I have recently archived several products and then grouped these products together to sell as one product with different colours (example - black trim bread basket, forest trim bread basket and so on- archived and then created Trim bread basket, listing different colours under this heading). Does the inventory left in the archived product get counted in a total inventory count when performed?
Can you clarify what you mean when asking if the inventory of the archived product is counted when performed? Are you wondering if the inventory of the archived products are transferred over to the new product you create with the numerous variants?
If the latter is what you meant, then that is not something that will occur when creating a new product. The system keeps the archive products and their inventory dormant as they are no longer active on your store. You will need to update your variant count in the new product with the appropriate stock amount.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.