How to Document Your Pottery Projects Like a Pro

Pros do not remember more than you. They write better breadcrumbs.

This is a tactical guide to what to capture at each stage of a pot’s life. Use it as a checklist until the habit sticks. If you want the “why bother” version first, start with Why You Should Keep a Pottery Journal.

Think in stages, not novels

A pot moves through a lifecycle. Your notes should too. Refresh the map with The Clay Life Cycle and Reading the Stage: How to Tell When It’s Ready.

Capture a little at each stage while the facts are still wet, literally and mentally.

Wet / plastic stage

This is where most of the form decisions happen.

Note:

Clay body and bag or batch if you track that
Starting weight
Target form and approximate size
Wheel speed feelings or handbuilding method
One win and one struggle (“centered cleanly,” “rim thinned on last pull”)

Photo tip: a quick side profile on a bat helps later comparisons.

Leather-hard stage

Leather hard is prime time for trimming, handles, lids, carving, and joining.

Note:

Date or day count since throwing if helpful
Trim profile and tools used
Foot diameter or height if you measured
Handle weight or pull notes
Attachment method and any slip recipe quirks
Carving or slip decoration plans

If a join feels risky, write why. Future you will spot patterns.

Bone-dry and bisque stages

Before bisque:

Confirm even dryness and any crack watches
Final dry weight if you track shrinkage
Inventory count for sets

After bisque:

Chips, warping, S-crack checks
Bisque cone or program name if known
Which pieces are glaze candidates vs remakes

A two-sentence bisque note prevents glazing a cracked pot you meant to recycle.

Glazed (raw) stage

This is where recipes are born or lost.

Note:

Exact glaze names (studio labels, not vibes)
Order of layers
Dip seconds or brush coats
Wax areas
Special techniques (resist, wipe-back, overlap zones)
Photo of the raw glazed pot if colors are hard to distinguish later

For deeper glaze logging systems, see The Best Ways to Track Your Pottery Glaze Results.

Fired (finished) stage

After the kiln cools, close the loop.

Note:

Glaze cone or studio firing name
Surface result in plain language
Food-safe considerations per studio guidance if relevant
Measurements vs targets (height, rim, foot)
Rating: keep recipe / revise / retire
Final photos in consistent light

Photographing Your Pottery Well makes those images useful, not just pretty.

A one-page template you can reuse

Copy this into Claybook or a notebook:

Project:
Clay / weight:
Wet notes:
Leather-hard notes:
Bisque notes:
Glaze stack / method:
Fired result:
Next time:

Fill only what you know. Empty lines are fine. Fake precision is not.

Set documentation without the headache

For matching sets, document the hero piece fully, then note siblings as “same recipe, piece 2 of 4” with any deviations. That keeps logs light while protecting consistency.

Common documentation mistakes

Waiting until the end of the month to reconstruct sessions
Writing “blue glaze” instead of the exact name
Skipping weights because “it felt like enough”
Taking only angled beauty shots with no profile reference
Never adding a “next time” line, so lessons do not travel forward

Where Claybook helps

Claybook keeps stage notes with the project instead of scattered texts and sticky notes. You can update the same record from wet clay to finished fire, then search it when a customer asks for another one “just like that mug.”

If you want an app overview built for this workflow, read The Best Pottery App for Tracking Your Projects, Clay, and Glazes.

Takeaway

Document in the moment, stage by stage. Capture weights early, glaze names clearly, and results honestly. Professional-looking consistency is mostly professional-looking notes.