Alpha sheets or individual files?

[sczos911]

Which do you prefer? And Why?

I guess I am lazy, but I love alpha sheets. I'll just use the magic wand set to 255 and select the letter, copy and paste into my layout. I used to loathe them for some reason.

I was just wondering since this was a random thought that crossed my mind this morning.

[emmasmommy]

i'm exactly like you Stephanie. I used to HATE sheets, now I prefer them!

[Darcy Baldwin]

I prefer sheets after a long time of arguing the individual file cause...I changed my ways!

I try to provide both, now, in my products because not every program can cut, and I know everyone has their preferences.

[heathergw]

yep, I'm exactly the same way

[Milmomma]

I use to be a die hard single file, cause I hated cutting each letter. Now I love sheets and not having to open 34324325 files to spell my title

[Gemma]

I'm easily pleased and like them both the same.

[isaacsmom]

I'm like most everyone else. I used to prefer the individual files until I learned to copy and paste and now I love the sheets! But really, either way is just fine by me.

[kscwgirl]

I hate sheets. Hate. I love the indiv. files.

[oohlala]

I love getting an alpha in a kit! So either way is fine with me!

[Darcy Baldwin]

You'll come around :P

[pewtertm]

I prefer individual, but I can deal with the sheet LOL. However, my first program didn't allow me to cut, so I prefer to see individual files (because I remember what it was like to get a kit and find I couldn't use the alpha LOL)

[Stacey42]

I prefer individual files. I can drag & drop them faster than I can cut & paste from a single sheet. It just flows better for me. If I load them right I can drag, drop, close through the whole series without going back & forth between windows.

[mummytothree]

It doesn't matter to me. But for those that don't like the sheet because you have to cut and paste many times....I just use my "add marquee" tool and select my whole title, copy and paste that whole thing on my LO and then I can cut and paste the individual letters right on my page instead of switching back and forth!!

[lauren grier]

like the other girls.. I use to argue that singles were better. But.. now I loath them. Sheets pleaaaaaase.

[sarahbhb]

My software allows you to assign a character to each letter and symbol so I much prefer individual files (that way i can type my title and it lines it all up for me). But having said that...it doesn't take very long to cut them out so in the end it really doesn't matter to me.

[adrianka]

I thought it was clear that individual ones were better, but now I see why designers make sheets. Because people do like them! Now I'm really curious when this happens for me. :-) I used not to like templates, and now I love them, so maybe I'm going to love the sheets one day. :-)

[Lizzy257]

Originally Posted by mummytothree

I just use my "add marquee" tool and select my whole title, copy and paste that whole thing on my LO and then I can cut and paste the individual letters right on my page instead of switching back and forth!!

Elizabeth, I love you!!!!

I don't mind either individuals or sheets, but if both are provided I always use the sheet. But I did NOT know that I could copy my whole title onto my layout at once, I was switching back and forth.

Thanks

[MamaBee]

Hmm... I guess it doesn't matter to me... however if I had to choose from an alpha that has both... single sheet. Only one file that I have to wait to load into photoshop. Also, it annoys me when I think I have all the letters selected in the folder to drag over and then realize that I missed one! LOL!

[eranslow]

I didn't know there was another way to select the alphas from a sheet! I've been cropping and dragging over and then undoing to get the full sheet again. So yeah - sheets have always been a long process. Now I know a different way to get the alphas! YAY

[nikkiARNGwife]

I like individuals..just cuz I'm lazy lol

[Heather Roselli]

I hate individual letter files - don't like opening them all and dragging them into the LO.

Because of that and the time it takes to separate all the letters into individual files - I used to only put sheets in my kits, but then I found out how some people couldn't cut the letters from the sheets, so I started trying to do individual files. Well now I have the terrific Sara that separates my alphas for me...so now... I definitely have both in my kits and will even do multiple colors (she says she doesn't mind! hehe)!

[mummytothree]

Originally Posted by Lizzy257

Elizabeth, I love you!!!!

I don't mind either individuals or sheets, but if both are provided I always use the sheet. But I did NOT know that I could copy my whole title onto my layout at once, I was switching back and forth.

