A Film SKU is a specific film product — brand, series, and VLT — that SalesThumb uses for roll tracking and $/ft costing. It's managed at Settings → Film Catalog (`/app/settings/films`, titled "Film SKUs" on the page itself), and it's a different catalog from the Sales Matrix's window-tint pricing: that one is the customer-facing tiers and prices shown on the kiosk, covered in Configuring the Sales Matrix catalog. This one is the inventory-costing record behind your physical rolls.
Why this page comes before receiving your first roll
Receiving and tracking film rolls walks through Inventory → Rolls → Receive roll, where the first field is "Film product (brand + series)" — a dropdown. That dropdown is populated entirely by the Film SKUs you set up here. If your shop hasn't created any yet, there's nothing in that dropdown to pick, so Film SKUs are a real prerequisite, not just a nice-to-have.
What a Film SKU carries
- Name and Brand (required) — Brand is picked from a dropdown of your shop's existing film brands.
- Type — Ceramic, Carbon, Dyed, Metallic, PPF, Vinyl, or Other.
- VLT % (optional) — 0 to 100.
- Warranty (yrs) (optional).
- Cost / ft (optional) — what you pay per foot, used for costing.
- Series (optional) — e.g. "Ceramic Plus".
- Active — a hidden SKU stays on file for history but drops out of pickers like the roll-receiving dropdown, so techs can't select it for a new roll going forward.
Two summary tiles at the top of the page show your total Film SKU count and how many are active.
The brand gotcha: this page can't create your first brand
The New/Edit dialog only lets you pick a brand from a dropdown of ones that already exist — there's no "add a new brand" control on this page. On a shop with zero brands, the dialog shows "No film brands exist yet. Add a brand before creating film SKUs," and Create stays disabled.
To get your very first brand — and a Film SKU in the same step — go to Products → New Product (`/app/products`) instead and turn on the Film SKU toggle in the product form. Fill in Film type, VLT %, Cost/ft, and Warranty there, save, and the brand is created for you automatically (or reused if a brand with that name already exists). Once that first brand exists, come back to Settings → Film Catalog to add more SKUs under it directly, or to fine-tune the one you just created.
Editing an existing SKU
Click Edit on any row to open the same dialog pre-filled with that SKU's current name, brand, type, VLT, warranty, cost, and active status.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What is a Film SKU, exactly?
A: A specific film product — brand, series, and VLT — tracked for roll inventory and $/ft costing. It's the inventory-costing record, separate from the customer-facing tint tiers you price on the Sales Matrix kiosk catalog.
Q: Why do I need Film SKUs before I can receive a roll of film?
A: Receiving a roll (Inventory → Rolls → Receive roll) asks you to pick a "Film product (brand + series)" from a dropdown, and that dropdown is populated entirely by the Film SKUs you've created on the Film Catalog settings page. With none set up, there's nothing to select.
Q: How do I add my first film brand?
A: There's no "add brand" control on the Film Catalog page itself — it only lets you pick from existing brands. Go to Products → New Product, turn on the Film SKU toggle, and save; that flow creates the brand for you automatically (or reuses one with a matching name) along with the Film SKU.
Q: What happens if I mark a Film SKU inactive?
A: It stays on file — nothing is deleted — but it drops out of pickers like the roll-receiving dropdown, so techs can't select it for new rolls going forward.
Q: Is Cost / ft required when I create a Film SKU?
A: No, it's optional, along with VLT %, warranty years, and series. Only Name and Brand are required to save a Film SKU.
Q: Can I edit a Film SKU after creating it?
A: Yes — click Edit on its row in the Film Catalog table, which opens the same dialog pre-filled with its current name, brand, type, VLT, warranty, cost, and active status.