The bestest way . . . .

[Sasha]

How do you organize your kits? Paper? Bellies? Element? everything? Geez, its overwhelming! LOL...

For now, I only have freebies and I'm already tearing my hair out. I save everything to a CD staight away and I wonder if I should have one CD for every designer? Is that advisable?

Pls tell me how you're doing yours and Thank you in advance! U have no idea how much you sharing your tips will help me

*hugs* and God Bless!

[luv2cre8]

I save things similar to the way that Katie has it set up in the store. I have folders for kits, brushes, elements, etc. Within the folders I have sub-folders by designers. I have been tempted to get a program like ACdsee. With that program you can tag your elements, i.e. grunge elements and then later do a search via "grunge". I do have to confess I need to save my products on disk. I use Carbonite to back up all my files, but the product I have is using up lots of space on my computer.

[Steph]

I organize mine a bit differently, but I think what Jill said is a better way. I have all of my supplies organized by designer. I tend to have a pretty good memory, so it's working for now. I've really found that each DD designer has a pretty unique style, so that also helps.

Just rereading what I just wrote really makes me think that organizing by elements is probably a bit faster than what I do.

[thyme4me]

I save my things in folders by designers. I'd like to try to keep them like Jill does but I'm afraid I'll forget whose kit it came from. I keep them all on a EHD and I also save them to a CD or a DVD once a month. Or at least I try to.

[Britgirl]

I used to sort all my kits out into elements, tags, buttons, papers etc but now I prefer to keep it in the kit I got it in, otherwise I cant remember whos is what or what else goes with it. and hahaha, yes i SAVE all my zipped files to disk when I buy them (Hhahaha because I just recently lost them all by not saving) but I have them on my computer ready to use rather than take them off the disk each time. HTH!

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Okay, let me start by apologizing for how much screen space this post will take, but here's what I do. Basically, I have all of my scrapbooking files & photos on their own internal HD and backup to an external HD. This is how I organize:

HD>Scrapbooking>Digital Kits>(Individual Stores)>(Individual Designers)

once they're in the designer's individual folder, I copy files and sort them into the appropriate folders in this path:

HD>Scrapbooking>Individual Elements>(multiple folders of ind. elements)

Here are some shots:

This is by designer. Within each designer, if I have A LOT of their stuff, I break it down even further, as you see here with Katie's stuff.



This is by individual element. These are the "Fasteners," which you can see needed to have many subfolders.



This is also by individual element. These are the papers and I thought I'd show how I subcategorized them. Notice that I assigned color labels to all the colors that Mac had labels for. It makes things much faster because I don't have to read as much!



And . . . this shot is of MY MOST USEFUL TOOL. I just decided a couple of months ago to make this folder, and it is a life saver. I have a shortcut to it on my desktop that opens in THUMBNAIL view, and it makes the process of creating a layout so much easier. Basically, I created all these folders and I copied just the jpg preview file for all my product into each. Now, I can browse things VERY quickly. I know I could do this with Adobe Bridge, but I don't trust it (it's wigged out on me before). This way, I know they're not going anywhere.



So, are you still reading this post? lol

[ptknox]

I use a program called ACDSee to keep my kits organized. It allows me to add "tags" to each element such as designer name, paper, color, staple, etc. and then I can just run a search for something (like blue paper by Katie Pertiet for example) and find everything on my hard drive that fits that criteria.

I have subdirectories for each designer and I unzip my kits into those subdirectories then tag them in ACDSee. If you add the tags and keywords as soon as you unzip the kit it's not too hard to stay on top of it. (Says the girl who has 3 months worth of kits waiting to be organized! )

I back up my hard drive containing all my kits and photos to another hard drive through my home network once a week just to be sure that I don't suffer some hard drive disaster and lose everything.

[Steph]

Whoa Cassie! That is awesome!!!!! Wanna come over and spend 20 hours doing that to mine? LOL!!!

[katrinak]

Ditto Patty above! I LOVE ACDSee. The search is as quick as checking a box and BAM there is everything that fits that search. It took me about an hour to go through everything and put it in the catergories and then about 30 seconds to tag new items. I used Jessica Sprague's categories file to get starated which made it Sooo much easier!

[seewah]

Originally Posted by ptknox

I use a program called ACDSee to keep my kits organized. It allows me to add "tags" to each element such as designer name, paper, color, staple, etc. and then I can just run a search for something (like blue paper by Katie Pertiet for example) and find everything on my hard drive that fits that criteria.

