Thinking Of Ditching Acdsee And Using Windows For Search

[bjc]

i am about to consider ditching using acdsee..can i do this? after 3 or 4 years of using it??? will shall see ..i would like to hear from those that use vista and windows 7 to do their searches..i have tried a little and it seems to be ok... but i think the key is knowing the words to search...like i tried buttons and only got some..but when i tried button ( no s) i got way more....

 

1. so i would like to know if you have established a list of helpful words to use for searching...

 

2. if you search pink paper you would i think only get things named that way..so what if a designer called the paper rose or some other color close to pink...how do you find those papers?

 

3.. do you copy items from your collections and then put them into folders with general words, like paper, alphas, embellies etc...so that would help to narrow the search if you did a search in those folders? not sure if this is necesary and would be so much extra work but am trying to figure out if this would be like tagging and would give me best chance of finding everything ( i do have alot of stuff!!!)

 

4. any step by step help on how you search would be helpful or a link to an article or tuts

 

thanks and would love to know more on how you organize....i did not find picasa worked for me ( i hav 2 computers sharing one ehd...) and acdsee works when it is good but when it is bad it is horrid..lol....like when you change to new computer...and you do have to tag so that is an extra step...

 

thanks again

[April Showers]

That's what I do...

I don't tag anything, I just break things up into their own folders. I rarely need to search for things since they are in a folder that is logical for me. If you choose to break up collections, you can find the whole thing with a windows search.

I just got a nice big hard drive and have a folder for whole collections and another for the items filed by product type. I know it duplicates things, but it works for me. I've tried other things, but I keep coming back to my double method. If I find something that works really well with what I'm doing while I'm looking through my papers, I'll open up the whole collection and see what else is there that might work.

[tinkerbell11]

Bobbie

I also stopped using ACDsee it kept crashing on me grrr!

 

I have my supplies in a large folder called Digital ScrapBook Supplies then I have folders for Alphas, Collections, Embellishments, SS Paper temps, SS Emb Temps, SS Alpha Temps, DLOT, Sketches etc. I do keep my collections together, but I copy the embellishments into the embellishment folder and then I have sub folders for every thing ex.... Brads, buttons, borders, lace, leaves, floweres, paint splotches, art supplies, fibers, stitches, to name a few. That way if I am looking for something specific I can go the twig folder and look at all of the ones I own! When I search I usually use a key word like you said and you can actually tag in Vista with the Gallery Function, just not png or psd files has to be a jpeg. I hope this is helpful, I am sure you will get loads of different ideas !

[no_idea]

I have vista and it has been my only method for searching. I think I didn't explore other search options because I never dreamed after a few years how much stuff I would actually have! I'm used to vista search, and not knowing any different I find it helpful, but I can't compare it to acdsee.

 

If I want a pink flower, I search flower pink, because many file names are structured like that... the type of embellishment then the colour.

Same if I want an embroidered flower, I type in flower embroidered.

 

Some things can be hit and miss, it just depends how you have them organized in your folders. For example I did a search for paper blue, and I got several teal papers because they are in my folder titled Blue BG. I also got all of the Valerie's Dresden Blue papers show up in that search, even the pink ones because they are in my Dresden Blue folder.

 

But overall, it suits my needs and I have learned to work with it.

[AggieB]

I am also considering this, but am a little nervous since it is the one I've used forever. I'm curious to hear what replies you get.

[podiumchick]

I only use Windows in Vista to search. It works quite well. Some hang-ups: anything 'white' and I get all JWH products... and 'journal' gets me the Nature's Journal kit. I do not have folders for elements. Everything is sorted by kit. I tried it the other way, but with the search function, I prefer to keep them all together.

[BarbaraC1977]

1. so i would like to know if you have established a list of helpful words to use for searching...

2. if you search pink paper you would i think only get things named that way..so what if a designer called the paper rose or some other color close to pink...how do you find those papers?

Bobbie, in Windows 7 for sure, (and I can check Vista tomorrow), if you put all the pink papers in a folder entitled "Pink" or "Red_Pink_Magenta" and search for Pink, it will include ALL the contents of the folder, whether or not the filename or tags contain pink. I have tested this.

