CindyS----
 

How do you organize or do you use ACDSee?? You pull pieces from every which a way girl...I thought I organized ok haha but I dunno how you do it! I wish to scrap a page like you one day!

LOL!! I've wondered the same thing before too!! Please share, Cindy!!

Yeah how do you do it? cindy is one of my most favorite scrappers!

agree!!!

better yet tell us you don't use acdsee but some other fabulous method that i can also use with my mac..

I want to be cindy when i grow up.

I too would love to know!!! lol, I'm just recently trying to explore outside of just one kit for a LO. Your gallery is awesome girl!!

Cindy's a scrap goddess isn't she?

I bow to my #1 scrapping HERO. She is my Obi Wan Kenobi :P

Great questions Meg, I've often wondered this too! I wanna be Cindy when I grow up! LOL!

Cindy is my layering idol and I tell her so frequently. LOL

You guys are embarrassing me!!! Thanks for the sweet compliments everyone.
I think I use a method similar to Gina Miller’s method that has been posted on quite a few forums. I have a folder for all my Digital Scrapbooking stuff and a separate folder for all my Sweet Shoppe stuff. So I will show you what I do with all my regular stuff

When I download a kit I make a copy of the preview and put it into a Kit Preview folder and give it a number so I can easily find the corresponding kit in my “Kit” Folder

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...003/pic1-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...003/pic2-1.jpg

(Numbers are missing because I have deleted alot of stuff :))

I also have an element folder that is quite extensively broken up. So if I download element packs they go into the proper folder and I also make copies of the elements in the kits that I know I will use again and put them in the proper folders as well:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...32003/pic3.jpg

Some of these categories are broken up, like alphas and ribbons and a few others

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...32003/pic4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...32003/pic5.jpg

So obviously since I am making copies of elements from the kits, it takes up more space on your hard drive, but I find it’s worth it because it works well for me. Plus to initially do this it takes forever, but I am pretty much caught up, so it isn’t so bad anymore. I have a “Recent Downloads” folder that all my recent downloads go into until I get a chance to organize them. I was going to get the new ACDSee at one point, but never ended up getting it because this works well for me. I have an older version which I think is corrupted because all of my folder previews are messed up……(as you can tell from my screen shots) and I think it has something to do with it because Explorer and ACDSee kind of run together when you are using them. I have to reinstall ACDSee to see if it will fix this.

For all my Sweet Shoppe Stuff I have the same type organized Elements folder where I put kit elements and element packs, but I have all the kits ordered by designer:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...32003/pic7.jpg

I only made a separate Sweet Shoppe folder since I became a Sugar Babe just because it is easier for assignments and stuff.

Periodically I will go through and delete stuff that I know I probably won’t use again.

I don’t know if this will help anyone, but it is just a method that works for me, and I think it totally helps with scrapping!

Cindy- my method is a lot like that, too - I don't do the separate previews, but I do a lot of the rest like you.

And even though I have ACDsee, I still think in the other method and find that I can do things so much faster my way, and I've ended up using ACDsee to extract, tag and do the occasional search on. But..it also slows my PC way down (and I have a great PC), so I'm just faster anyway LOLOL

But I agree with everyone - you are THE queen!

Sheesh! That looks like a lot of work, Cindy. WOW! I'm so glad I have PSE 5. It came with a program called the Organizer. Let's me tag everything so I don't have to make multiple copies of it.

Love some of your ideas, though, especially the previews--maybe I'll have to add a new tag in my Organizer.

TFS your system!

makes me tired just looking at it....but then again...look at the RESULTS she gets with that system.....makes me want to try it!

I think when I get another EHD I'm going to copy some of my stuff over using that method..I'm a pretty standard kit scrapper but occasionally I do like to pull pieces from here or there to make the LOs work

Exactly!! I'm an organized freak, but I'm a kit-keeper-together kinda freak! lol. I think maybe I'll start slow, just mix a few(copies, no way I'd take them completely out of the kit folder!!!LMBO) I know I'd use a lot from different kits, and see how that works for me.

I agree, it does take a lot of time initially, but once you are caught up, not so much. I don't copy all the elements, just ones that I know I will use again. When I'm about to organize and pull elements out of a kit I just make a copy of the kit, drag and drop elements into the right folder (which is super quick) then delete what is left of the Copied kit.
I still like to keep the kits all together cause that's what I usually start a page with, and then I add extras from there.

I do that as well Cindy, but I have a Mac so I don't copy the files, I just make aliases.

Cindy, you are so my hero!! I have been wanting to do this so badly!!!! I just haven't had the energy to do it yet. Plus I am going to need an EHD. Awesome organizing!! :thumbup:

Wow...so that's the secret. lol

I have been wanting to do this for so long and now that my EHD went out and I lost (purposely didn't save) all the old freebies and stuff that I never used I might just have to start this when I reload my new EHD. Although I tend to be more of a kit scrapper too.

That is really interesting Cindy! I love the idea of pulling the previews out, that way you can see what you have without digging like crazy!

This is an awesome method!!! When I get my EHD in a few months I am going to try this!!

LMAO, that is EXACTLY what I thought when I saw that list :p Except I know I'm not going to try it, because you'd have to toss me in da ward after about an hour trying to organize as beautifully as Cindy does.

Wow, that's amazing, thank you for sharing your secret, Cindy!
I think I'll try that. After all, it's a way I can "cuddle" a bit with my stuff... :)

Wow, that's quite an impressive system, Cindy! I like your idea of pulling out the previews. I have a good handle on what I have, but having the previews all in one spot is a really good idea. I'm like Meg, I'm a kit scrapper, but occasionally I do use other things too.