I have subdirectories for each designer and I unzip my kits into those subdirectories then tag them in ACDSee. If you add the tags and keywords as soon as you unzip the kit it's not too hard to stay on top of it.

I also use ACDSee. I have LOTS to go through and unzip and tag ... but I feel that it is SO worth it to spend the time to do it. There is no way I would ever be able to find supplies otherwise.

I am a complete newbie in the digi world ... and I figured that it was a good idea to start doing this now and make it a habit!

[Sasha]

Goodness.... you ladies are so helpful!

And Cassie, looking at what I have now, maybe u can come over and do mine in about 5 mins LOL..

Thank you everyone for sharing!!!

I'm afraid to store on my HD, just in case it slows down my pc. *sigh*

[lizzy3195]

whoa, cassie you had my head spinning until I read the last part where you save a copy of a jpeg of the whole kit/product for easy view. That is just brilliant and just simple enough that I can do it. I'm going to do that tonight when I get home!!!

[jennyk]

I also use ACDSee. It is great! They have a free trial that I highly recommend. At first I didn't really believe it would be everything it was cracked up to be but it is.

[winterwishes]

Before my MAC, I trialed ACDSee and it was AWESOME. I'm sad that it's not offered for the MAC.

Cassie - question for ya . . .

You don't do any of that within iPhoto so you can actually see the items? If they're simply on your hard drive, broken down by folder, then how do you actually see the items without opening up each one?

I did it very similar to you, but I do it within one of my Libraries within iPhoto6 and would love to figure out the method you used - - wondering if it might take up less space, etc.

Thanks!

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Grace, that last screen shot of the Previews folder is how I do it. That has the jpg of the preview file for everything I download.

As for seeing every individual element, I can do that, too. If you look at my second screen shot, you'll see that in addition to storing all the kits in their entirety by designer, I also have a second folder called "Individual Elements" where I break down copies of the kits into their own subfolders. Does this take up more space? Yes. Twice as much, in fact. I essentially have every download on my HD in two places. One copy in the designers folder, and one copy spread out into individual element folders. It's worth the expense in more HD space for the peace of mind and ease of use.

If I need a blue paper, I just click on the folder, change to "thumbnail/icon" view, and I can see them all.

As much as I love my Mac, I can tell you . . . I don't trust iPhoto as my only location for ANYTHING. All of my photos are in Finder folders on my HD, as are all my scrapbooking files.

HTH

[winterwishes]

Very interesting . . .

Now you've got me worried - lol. I back up every week, but maybe I'm putting too much faith in iPhoto. iPhoto also ends up doubling all the files so I guess it wouldn't be any different doing it on the HD except that the images might not be seen as easily. I wonder if the Finder has Smartfolders - will have to check that out. Thanks Cassie - you're always a help!

Hmmmmm . . . also interesting to see that nobody has mentioned Bridge . . .

[shhbabymine]

cassie - your screen shots are still blowing my mind! oh my gosh - i think i need a mac!!!

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Grace, I tried to use Bridge in the very beginning. I was putting all kinds of key words on things . . spent hours organizing. Then one day *poof* Bridge wouldn't work. I don't know what the deal was. I figured I'd just trust the Finder. That's what it's made for. Then I just use the Spotlight feature to find things I need. It's been working fine for me.

[AmberR]

Hey Cassie - up until the 'individual elements folders' we have our stuff organized almost EXACTLY the same! Question for you though - with windows I can create a shortcut of my elements and put them in an element folder instead of having two copies of everything - is that possible on the mac? Just curious. The only problem with the shortcuts is that if you move the original file, the shortcut no longer works!

[cedarhil]

Cassie, I find Bridge to be clumsy . Is there a way to disable it? I looked for a way but couldn't find.

[Chris]

We mac folks might not get ants inside our computers, but darn, we don't get ACDSee either!
One thing though, we do have Cassie! I love this thread because I keep coming back to see her way of organizing. I think this time I'm going to print it out! It's good to see the folders nicely organized the mac way.

[belle]

i like the idea of organizing first by sore then designer i have them by designer . I now have them in bridge and have key words so i can search by element

[nancyw39]

I organize my kits, elements, brushes by designer. But I'm a very visual person and when I get ready to scrap a group of pictures I like to browse through my stash and find just the right items for them. So I've create a paper catalog that I can browse at my leisure. After I unzip the kit (or item) I copy the preview jpg and move it to a folder call "contact sheet". I make sure the preview is named the same as the directory where I unzipped the item. Example: if the item is KPertiet_VintageFrames I make sure both the folder and the preview jpg are name the same. So when I pick the items I want to use I can go to my pc and and find them in their folders. Once my "contact folder" has enough previews jpg in it I use PSE5 organizer to print a contact sheet. I put all the sheets in a binder that I keep at my pc desk. It also helps me find things. When I browse through the folder I'm alway finding items I forgot I had. Here's an example of a page from my folder.
If you tag these files as you import them in the organizer you can easily find and reprint them at any time.