3.. do you copy items from your collections and then put them into folders with general words, like paper, alphas, embellies etc...so that would help to narrow the search if you did a search in those folders? not sure if this is necesary and would be so much extra work but am trying to figure out if this would be like tagging and would give me best chance of finding everything ( i do have alot of stuff!!!)

I have two copies of everything. One copy is organized by collection, e.g. Collections, MosaicRetreat or ScrapSimple Type/Set, e.g. SSPapers, Enchanted. Two very large folders, with sub-folder and sub-subfolders. The other copy is broken completely apart to Embellishments, Flowers, or Alphas, or Papers, Red_Pink_Magenta, etc. I would never have dreamed of this until I got Windows 7 and a full terabyte disk. I love it, though, as I can go back and forth easily to collection or product type/characteristic.

4. any step by step help on how you search would be helpful or a link to an article or tuts

You may want to see the notes I put in on searching in this other thread over the weekend: http://scrapgirls.co...1entry902480.

thanks and would love to know more on how you organize....i did not find picasa worked for me ( i hav 2 computers sharing one ehd...) and acdsee works when it is good but when it is bad it is horrid..lol....like when you change to new computer...and you do have to tag so that is an extra step...

I liked Picasa at first, but it didn't meet my needs either. The system I have above, which does NOT depend on file location or tags, also works when I back up all my supplies to my EHD and take it to another computer. That's part of the reason I went this way.

 

Sometimes I get some extra files, but better than missing them. Hope this helps!

[bjc]

i am finding this very informative and it is giving me courage to give up on acdsee....

 

i was wondering if anyone would be able to post some screen shots of their file trees...so that i can visually understand this

 

and it seems that most are copying items to folders designated by types , eg. papers, embellies etc...kind of like the tags i had in acdsee

 

but also keeping the original collection all together...is this so?

 

also is there any way you see raw photos and also psd layouts in windows??? or what do you use to view these????

[bjc]

Bobbie

I also stopped using ACDsee it kept crashing on me grrr!

 

I have my supplies in a large folder called Digital ScrapBook Supplies then I have folders for Alphas, Collections, Embellishments, SS Paper temps, SS Emb Temps, SS Alpha Temps, DLOT, Sketches etc. I do keep my collections together, but I copy the embellishments into the embellishment folder and then I have sub folders for every thing ex.... Brads, buttons, borders, lace, leaves, floweres, paint splotches, art supplies, fibers, stitches, to name a few. That way if I am looking for something specific I can go the twig folder and look at all of the ones I own! When I search I usually use a key word like you said and you can actually tag in Vista with the Gallery Function, just not png or psd files has to be a jpeg. I hope this is helpful, I am sure you will get loads of different ideas !

 

 

another question.... and i know there will be more..lol

 

if you copy your items into these folders by types, like embellies and sub folders of embellies, papers etc etc...then it seems you dont need the search function much??? cause you just go to the file by the type of thing you are looking for ...is that right? is the search just a more specific way or if you havent put something in a folder?

 

and since i have so much stuff how would you suggest going about copying all the stuff to folders.... it seems this would take awhile and also that i may be thinking of more and more sub folders...

 

would love to see what people have for their folder structure and sub folders...can anyone post screen shots here of folder trees

[bjc]

another question.... when i used acdsee i also would use it to find photos...so what do you use to see/find the photos you want to use?

[BarbaraC1977]

Bobbie, I'll see about some screen shots.

 

i rediscovered an OLD trick in Windows that helps me on the duplicates. When I'm in a hurry, with a new collection, such as Syndee's Bliss collection, I just press CTRL + CLICK, drag to the "other" location "SG_Materials" in my case, and drop it there. This makes a complete copy. When I open the SG_Materials folder, and see Alphas, BLISS, Embellishments, Papers, WordArt, it reminds me that I should start breaking this collection into its components. Again, depending on time, I might move all Embellishments into the top-level Embellishments folder and come back later. I only have about 20 top-level folders in Embellishments (Flowers, Brads_Buttons, etc) so it's obvious that the "clutter" needs to be put away. I just do it as I have time and am in the mood, but it works for me. I just keep nudging the supplies to the right corners as I go. :-)

Note: The SG_Collections section is closed here, as it's very large, and would require a much larger screen.

I do pretty well without search, but sometimes I don't get things placed optimally, so it's helpful there. The difference for search is that it looks in sub-folders, so if I've decided to subdivide further, I see those items too.