Yup, agreed that Cindy is one of the most amazing scrappers of all time! ;)
Oh man! Your system is crazy! Mine is way different and works really well for me... and I'm a mix-and-match kinda' gal too...rarely scrap using just 1 kit.

I am always in awe of Cindy! Seriously everything she touches comes out amazing!! I am so intimidated by organization in general lmao and for the most part can be a one kit scrapper (yes mostly cause im lazy as hell and get overwhelmed with credits) But dude I may totally have to try this.

Cindy, when you copy some elements into your "elements" folder from their original kit, do you rename them or label them somehow so you can find where they originally came from (for credits)?

Thanks!

Oh I'll just have to jump in here and tell you how much I love Cindy's work too - she is simply amazing!

Cindy, you've now totally inspired me to get organized that way!! :)

Most stuff nowadays is labelled with the designer name, then the kit name, then element name: eg.....hroselli-tikiboom-flower1.
If it wasn't I would probably rename it with at least the designers name in it....
HTH!

You all sure know how to make a person feel good! Thank you for all the nice compliments! :)

Thank you!

WOW!!! What an undertaking this is!! I just started about an hour ago and my eyes are already starting to cross!! LOL!! It will definitely be worth it though!!

Hopefully I can get a new EHD this month so I can finally start organizing--I never even thought to duplicate elements and keep stuff in their original kits! I just broke most of my stuff into separate element folders and paper folders, but I like your system a lot, Cindy. TFS!!! I was also considering getting ACDSee because I like the idea of tagging stuff. Do you girls really recommend it?

Your my scrap hero chika-poo!!

I too am totally amazed by Cindy's layouts :wub:.
and by her organizing skillz. I have so not been keeping up with my organizing :thumbdown:

This was posted when I was on vacation so I'm just seeing it now...

I've been working on getting everything organized in a similar way on my Mac but the one thing I always get stuck on is my CT stuff. Do you include your Sweet Shoppe stuff in with your regular organizing at all? Or do you just check in both places when you're looking for something? Is there a reason why the SSD kits are organized by designer instead of just in one folder?

I'm seriously amazed by your organization. :thumbup:

I want to organize this way..lol but I just get sick to my stomach when I realize how much I actually have to organize/copy/move over haha

Cindy is on vacation now so it might be a week before she gets to that answer but I wanna know too! My guess is b/c of CT stuff and the fact sometimes we have to have 100% SSD and it's a lot easier to find stuff based on how you organize it. My guess anyways

Wow I totally missed this thread. I thought I was the organizing queen but now reading this I bow down WOW! I have ACDSee and certainly don't use it to its full potental, it's all just so much work. I do need to incorporate some of what Cindy does into mine because my system just isn't working like it should.

So glad I saw this post today!

Yeah exactly. Right now I have a separate SSD folder for that reason but it just has everything grouped together and when I need something specific for like a TOTM layout I spend a lot of time searching through folders. I thought before about making a separate elements organization for SSD so it's nice to see it's worked for someone else.

Hey!
Yep I do have a separate folder for SSD elements (broken up into categories like I do for non SSD stuff), not quite as categorized, but very similar. I keep the kits organized by designer, but any element packs, alphas, etc are organized into the elements folders. So say I need a flower for my LO by a specific designer, I go to my flower folder and since everything is named by designer first, it's easy to find. I used to have everything just organized by designer, but i found it hard like you do because I always had to spend time searching for stuff. This seems like it works well for me though :)

I recently started breaking my stuff up very similar to this.. but I just create a "shortcut" for each item and leave my original kits intact so that I don't use space for duplicate elements.

Thanks Cindy! That makes sense and is along the lines of what I'd been thinking of doing. Guess I'll give it a try and see how it works. :thumbup:

hey cindy you are supposed to be on vacation :P

maybe I'll start out just doing it for SSD stuff since that's what I scrap with the most..then move on from there if I choose to lol...or just organize new things that way.. :)

ya, I know I just can't stay away....hahaha!

OK, I'm totally into this thread! Since my EHD turned to mush I've been DLing a ton of stuff from stores who's owners were gracious enough to reset my DL links. SO, I have one folder filled to the brimm with zip files. Since I'm basically starting from scratch, I've decided to figure something else out. I DLd the trial version of ACDSee but just kinda stare at it once it's openend. And now I'm concerned from the comment about it slowing down the computer. I really like the way Cindy has her's set up and often thought of doing that, but was worried about the extra HD space it would use. BUT, if I just do the things I think I'll use again, it shouldn't be too bad right?

Who here breaks their elements down by color? ie...

Elements>Flowers>Pink etc

i organized my stuff on my EHD using the similar system a few weeks ago, took me about 2 days and a half but totally worth it!

I'm a pretty new digi scrapper (and even newer poster lol) but I purchased ACDSee on the recommendation of some other scrappers and it is awesome!

I organize a lot like Cindy because I'm not a kit scrapper. I like to be able to say, hey, I need a string of beads to layer with this ribbon and search my ACDSee setup for beads. When you do that you can R click the preview and click 'go to file' and it will take you to the kit it is originally from. That has helped me a ton when I've been searching for coordinating elements for pages. :thumbup: I'm guessing it'll help me a lot when I start putting together credit lists when I finally start uploading to a gallery. :p

I'm loving this thread though to see how differently everyone organizes and what works for them. :)

welcome Heather!! Lets see some layouts :)

I wish I had started out with this organization method..I am a kit scrapper for the most part though but still love to pull in some flowers or ribbons here or there lol