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Okay, ladies . . . sorry I didn't see this thread earlier . . . I've actually been living my life this weekend

Amber . . . I'm not sure I quite get what you're asking. I have double of each file on my HD, but that's because in one place they're still with their original kit/download folder, and in another the elements are broken down. For example, my folder for Elements > Fasteners > Staples will have a copy of every single staple I own. But the file is also still in the kit under (for example) Designer Digitals > Anna Aspnes > So Happy PageSet. I can use the file from either location. I just like this because sometimes I want to work with a kit and just use stuff straight from that folder, and other times I just want to "see what I've got" if I want a specific type of element, color of paper, type of journaling block, etc. As for the shortcut, I did create an "Alias" (shortcut icon) of my Previews folder and it is on my desktop. As I download new products, I add JUST the preview image to my Previews folder. Then I can just click on that desktop icon to quickly see everything I have in a sort of "store" view.

Pam (cedarhill) . . . I hated Bridge with CS2. I actually used it when I first started digiscrapping and I spent hours adding key words to the metadata for my scrapping files, only to have the program go all "wonky" on me. It would never work the same after I got my grubby fingers on it. Now, with CS3, I have used it on occasion. Basically, if I'm already in PS, and I want to see larger thumbnails of elements, I go to File > Browse to open Bridge, then I can quickly go to the folder system set up in the Finder to see my individual element folders or kit folders and open files directly into PS CS3. Make sense?

Belle . . . I agree about the store > designer system (obviously). It helps when you need to give credits if you're not extremely familiar with your designers. It also helps you go STRAIGHT to the good stuff for your all-DD layouts for the Guest CT Contest

Nancy . . . your method sounds great. Of course, I'm cheap and don't want to use my color ink.

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

Here's a screenshot of my DD Previews Folder. I always view this folder in the ICON view mode. You can see that I had to create subfolders. I just put "__" at the beginning of each name so the folders would come up first in the list. Notice my scroll bar on the right. That's how many thumbnails there are beneath what you can see. If I click one of the folders, I'll see just the thumbnails for that category.

And I'm just giddy about the new Mac OS that comes out in October. It will have an additional view mode. I can't remember what they call it but it's something like "cover art." Basically, you can flip through much larger file thumbnails like you can your album art in iTunes. Mac users should go to the Apple site and check out the preview for Leopard. You'll drool.

Anyway, here's the shot:

[Island Girl]

thanks Cassie.. I'm going to check it out right now!

[HillaryH]

I used ACDSee, although I need to create a DD tag since that's what I mostly want to use . I really like it. I have everything on an Ehd, but i want to back it all up to a second EHD at some point SOON. I think it works well for me.

[Lindar70]

This thread has been so helpful! Right now I have all my stuff by designer, but I know it's not the most efficient. I've been wanting to reorganize, and you ladies have given me some great tips.

[Julie K in Taiwan]

I'm a newbie digiscrapper and this is what I've done so far.

I organize by keeping like elements in separate folders, but I save the preview in a folder just for previews. Then I rename the files with an abreviation showing what it is, a description and then the designer's name. Example: BTN-Green-MizzDigi The item is a green button and it was created by MizzDigi.

I also save the "Terms of Use" in a separate folder. Each time I download a new kit, I open up the previous TOU and check for differences. Then I note the name of the new kit. It helps me keep track of what I already have.

I like being able to open up a folder and view the thumbnails in order to browse and pick out something for my layout. If I want something by a particular designer then I use the "list" method to show the files and I can quickly spot something made by them.

I have a question tho... I've seen in some TOUs that the designer has requested that a file not be renamed. Can they do that? I'm not sharing or redistributing or anything, just organizing my stash.

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

They probably don't want you to rename it because they're naming system contains their name and the name of the product.

I know you said you're just starting out, and by all means use what works best for you, but I worry that by renaming the way you do, you might start to get a lot of duplicate files once you get more and more product downloaded. If you look at my screenshots at the beginning of the thread, you can see how I've made folders for each type of element and then I put a copy from the download folder into the element folder. I keep the original file name, however, and just view by thumbnail so I can see which item will work best on a layout.