Thanks

Awww Lizzy I love you too!!!

[Kim Mauch]

I like sheets. I drag the whole sheet over, resize it, and then start cutting out my individual letters from the sheet. Much easier for me than going back on forth to the sheet or to individual files.

[[michele]]

I've always liked the individual pngs more, and after making 52 alphabet cards for dd the other day - where every letter was from a different alpha - I individual letters!!!

[catgoddess]

I don't care either way as long as the alpha isn't just a cut sheet of paper.

[Jengerbread88]

Either way is absolutely fine with me. I like the re-sizing convenience of sheets- I resize one, I resize them all. But I also like being able to layout my title before I put it in the program, so that's part of why I like individual files.

I'm fine with either one!

[Bdigis]

I prefer the sheets just for the ease of not opening all my letters.

[jessica31876]

full sheets. fewer files to open

[Balinda]

either way works for me too

[Leila]

Individual files, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!! Those sheets just ruin my flow. Yuck. I actually separate sheeted alphas when I get them, then toss the sheeted file into the recycle bin.

[Angie4b1g]

Full sheets FTW

[taracotta7]

Originally Posted by kscwgirl

I hate sheets. Hate. I love the indiv. files.

Amen sister! I am with ya! of course, I have used the sheets and deal just fine with them. I just prefer individual.

[Nettio]

I really really dislike full sheets. To the point where if the only option for the alpha is a sheet, I'd probably just delete it rather than deal with all the selecting, copying and pasting. Like someone else said, it totally ruins my flow.

So a question for all you sheet users, if you resize the entire sheet first, how do you know what size you need the letters? Do you just guesstimate? It never would have occurred to me to do that even if I liked sheets. I just move all my letters over full size, group them and resize them as a group.

[mummytothree]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I really really dislike full sheets. To the point where if the only option for the alpha is a sheet, I'd probably just delete it rather than deal with all the selecting, copying and pasting. Like someone else said, it totally ruins my flow.

So a question for all you sheet users, if you resize the entire sheet first, how do you know what size you need the letters? Do you just guesstimate? It never would have occurred to me to do that even if I liked sheets. I just move all my letters over full size, group them and resize them as a group.

I don't re size my whole sheet, what I do is if my title is "SUMMERTIME" then I use my marquee tool (with the "add" selection square checked) and select all those letters at one time and then I hit ctrl c to copy or ctrl x to cut and then switch over to my LO and hit crtl v to paste all those letters at once. Then I just cut and re paste each individual letter again on my page.

[HeatherKS]

Individuals all the way for me. Sheets seem like such a huge pain for me. I go to acdsee, ctrl click all the letters I need and drag them over. Or I'll load them into a stack and then pull them all in at once. Depends on how I'm feeling that day.

[suze]

Alpha sheets!! love em

don't have to worry about individual files. I love La's Alphas cause she usually always does a sheet!

[Jengerbread88]

Originally Posted by Nettio

So a question for all you sheet users, if you resize the entire sheet first, how do you know what size you need the letters? Do you just guesstimate?

I guess. I mean, if I'm using a 12x12 paper, and like, a 3x3 photo, then I'll probably keep my title around 1" tall, etc. I kind of figure out about how tall I'd like my alpha to be, and resize from there. Or if I have a long word to spell, I'll probably do it by width instead of height.

[ColleenSwerb]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I really really dislike full sheets. To the point where if the only option for the alpha is a sheet, I'd probably just delete it rather than deal with all the selecting, copying and pasting. Like someone else said, it totally ruins my flow.

So a question for all you sheet users, if you resize the entire sheet first, how do you know what size you need the letters? Do you just guesstimate? It never would have occurred to me to do that even if I liked sheets. I just move all my letters over full size, group them and resize them as a group.

x2 I use full sheets if I have to, but I much prefer to have the individual files. I open them all, put them in order of spelling, and then drag them over to the LO and group them.

[lovely1m]

Individual, the sheets take too long for me.

[Priscilla]

hat she said

Originally Posted by kscwgirl

I hate sheets. Hate. I love the indiv. files.

