How to Import Contacts into Artlogic
Importing contacts into Artlogic is a vital step for any artist, gallery or studio moving into a more professional CRM system, yet it’s one of the most common stumbling blocks. If your data currently lives in Excel, Mailchimp or a previous CRM — with fragmented spreadsheets, duplicate records or inconsistent categories — this process can quickly become messy and time-consuming.
In this guide you’ll learn how to use the Artlogic Contacts Import tool to prepare your spreadsheet, map your data correctly, and migrate your contacts into Artlogic with confidence, giving you a clean, reliable database for mailing campaigns, client relationships and accurate reporting.
1. Before you start: decide what “good data” looks like
Before you even open Artlogic, take a moment to define what a good contact record is for your organisation. For most galleries and studios that usually means:
One clear primary email address per person or organisation
Clean first name / last name / organisation fields
A usable postal address (for invoices, invitations, COAs)
At least one way to group them: category, interest, list, or activity level
Having this in mind makes the rest of the process much easier. Artlogic’s import tool expects a structured Excel spreadsheet, so the tidier your source file, the smoother your import will be.
2. Gather and export your existing lists
Next, pull everything into one place. Typical sources:
Excel or Google Sheets lists
Mailchimp / Campaign Monitor / other email platforms
Previous CRM or gallery database
Spreadsheets from the accountant, PDF invitation lists, even old address books
Export each list as .xlsx or .csv. Most systems give you an “Export to CSV/XLSX” option; choose all the fields you think you might need (names, emails, postal addresses, company names, tags, etc.).
Drop all of these exports into a single “Master Contacts” Excel file, using separate sheets if needed so you can see where everything came from.
3. Clean and consolidate your data
Now you’re going to turn all those lists into one clean spreadsheet that Artlogic can understand.
a. Remove obvious duplicates
Use Excel’s Remove Duplicates on email address columns as a first pass.
Where duplicates remain (e.g. same person, two email addresses), decide which email is primary and whether the second should be kept as a secondary address or dropped.
b. Split names and organisations
Artlogic distinguishes between people and organisations, and has separate fields for first and last name.
For individuals, split “Jane Smith” into First name = Jane, Last name = Smith.
For institutions, galleries, and companies, use Is organisation = TRUE and put the gallery name into Organisation.
If your original data has everything in one “Name” column, it’s worth taking a bit of time here to separate people from organisations properly – it pays off later when you’re grouping and reporting.
c. Standardise countries and addresses
Artlogic’s contact template expects addresses split into separate fields (Address line 1, Town/City, Postcode/Zip, Country, etc.).
Break out anything that’s currently in one long line into separate columns.
Standardise countries (“United Kingdom” vs “UK” vs “U.K.”) and cities where possible.
If you want multi-line addresses inside a single field (e.g. in rich text fields), you can use Excel formulas or line-break techniques described in Artlogic’s guide to importing formatted text.
d. Decide on categories and interests
If you already use tags like “VIP”, “Curator”, “Press”, “Studio visit 2024”, map these to Artlogic concepts:
Categories – broad groupings like “Curator”, “Collector”, “Press”
Interests – more specific preferences like “Contemporary sculpture”, “Photography”
Activity level / Importance rating – how significant or engaged someone is with you
You can either create these value lists in Artlogic first, or ensure the text in your spreadsheet matches the names you plan to use.
4. Download the Artlogic contacts import template
Once your data is in reasonable shape, move into Artlogic.
Go to Contacts > Tools > Import in your Management System.
The import wizard will open. Click Help to see the support notes and download the Contacts Import template spreadsheet.
This template is your best friend: row 1 is pre-filled with the exact field labels Artlogic expects, which removes the risk of typos.
You now have two options:
Use the template as your master file – copy your cleaned data into the relevant columns of the template.
Or adapt your existing master file – make sure row 1 matches the field names listed in the Contacts Import guide exactly (spelling and capitalisation).