You can see that I haven't "put away" the Bokeh papers yet.

I haven't been shooting in RAW, so I don't have that to deal with yet. On PSDs, I just make sure I use Christy VanderWall's File Save with them, and uncheck everything except the 600 pixel jpg file. Then I have an image.

Here's how the search looks, fyi:

 

I use Windows Live Media player or MSOffice Picture Manager for quick views at larger sizes.

Ack, I think I'm writing too much!

[bjc]

barbara, this has been very helpful and i must say i really appreciate the screen shots.... not sure i understand the last screen shot... what have you searched?

[tinkerbell11]

Bobbie

The only thing I copy over is embellishments so that I can look and see all of one type of thing I guess, I leave papers with their collections and alphas and word art. I put the wordart and alpha sheets in files so I can do a quick scan and then go to the collection to see the individual word arts/alpha. I am not so helpful with screenshots, not so sure how to do them sorry!

[BarbaraC1977]

barbara, this has been very helpful and i must say i really appreciate the screen shots.... not sure i understand the last screen shot... what have you searched?

 

The last screenshot was a search was for "Thanks" which Win7 highlights nicely in yellow.

[lorac]

I gave up on ACDsee a long time ago. It kept freezing on me and doing weird things. When I got my new PC with Vista, I didn't reinstall ACDsee. I just use Vista search and it works fine for me. I organize by collection name and then under that I use files for: papers, borders, alphas, brads, etc. So it looks something like this:

Ballard Collection Biggie

Alphas

Papers

Frames

Ribbons etc.

[Belle]

Thanks for asking all these questions, Bobbi, and thanks to all the ladies for the responses. It's Barbara to the rescue again.

[bjc]

I gave up on ACDsee a long time ago. It kept freezing on me and doing weird things. When I got my new PC with Vista, I didn't reinstall ACDsee. I just use Vista search and it works fine for me. I organize by collection name and then under that I use files for: papers, borders, alphas, brads, etc. So it looks something like this:

Ballard Collection Biggie

Alphas

Papers

Frames

Ribbons etc.

 

 

CAROL.... can you explain why putting these subfiles in each collection helps in the search ...or then how you search? what words you use and then if you see them all together

[bjc]

i continue to investigate the possibilites and really really couldnt do this without you! you have all been so helpful with your postings... now for my questions ( you know me, i always have questions...LOL..thinking thinking thinking....)

 

last night i started doing some of the ideas that barbara suggested...i made some files and sub files..which you will see in one of the screen shots on the left side of the windows explorer window.... i did this by copying things into this folder, i decided i really like to see all my files in alphabetical order by designer name with all the things together in the collection so that is why i copied and didnt move things...

 

then i took a screen shot of the buttons....you will see that ....(of course it isnt all my buttons, just the ones i have copied so far into that subfolder of embellishments SCREEN SHOT 2

 

i also did a search for buttons red... see screen shot and saw all these red buttons SCREEN SHOT 1

 

so NOW MY QUESTION....

 

why would i need to do the copying of the things into these folders/subfolders that i establish? when i look at the folder ( buttons) vs the search button red..they look the same... in that i see all the items clearly and can drag them easily into photoshop.... so i am trying to make sense of what has been said here and would like to know the advantages or the reasons/whys for making these folders/subfolders with copied items from collections?

 

now that i asked the question and am hoping for your thoughts i will also try to guess some answers.

 

possibly, not all items are named the way you may want to search so they wont come up in the searching also i think that opening up a folder/subfolder with all your items... ( and i do have A LOT OF THINGS) may be faster than when you do a search ( i do find the search is slower than going to a category in acdsee, though you can start to drag items before the complete search is done)

 

thanks for your thoughts.... here are the screen shots

[BarbaraC1977]

I do subfolders for type of product in collections just as Carol does--depending on how the designer names things and just plain "luck," you can end up with an alpha mixed all through the collection, or papers here and there if you don't divvy these up. Since the optimal size to view these are very different, I prefer to keep them separated in a collection.

