The problem
A vial has no memory.
Six samples come in one order and three get swabbed. The rest sit in a drawer with no note about why they were interesting.
Ink sample tracker
Know which ink samples you have already tried.
Sample vials arrive faster than they get swabbed. A free CSV to record the vial, the pen you tested it in, and whether it earned a full bottle.
Free early access
Join the waitlist and get the free CSV.
One field. No password, no card. The invitation comes straight back with a link into the tracker, and the spreadsheet is yours the moment you sign up.
Already know what you want? Get access — $5 USD →
One-time payment, no subscription. Access to the service for as long as Vergure remains in operation.
Samples on the desk
6 vialsRobert Oster Fire and Ice
TWSBI Eco, EF, Rhodia
Sailor Shikiori Yozakura
Pro Gear, MF, Midori MD
Wearingeul Dokkaebi
M400, B, shimmer
Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo
Still in the vial
The expensive symptom
A bottle you already passed on.
Samples exist to prevent a wrong bottle. Without a written verdict, the sample was a cost and not a decision.
Not an ink inventory
Trials, not stock.
An ink inventory lists what you own. This list is one step earlier: what you are still deciding about.
The columns, and what goes in them
18 columns, grouped the way a vial actually moves: it arrives, it gets tested, it gets a verdict. Leave a column blank rather than inventing a value.
The vial
- ink_brand
- Robert Oster
- ink_name
- Fire and Ice
- sample_source
- Where it came from — a shop, a swap, a boxed set
- volume_ml
- 2
- date_received
- 2026-01-14
The test
- date_tested
- Blank until you actually put it in a pen
- pen_used
- TWSBI Eco
- nib_size
- extra_fine
- paper_tested_on
- Rhodia 80gsm
What it did
- sheen
- true / false
- shading
- true / false
- shimmer
- true / false
- saturation
- low / medium / high
- dry_time_seconds
- 18
- waterproof
- true / false
The decision
- verdict
- not tested yet / undecided / pass / buy bottle
- bottle_bought
- true once the full bottle is on the shelf
- notes
- Red sheen shows on Rhodia and not on copy paper
Two columns do the work
verdict and bottle_bought are the only ones you have to keep honest. Sort on them and the drawer becomes a shopping list.
A vial with no date_tested is work you have already paid for and not done yet. That is the useful filter.
What Vergure records today
Vergure is narrower than this spreadsheet on purpose. Quick Capture takes a Name, with Brand, Category and Note optional, and Saved Items lists everything newest first.
A sample goes in as an item in the ink category, and the verdict goes in the Note. The pen it was tested in shows under Currently Inked while it is loaded.
If you want the full 18 columns, keep the CSV. The two records answer different questions.
The spreadsheet, if that is all you came for
18 columns and 6 filled rows to show the shape, including one vial left untested on purpose. It opens in Sheets, Excel or Numbers, and it costs nothing.
Download the free CSVIf the file didn't download, here's the direct link: ink-sample-tracker.csv