5. Map your columns to key Artlogic fields
At minimum, I recommend populating:
First name / Last name
Is organisation (TRUE/FALSE)
Organisation (for galleries, businesses, institutions)
Email label (e.g. “Work”, “Personal”)
Email
Main address label (e.g. “Home”, “Office”)
Address line 1, Town/City, Postcode/Zip, Country
Importance rating or Activity level if you use them
Categories and/or Interests column(s) if you already have those defined
These labels come directly from Artlogic’s Contacts Import field list, so if you’re unsure what a column does, you can cross-check it against the support article.
A couple of practical tips:
Keep anything you’re unsure about in a temporary column (e.g. “notes_to_sort”) rather than deleting it. You can always import it later as Commentary or another field.
Use consistent separators for multi-value fields (Artlogic typically expects comma-separated values for things like categories/interests – check the template’s examples if present).
6. Run a small test import
Before you upload your full list, do a quick sanity check with a small batch.
Save a copy of your finished spreadsheet as a backup.
Create a test file with 10–20 rows from different parts of your list (VIPs, press, general contacts, organisations).
In Artlogic, go again to Contacts > Tools > Import and upload this small file.
Work through the wizard screens:
Confirm the file type and sheet.
Check that the system is recognising your column headings correctly.
Review the preview list on the edit screen – make sure data is sitting in the right fields.
Once you’re happy, complete the test import.
Go back to Contacts, find one or two of those imported records and open them:
Are names, emails and addresses in the right place?
Are categories/interests and importance levels correct?
Do organisation contacts look like organisations, not people?
If something is off, it’s almost always a column heading or data-format issue in the spreadsheet. Fix that in the master file, regenerate your test, and try again.
7. Import the full list
When the test import looks good, you’re ready for the full run.
Upload your full spreadsheet using the same Contacts > Tools > Import process.
Step through the wizard, double-checking:
The correct file and sheet are selected.
The “header row” is correctly set to row 1.
Column mappings still look right.
On the final screen, confirm the import.
Artlogic will create contact records from each row in your spreadsheet. Depending on the size of your list, this can take a little while – but once it’s finished, you’ll see your new contacts in the main Contacts view.
8. Tidy and refine your data inside Artlogic
Even with good prep, imports nearly always reveal quirks: slightly odd spellings, missing fields, or categories you want to rename.
Artlogic gives you a few tools to clean things up after import:
a. Advanced Search for gaps and inconsistencies
Use Advanced search in Contacts to:
Find records where a key field is empty (e.g. no email address, no country).
Find particular values that need correcting (e.g. “U.S.A.” vs “USA”).
b. Update Multiple for smart bulk edits
Once you’ve run a search and flagged the contacts you want to adjust, you can use Update Multiple to:
Add or replace categories, interests or lists
Fix a country or city across many records
Update an importance rating in one go
This is especially helpful when you realise, post-import, that you’d like to merge two near-identical categories (“vip” and “VIP”, “Curator” and “Curators”, etc.).
c. Grouping and relationships
Now that your records live in Artlogic, you can start to use:
Categories & interests to shape mailing lists
Activity levels and importance ratings to focus your attention
Organisation and Relationships to connect collectors, advisors, family members, or staff at the same institution
This is where the database starts to feel less like a static address book and more like a living map of your network.
9. Build a habit for future imports
The first migration is the heavy lift. After that, it’s about keeping the data healthy:
Make Artlogic your single source of truth for contacts — resist the temptation to keep rogue spreadsheets on the side.
When you receive a new list (from a fair, event sign-up, or partner), drop it into the same contact template, clean it quickly, and import.
Periodically run Advanced search + Update Multiple to keep categories, interests, and addresses tidy.
Final thought
A good contacts import isn’t glamorous work, but it’s one of the biggest upgrades you can give your Artlogic account. Once your data is clean and structured, everything else becomes easier: sending the right invitations, following up after fairs, tracking relationships across time, and understanding who actually drives your programme.
If you get stuck on any of the steps above – or if your legacy data is particularly complex – that’s exactly the kind of thing I help clients untangle as an Artlogic specialist.