 

Bobbie, if all the files are consistently named, then no, you wouldn't need to create folders. Red is a short color name, and tends to be consistent. However, Blue is often shortened to "blu" or even "bl." Orange can be Orng. That makes searching harder. For papers, which are often JPGs, they'll still carry the tags and file information the designer used in the file. However, for PNG files, which cannot include embedded tagging, the information is skimpier. The file folders are designed to help me overcome those vagaries. And yes, simply opening a folder is even faster than searching.

 

If I had enough time (and I don't right now,) I'd use Bulk Rename Utility to select ALL my Orange buttons, and simply append Orange (spelled out) to every one of them. The problem with this strategy is that then I'm also tempted to append "Rustic" to some things, and "Dainty" to others, and so on and so on! It's probably just a well I don't have the time. This way, there's just enough variability that I also have "happy accidents" and find things that work that I hadn't planned on.

[bjc]

I do subfolders for type of product in collections just as Carol does--depending on how the designer names things and just plain "luck," you can end up with an alpha mixed all through the collection, or papers here and there if you don't divvy these up. Since the optimal size to view these are very different, I prefer to keep them separated in a collection.

 

Bobbie, if all the files are consistently named, then no, you wouldn't need to create folders. Red is a short color name, and tends to be consistent. However, Blue is often shortened to "blu" or even "bl." Orange can be Orng. That makes searching harder. For papers, which are often JPGs, they'll still carry the tags and file information the designer used in the file. However, for PNG files, which cannot include embedded tagging, the information is skimpier. The file folders are designed to help me overcome those vagaries. And yes, simply opening a folder is even faster than searching.

 

If I had enough time (and I don't right now,) I'd use Bulk Rename Utility to select ALL my Orange buttons, and simply append Orange (spelled out) to every one of them. The problem with this strategy is that then I'm also tempted to append "Rustic" to some things, and "Dainty" to others, and so on and so on! It's probably just a well I don't have the time. This way, there's just enough variability that I also have "happy accidents" and find things that work that I hadn't planned on.

 

 

so what is Bulk Rename Utility? ( i am lovin learning so much here!) not a clue what that is how to use it etc..though i would guess i dont have time either...LOL but would love to know

 

and you have explained it i think ...the files just arent all perfect with the names so in those cases you wont find it in searching...so i guess i could use the searching for now as i try to get filing done as well..as i think doing the files will take me a long time since i have so much collections..so i will c this as ongoing but would love to have the ability to scrap while i get organized... i thank you for your help ...

[BarbaraC1977]

Bulk Rename Utility is a geeky-style shareware tool you can find by searching the internet. It's free. It is intimidating when you first look at it, but they have very good help on how to do most functions--I only use maybe half a dozen, and I'll bet it has at least 20-25. It's fast, and you can UNDO if you make a mistake, so well worth playing around and trying.

 

I think I wrote more about at some point in the past. I'll see about finding that post, but for now I have to get to work.

[bjc]

another question...if you do a search or locate things in your windows explorer window then how do you open them into photoshop? do you just drag them in? or is there a short cut key like in acdsee i used ctrl E..would love a short cut key... since when i drag in they seem to go right into the layout as a smart obj ..what do you do?

[AggieB]

I'll have to check out the bulk rename. Whether I'm taking the stuff from ACDSee or Explorer, I make a copy and put it into a temporary folder so I don't accidentally edit my supplies. Maybe that isn't a problem with Photoshop.

[GPamela]

i am about to consider ditching using acdsee..can i do this? after 3 or 4 years of using it??? will shall see ..i would like to hear from those that use vista and windows 7 to do their searches..i have tried a little and it seems to be ok... but i think the key is knowing the words to search...like i tried buttons and only got some..but when i tried button ( no s) i got way more....

 

1. so i would like to know if you have established a list of helpful words to use for searching...

 

2. if you search pink paper you would i think only get things named that way..so what if a designer called the paper rose or some other color close to pink...how do you find those papers?

 

3.. do you copy items from your collections and then put them into folders with general words, like paper, alphas, embellies etc...so that would help to narrow the search if you did a search in those folders? not sure if this is necesary and would be so much extra work but am trying to figure out if this would be like tagging and would give me best chance of finding everything ( i do have alot of stuff!!!)

 

4. any step by step help on how you search would be helpful or a link to an article or tuts

 

thanks and would love to know more on how you organize....i did not find picasa worked for me ( i hav 2 computers sharing one ehd...) and acdsee works when it is good but when it is bad it is horrid..lol....like when you change to new computer...and you do have to tag so that is an extra step...

