Guest rjmommie Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I am starting to get a little overwhelmed with them. I am trying to figure out a good system to keep it all organized. I thought I would ask here and see what everyone else is doing. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LissaD Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Here is another thread where I answered the question of what I use to organize all of my stuff. There are some ideas for users of different programs. [url="http://scrapgirls.com.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1779"]http://scrapgirls.com.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1779[/url] I'm sure others have come up with even more ideas about how to organize, these are just a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reach4astar Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 Initially, I keep files by site, especially since so many sites hand out freebies. I always make sure to note the creator of the item in the name of the file or graphic, though, or put that information along with anything else I need to remember (like terms of use that were written on the site, but aren't in the file) in a text file to go with the graphic item. Once I have more than a couple of graphics and/or sets from a particular designer, I keep also keep files according to designer name. At that point, I'll pull the designer's file from the site files (where purchased) and only keep them in the designer's file, except in very unusual circumstances. I also have started keeping what I call Megafiles on certain subject or types of files. For example, I have a Megafile for WordArt, and one for Soccer, and another for Golf. These are the files where I take everything related to that subject or type of file, no matter where I got it or who designed it. So I might put in whole kits, but I can also just put in elements from a kit that meets that subject theme. Sometimes I also put in elements that satisfy a certain color scheme, too. I really have to make sure the items in these files are well labeled as to source. Everything in these files is a duplicate of something I have somewhere else, but in the Megafile, I look at it differently. I keep the Megafiles scattered amongst the site files and designer files, but I keep the Megafile folder names in all caps, so they're easy to spot. It has worked really well for me, and I've noticed a few other topics for new Megafiles I want to create, too. I still have trouble remembering sometimes which folder a particular file is in. I don't know any way to solve that other than to have a better memory! Not even an indexing system could help me find everything. The key is to think about how you identify the files in your mind first, and then set up your folders in a similar way. Oh, and though it's personal preference, when I buy a kit, I take everything out of folders (except individual alpha files) and get it all out together in the file, and get rid of the individual folders. I want to see how it all looks together. Good luck finding a system that works for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rjmommie Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 Thanks for the help. I am still trying to get stuff unzipped. LOL So much stuff so little time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxscraps Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 i also originally kept everything in all the separate folders that pop out when unzipping, but I started taking the files out and keeping them in one main folder for each kit, for example. I use the pse3 file organizer to pull files from and its easier to browse that way. less clicking and opening, etc. though I do have them divided by backgrounds, embellishments, wordart, alphas, page kits and am still working on that aspect.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saraedin Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 [quote name='rjmommie' date='Jul 15 2005, 05:42 PM']So much stuff so little time. [right][post="20757"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote] LOL I can just agree... If I could I would be stuck with the computer all day long / Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BonnyJean Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 oh yeah, I'll sit on the computer all day! lol between digi scrapping and message boards, I WAS online all day yesterday! lol I like my system, but I am only half done! I have a file called "Digital Scrapbooking" In that folder, I have a folder with a bunch of site or designer names, mostly sites. then inside those folders are the kits, named with the site name kit name designer name. Ex: SG Florida Vacation Kit Roxanne Paxman anyway, the second part I have to work some more on is getting all the individual files tagged in Photoshop Elements organizer. I have some already done and its nice to go in and click on "eyelets" tag and have all the eyelets from every kit come up with site name and designer name right in its name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Swamp Dragon Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 I use the folder examples as y'all do BUT One trick I seen that no one uses... when I have used every which way images for example I put them on a CD to make room for new ones... I do this every 3 months. As for I am online or I should say on my computer at least 40 plus hours a WEEK Yes I don't sleep much-Day or Night!! lol But I also do this with embelishments, eyelets, Ribbons, etc. I am able to keep everything orginized & in order... I hope this helps others as well as it helps me... Lahia Swamp Dragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PreceptTeacher Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 [font=Garamond][size=7] I started organizing things in several different ways. Initially I had websites names as my largest folders with differnet designers within each of those folders. Within the designer's folder I had their collections withing their own folders. That seemed to work at first but as I collected more things it got more and more akward to use. I couldn't really scan through what I had very well. So I started over. Fortunately I didn't yet have so much that it was