Organizing Files

[Ashley Pigford]

How do you organize all of your digital papers, embellishments, etc? Do you use a certain type of software or do you just organize them by kit or color or ??

I feel like I don't have a good system down yet, so I wanted to see what y'all suggest.

I have heard of ACDSee, but I think it is not for Macs.

[KristinCB]

You are correct, ACDsee is not for macs (pout :()

I use the program called "picture arena" www.picturearena.com it is far from perfect but it was within my budget, I sort by designer and I just put everything by the designer in the folder. There is a search option with this program but it doesn't have a tagging ability.

There is another option called iview media pro, i'm not sure of the cost i think $100? It is more comparable to ACDsee. The program has a 30 day trial. :)

http://www.iview-multimedia.com/index2.php

[ColleenSwerb]

I sort by store, then by type, then kit. So I have a folder for SSD, then inside that I have folders for Alpha's, Kits, Paperpacks, and Etc, and then everything falls into one of those categories.

If I have a designer I like, but don't purchase much from the rest of the store, the designer gets their own folder, and then things are categorized inside that. So Gina Miller has her own folder, and then things are sorted inside that.

I'm too lazy and have too much stuff to deal wtih tagging and ACDSee I think, lol.

[Heather Roselli]

If you have Photoshop, it has a built in feature called Adobe Bridge. In there you can organize and "tag" things by any category you want to make, then you can search for categories, etc. Very much like ACDSee

[tmcquaid]

I use Bridge and tag things from there as well. I have my folders divided by stores for kits but I have another folder just for elements with subfolders for things like frames, ribbons, etc. When I purchase something new I pull the preview file out and put it in the folder and then put the zip file in a subfolder. Makes it easy to browse in Adobe Bridge and see what I have.

[ditzyscrap]

I use ACDSee, but I just use it for browsing my files...I used to tag, but it was way too much work, lol...when you've been doing this for 4+ years and are a shopaholic, well...yeah. LOL!

I organize by designer, then kit...so my actual file trees look like:

Digi Scrapping Stuff
>>Christy Lyle
>>>>Be My Little Baby
>>>>Black Bluesberry
>>Kay Miller
>>>>All Organic
>>>>Little Boy Joy

and so on... and I just browse through them using ACDSee, though I could use Explorer (I'm on a PC), but ACDSee is more functional. :) It's a program I'll miss when I switch to Mac, for sure!

[ditzyscrap]

Do you guys not find Bridge slows your system right down? I can't use it for organizing...I tried! I used to use PS Album, and when I switched to CS2, I had to use Bridge. It didn't tag certain files (because it uses metadata, and either JPG or PNG don't have "room" for metadata tags...I think it was PNG). Is that fixed?

I only use Bridge for moving between Adobe programs, like PS and InDesign, etc...

[FlirtatiousBrat]

I sort by designer. I used to do stores when I first started but designers change somewhat frequently I found so just went to sorting by designer. I used to tag in ACDSee but it's behind and I'm too lazy to keep it up lol

Some people keep things on their puter twice. Once in the folder where it belongs then copies say the flowers and puts them into a folder called flowers, etc...

[SaraAmarie]

I just use Windows Explorer (PC). I too am to lazy to have to tag stuff. :) Then I sort by kit, elements, paper, alpha, paper tear/curl, template, and commercial use. I am needing to set up sections under the elements folder (frames, ribbons, flowers, etc) but just haven't yet. I find that this way is the best for me to browse and find something if I'm not sure exactly what I want to use, rather than sorting by store/designer. I would rather have less folders to look in to find goodies to use.

[Alinalitas]

I have it all in a mess

[ColleenSwerb]

I sometimes accidentally hit "bridge" when I mean to hit open, and it takes forever to load, and slows the whole thing down. I just ignore it and use windows explorer.

[MyEbella]

what about www.picasa.com
free download and you can make albums...

I use it for photos and well everything else so all my kits are in picasa too.

Just recently added albums for the CT's I'm on and I think I will slowly start adding different things like certain embellishments I use all the time

but I also organize by designer in my folders
Digi Downloads
and then every kit has its own folder...
I used to organize by designer (Robin Carlton and then all kits and downloads went in her folder, etc...)

I do have a seperate folder for all templates and a folder for premade pages/albums...

it is such an ongoing process....

GOOD LUCK!!

[scarletheels]

I don't use any program. I just sort by store and that's it. I'm too lazy to organize any further. Sorry, er, I was no help at all! :glare:

[Ashley Pigford]

Thanks for all of the great ideas. Since I am just starting out, I don't have that many kits to tag, so I think I am going to use the Adobe Bridge software. I already had it on my computer and my husband give me an overview about it. Organization here I come!

[FeeJardine]

I have it all in a mess

Ha! You and me both! Funny thing is though...I know where everything is so it must be working on some level lol.

Fee :)

[nonnie]

I have ACDs and also Adobe Bridge - I am such a ditz I deleted more things than tagging them in Bridge and ACD is so confusing for me - I use Picssa by google and I love it the only problem is some of the images are giant black blocks~ so I look on explorer to see what the kit looks like - I also organize them by designer and then tag the site or store - I also tag by holiday and season - I have all my elements tagged, but find that I typically use kits or parts from the same designer - It took me forever to find a way:unsure: that worked for me -