 

thanks again

 

 

I keep collections together and use categories folders just for single items like

all papers only, all embelllshments only,alpha. only etc.

I then copy all my new stuff to my ehd.

This works for me since I just go to my collections folder,or embellishments folder

and get what I want.

 

Photos I do tag but not scrap supplies.

[bjc]

i am about to consider ditching using acdsee..can i do this? after 3 or 4 years of using it??? will shall see ..i would like to hear from those that use vista and windows 7 to do their searches..i have tried a little and it seems to be ok... but i think the key is knowing the words to search...like i tried buttons and only got some..but when i tried button ( no s) i got way more....

 

1. so i would like to know if you have established a list of helpful words to use for searching...

 

2. if you search pink paper you would i think only get things named that way..so what if a designer called the paper rose or some other color close to pink...how do you find those papers?

 

3.. do you copy items from your collections and then put them into folders with general words, like paper, alphas, embellies etc...so that would help to narrow the search if you did a search in those folders? not sure if this is necesary and would be so much extra work but am trying to figure out if this would be like tagging and would give me best chance of finding everything ( i do have alot of stuff!!!)

 

 

 

4. any step by step help on how you search would be helpful or a link to an article or tuts

 

thanks and would love to know more on how you organize....i did not find picasa worked for me ( i hav 2 computers sharing one ehd...) and acdsee works when it is good but when it is bad it is horrid..lol....like when you change to new computer...and you do have to tag so that is an extra step...

 

thanks again

 

 

I keep collections together and use categories folders just for single items like

all papers only, all embelllshments only,alpha. only etc.

I then copy all my new stuff to my ehd.

This works for me since I just go to my collections folder,or embellishments folder

and get what I want.

 

Photos I do tag but not scrap supplies.

so it sounds like you have doubles of everything right? the whole collection and then the specific folders, like embellies , papers etc

 

and then you do searches in the folders?

[bjc]

update on where i am at with this... i decided i would probably not use acdsee , since i couldnt use it and also since it can be so finicky when you change computers or sometimes for no reason..it is not really expensive so i was ok with just getting passed not having it and you all have given me some great ideas... i know i will have to get used to doing things alittle differently... but that is prob good for the old brain..lol.... also i have started doing some sorting and putting duplicates into sub folders...( dont want to break up collections) which i do like the feeling organizing when i have time...or when i am too tired or dont really have enough time to scrap this is a good way to spend time...i also love seeing the stuff and am hoping it will inspire me

 

but .... my computer guy was stumped by the acdsee not working so we got some online things on faq and since i didnt care if it didnt work ...it couldnt make things worse..lol... he decided there was some corrupt folders in my database..dont know how that happens...but he was thinking it could be a issue with mozy and acdsee not getting along..lol....so we dumped these wierd files...with file extension...ftp ( huh?) and now it works... but so far i havent really used it....so the saga continues...lol

 

still love hearing from everyone on how they organize or if they use acdsee any issues or if they have given up on it too

[GPamela]

update on where i am at with this... i decided i would probably not use acdsee , since i couldnt use it and also since it can be so finicky when you change computers or sometimes for no reason..it is not really expensive so i was ok with just getting passed not having it and you all have given me some great ideas... i know i will have to get used to doing things alittle differently... but that is prob good for the old brain..lol.... also i have started doing some sorting and putting duplicates into sub folders...( dont want to break up collections) which i do like the feeling organizing when i have time...or when i am too tired or dont really have enough time to scrap this is a good way to spend time...i also love seeing the stuff and am hoping it will inspire me

 

but .... my computer guy was stumped by the acdsee not working so we got some online things on faq and since i didnt care if it didnt work ...it couldnt make things worse..lol... he decided there was some corrupt folders in my database..dont know how that happens...but he was thinking it could be a issue with mozy and acdsee not getting along..lol....so we dumped these wierd files...with file extension...ftp ( huh?) and now it works... but so far i havent really used it....so the saga continues...lol

 

still love hearing from everyone on how they organize or if they use acdsee any issues or if they have given up on it too

 

 

FTP stands for File Transfer Program.

You use ftp if you need upload many files including photos,graphics,html pages to the web

for your own personal,small business or commerical business website.