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I really really dislike full sheets. To the point where if the only option for the alpha is a sheet, I'd probably just delete it rather than deal with all the selecting, copying and pasting. Like someone else said, it totally ruins my flow.

Yeah, this. I don't actually delete them, but I almost never use them. Traci's cardboard construction alphas are about the only full sheet alphas I still use. It just takes me so much longer to work with a full sheet alpha than to open and drag the individual files. If you hate dragging, you can use file/place instead of open so that the letters go right onto the LO with no dragging. Only disadvantage is that you can only do 1 at a time, so I usually still just drag.

[littlekiwi]

Originally Posted by kscwgirl

I hate sheets. Hate. I love the indiv. files.

yep me too

[Robin Carlton]

Sheets all the way for me!

Out of curiosity, why do you guys cut and paste from a sheet? Do you know you can marquee a letter on the sheet, click to the move tool and drag it to your layout easy peasy. I can drag a full title onto my page in just a few seconds doing this, so I was just curious. Individual files take me so much longer to find and open and drag and click to the next file, etc. I cant stand indiv. files.

[Emmy]

Robin - I wonder if I'm doing it "wrong" - full sheets annoy me because I have to pull the letters over to my page one at a time. Are you doing it all at once and still maintaining individual layers for each letter? (I'm using CS 3 I think)

As for me - I strongly prefer individual files but if there's an easier way to use the sheets I'd love to hear about it.

[Sarah8914]

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

Sheets all the way for me!

Out of curiosity, why do you guys cut and paste from a sheet? Do you know you can marquee a letter on the sheet, click to the move tool and drag it to your layout easy peasy. I can drag a full title onto my page in just a few seconds doing this, so I was just curious. Individual files take me so much longer to find and open and drag and click to the next file, etc. I cant stand indiv. files.

Yep, piece of cake! I guess I prefer sheets, but I'm fine either way. I even use my keyboard shortcuts, m and v back and forth and it's super fast!

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

Sheets all the way for me!

Out of curiosity, why do you guys cut and paste from a sheet? Do you know you can marquee a letter on the sheet, click to the move tool and drag it to your layout easy peasy. I can drag a full title onto my page in just a few seconds doing this, so I was just curious. Individual files take me so much longer to find and open and drag and click to the next file, etc. I cant stand indiv. files.

See and for me the slowest part is having to draw selections around each letter. It's so much more tedious for me than just clicking on each file and dragging the layer. But I always select and open all my individual letters together so they stack in Photoshop and I can just click-drag-close and move on to the next letter.

I think the real lesson learned from this thread is designers should include both options because clearly we are all stuck in our ways.

[4noisyboys]

I prefer sheets. If both are included, I'll delete the individual files. I'll use either though if that is all I have.

Sheets are easy peasy!

[Robin Carlton]

Originally Posted by Emmy

Robin - I wonder if I'm doing it "wrong" - full sheets annoy me because I have to pull the letters over to my page one at a time. Are you doing it all at once and still maintaining individual layers for each letter? (I'm using CS 3 I think)

As for me - I strongly prefer individual files but if there's an easier way to use the sheets I'd love to hear about it.

Here's how I do it...

http://screencast.com/t/YjAzMjBkM

I just think it's so much faster opening the one sheet than scrolling through the file with all the letters to pick the ones i need for my word and then hunt through the opened files, etc. It's two files on my screen and easy for me. Granted, designers need to make sure their letters are spaced nicely on the sheet because if you have to use the lasso tool to select to get around edges and stuff, that's more time consuming but yeah, easy for me to do titles like this.

[taracotta7]

Wow Robin.....I was using my "laso" tool and it was taking forever! I will give your "easy peasy" way a whirl. You may convert me after all! LOL

[adrianka]

As for individual files, you don't have to open all of them if you have PS, you can load them directly into the file you're working on. They even get named.

Misty did a tutorial on this, so here it be: http://mistycato.wordpress.com/2009/...s-into-layers/.

This is why I don't like sheets that much, you can't do it with them. But I hope I'll come around - thanks to Robin's tutorial it seems I might.