an overwhelming task! I took Ro's advice about having things on a portable hard drive instead of my main hard drive. I also took her advice about creating a file structure to hold the different types of things I had. (I've attached a file with a picture of the file structure.) I initially had folders for Alphabets (with subfolders by color), Copyright Notices(with subfolders by website), Doodles & Flourishes, Elements Extras(containing brushes, effects, textures, etc), Embellishments(with subfolders by types of embellishments), Grunge Edging, Papers(with subfolders by color), Pictures of Kits(with subfolders by website), Templates, Transparencies & Overlays, Words Quotes & Titles(with subfolders like Sentiments, Friend & Family, Love, etc.). After I got going I also added folders for Birthday & Celebration, Christmas and Valentine's Day. Within the Papers folder, I have separate folders for colors, such as Brown & Tan, Pink & Rose, Purple, Misc, etc. Within the Embellishments folder I have separate folders for different types of embellishments, such as Fasteners Pins & Clips, Buttons & Thread, Frames & Slide Mounts, Ribbons Ropes Bows Tapes & Tassels, etc. The Ribbons ... folder has subfolders by color. I broke up all the kits into their separate pieces and stored them in their proper places but first I put a picture of the entire kit in the "Pictures of Kits" folder which had sub folders for each website that they came from. That way I knew where the kit came from. Each website was assigned a 2 or 3 letter prefix that I attached to the front of the file name of every item in the kit. Yes, this involves a lot of renaming of files, but in the end, no matter where I put the element from the kit, I know what website it came from. Then I can go to the proper subfolder in my "Pictures of Kits" folder and find all of the items that go with element I am currently working with. For instance, anything that comes from Scrapgirls.com starts with SG_. Anything from Digital Scrapbook Place.com starts with DSP_. The other advantage, beyond knowing where a paticular item comes from, is that since the files start with the same prefix they sort together when you look at the thumbnails if they are ordered by name. Since Scrapgirls has the 3-letter ID of the designer and the kit name also in the file name, they will all sort together and you will know who the designer is. For instance if you have several papers from the kit that are multi-colored and therefore go in the Mult Paper folder, they will all sort together so you sill see your coordinating papers together! Other sites are not as good about putting the designer name or kit name in the file name, so sometimes when I am adding the website's prefix to the file name I also add the kit name. If I had had a ton of stuff before I started this system I think I would have been overwhelmed by the amount of work with renaming and moving files. But now that my system is in place it's pretty easy to get things where they should be so that they are easy to use and still know where they came from so that credit can be given to the designer and with the Pictures of the Kits stored I can refer to that to find other coordinating items that belong to the same kit. Hope this helps somebody just starting out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDecker Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 I now have 3 main folders that I keep my stuff in. One is by website and is where I download and unzip my files to. I keep all zip files in this folder. This makes it easy to back up my zip files. I don't bother to backup my unzipped files they take up to much room and I can recreate from my zips. I have a second one that is organized by type of file, kit, paper, work art, elements and after I unzip them I put the files into this folder. I like the way SG lables all files so I have started adding to file names by other sites with the same type of lableing. I also start each file by SG (scrapgirls) DD, DSP etc then the designer so they sort them selves. My third file is for the creative team I am on. I keep all my Dreams Ink stuff including finished LO's there. Oh wait I guess I have a 4th! LOL. I have a folder for all LOs in their FULL layered state with a sub folder of the flattened jpgs (saved with the same name) Makes them easy to find. After I save as a jpg I right click on the LO and go to properties I then put all the element info in so I can find easily if I need to. HTH! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PreceptTeacher Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 [quote name='sailbeachcatz177' post='57388' date='Aug 26 2006, 07:17 AM']I now have 3 main folders that I keep my stuff in. One is by website and is where I download and unzip my files to. I keep all zip files in this folder. This makes it easy to back up my zip files. I don't bother to backup my unzipped files they take up to much room and I can recreate from my zips. I have a second one that is organized by type of file, kit, paper, work art, elements and after I unzip them I put the files into this folder. I like the way SG lables all files so I have started adding to file names by other sites with the same type of lableing. I also start each file by SG (scrapgirls) DD, DSP etc then the designer so they sort them selves. My third file is for the creative team I am on. I keep all my Dreams Ink stuff including finished LO's there. Oh wait I guess I have a 4th! LOL. I have a folder for all LOs in their FULL layered state with a sub folder of the flattened jpgs (saved with the same name) Makes them easy to find. After I save as a jpg I right click on the LO and go to properties I then put all the element info in so I can find easily if I need to. HTH! LOL[/quote] Hi Dee, I like the idea of only backing up your zip files. Unfortunately, when I was first starting out, I didn't hang on to those! Now I am. I have a folder to keep my completed projects in, but I hadn't though about putting the flattened jpeg in a subfolder with them. I also like the idea of putting what I used in the properties for the file. I had never explored that aspect before! Thanks for the suggestions! Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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