once
• Select — turns on checkboxes so you can bulk-archive, bulk-delete, or bulk-tag multiple spools at once

#Cost estimator

Click Estimator to open a small tool: pick a spool, enter how many grams a model needs, and it tells you the cost and whether that spool has enough left.

#The Stats tab

• Lifetime totals: kg printed, spools finished, and print hours logged (if you've been tracking hours)
• Milestone badges that light up as you hit printing/finishing milestones
• A weekly usage chart and "most printed" material/color breakdowns

#The Reference tab

A static cheat sheet of typical nozzle and bed temperatures per material.

#The Changelog tab

Full version history. Each entry has a small Image button that downloads a shareable graphic of that release's notes.

#The Settings tab

• Profile — rename the app (shows in the header, footer, and window title — handy for business use) and pick an accent color, including seasonal presets or a full custom color picker
• Desktop — minimize to tray, launch on Windows startup, and sound effects with a style picker (Classic/Soft/Chime, with previews) — all off by default
• Printers — add/remove printer names to assign to spools
• Accessibility — text size and a high-contrast mode

#The Credits tab

• App version and a Check for updates button
• Links to GitHub, Discord, bug reports, and donations (PayPal or Ko-fi)
• Backup & restore — export/import your full data (spools, printers, usage history) as JSON, or export as CSV for Excel/Sheets
• Share — copy a quick text summary of your inventory to paste anywhere

Your data lives only on your computer. A silent backup is also saved automatically every 7 days, and a reminder appears if it's been a while since your last manual export.

#Getting help

• Discord — join the community from the button in the header or Credits tab
• Report a bug — link in the Credits tab
• Still stuck? Reach out any way that's convenient — we're happy to help.