Help! Stash organization

Discussion in 'Scrapping Pad' started by MrsEm, May 15, 2018.

  1. MrsEm

    MrsEm Well-Known Member

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    I think Photoshop Elements has a whole tagging system that people use to organize their stash, but I'm using CS6 - do I have anything like that?

    I keep coming across an item in an old kit from my stash that makes me say, dang, that would have been perfect for the layout I was working on 4 days ago! :disagree I know I can search my digiscrap folder for things like 'ribbon' or 'arrow' but that's an entirely dependent on elements being named those things. There has to be a better way. Please tell me there's a better way.

    I used to delete (!!!) old kits after I'd used the snot out of them but now I'm feeling like maybe when I get to that point I'll remove them from their folders and sort the pieces into folders named appropriately like: ribbons, arrows, etc. But then how will I know who to credit if I post the layout online? :badputer Someone please save me LOL.
     
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  2. LoveItScrapIt

    LoveItScrapIt I'm a poet, and everyone knows it!

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    I run CS6 too. I mostly just use Windows search. I don't have the patience or time to tag all of the items. I'm not a big mix and matcher tho, and don't normally pull from multiple kits at a time unless for a challenge etc. So ...yeah I'm probably no help!
     
  3. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    I do use the search function to find items in my stash. I usually find something if it's not an unusual item. Most of the designers give good file names.

    If you do decide to organize by breaking old kits apart and sorting by item type (which I did in my early days of digiscrapping, 2007 - 2010) the elements will still have the designer name and kit name in the file name, usually. Abbreviated, but it's there. Sometimes when I have been in that situation, I search for that abbreviated kit name and the kit preview pops up so I can read the whole name.
     
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  4. bonnenuit

    bonnenuit Why do I always have to be Captain?

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    Usually, but not always. I have at times gone in and renamed individual items so that the designer name or some sort of identifier is present. Of course, I've also been known to rename alpha pieces so that the letters are all together and not separated by other elements.
     
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  5. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    Oh yes! I take a look at the file names when I open a new kit and if something important to me with a vague file name catches my eye, I will add to it. :)
     
  6. MrsEm

    MrsEm Well-Known Member

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    Thank you, this makes me feel a lot better. It'll be so much work but I think this is what I'm going to do.
     
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  7. BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    I often rename word art to contain the words, i.e. "remember this", "for the love of", "summer fun", "believe". Then a Windows search can find it. Since I keep it in the same folder as the kit preview, I know which designer and which kit it goes with.
     
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  8. Cherylndesigns

    Cherylndesigns All glasses should be bigger than 1.5 oz

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    I put ID's on the files that I really like - old files. The stash that I got when I first started and don't really use anymore go on my EHD, and some I delete (what was I thinking?) I use the search function that's on my files - if I type what I'm looking for Windows finds it in my documents. If I don't have it, nothing comes up. That's a very handy feature.
     
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  9. A-M

    A-M Not a lot of hustle in my hustle anymore

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    I use CS6 and just minimise go to the files where I have all my digi files... do a windows search ( see where I typed in "cookie" )... find what I want then just drag it onto my layout.. easy !

    upload_2018-5-16_14-52-38.png
     
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  10. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    Great screenshot. That's what I do too, only I don't have to minimize. I can always see my files window on the left side of my screen and never maximize Photoshop because my screen is so big. (That helps during speed scraps too!)

    Anyway, I have an iMac and I'm impressed to see Windows highlights your search term. And it made me wonder if it's searching inside metadata too . . . ? Mac does search inside metadata, so this is also how I find photos, which I have captioned in Lightroom or (long ago) in PSE Organizer. Someday I might have to switch back to Windows because I might not be able to afford another Mac -- it has been since 2011 that I've been using my iMac -- that's why I wonder.
     
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  11. BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    I am not sure if Windows would see the metadata in Lightroom since I don't know if it is stored directly with the photo or in the catalog. I know your editing changes are only in the catalog. Not sure where it stores the other info. I could test that...

    That said, I have done Windows searches where I often get unexpected results, i.e. lots more things show up. The unexpected items do not have the word in their file name, but must have it in a tag or something. These especially happens if my search word is included in a kit name; all the content shows up, even if the designer abbreviated the kit name in the file names. So yes, it sees some metadata.
     
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  12. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    Lightroom saves metadata permanently to files. I think that isn't the default though, and I had to go into Preferences to tell Lightroom to automatically do it. Otherwise you have to manually hit Save every time you make changes to your images.
     
  13. BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    Hmm - I tagged some content I had loaded into LR. I saved the metadata but the keyword does not show up under "tags" in file explorer. Nor does it show up when I search for the word. When I view properties on the png file, I don't see the keyword I added. So I wonder what metadata field LR used??
     
  14. keepscrappin

    keepscrappin ScrapWithTheWind

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    Adobe has Bridge for organizing your digital products. You can download it for free here. Just signup for a free adobe account.
    https://www.adobe.com/products/bridge.html

    I know Cheryl @gonewiththewind and Courtney @bestcee use Bridge to organize their digi products.
     
  15. Rikki

    Rikki Next I'm going to look up naughty limericks

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    I was just going to say what @keepscrappin said. If you have CS6 you have Bridge and can organize and tag with it.
     
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  16. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    I'm not sure whether Lightroom tags are used outside Lightroom. I was talking about how the captions I write in Lightroom are saved to the metadata, so that helps my photos show up in Finder searches. I just looked at the metadata for one of my photo files and there is an area for tags, but only added here, in the metadata window; Lightroom tags don't show up there. But it always shows my caption along with all the exposure and time information. Another reason to prefer captioning over tagging. (I've just always liked it because it's more natural to me, as someone who loves to journal.)
     
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  17. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    I don't use Lightroom or Bridge. I've tried, and I bet if I could sit down with either the wonderful @bestcee Courtney or the wonderful @gonewiththewind Cheryl, then they could help me out. Alas, they live far away, so I just stick with adding tags to folder previews, which I keep in a folder named PREVIEWS so that I can easily search just the previews to get an idea of a kit's contents, style, and theme(s). (I name the image Kit Name Designer Initials, so it's then easy to find in my kits folder.)

    But...that doesn't help you with finding an exact item like a ribbon, or--as Anne-Marie's great SS shows, a cookie. For that I do Anne-Marie does and search using the Windows search function and I snag the first ribbon/cookie/etc that shows up that I like. But I do love typing "tags: " and then typing whichever metadata tag I'm trying to find, each one separated by a comma. Oh, and I wonder if LR stores info in what Windows calls "Comments" in the Properties>Details sections. Because that is searchable data but it isn't a tag... @BevG, maybe that's where the metadata is? IDK--I'm def. not a techie person.

    And this is going to sound boring or just plain "Duh" of me to say, but sometimes I just browse my KITS folder (1) to remind myself of what I have and (2) to help jog my memory re kits' contents. That makes things easier when I need a specific item.
     
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  18. jk703

    jk703 CEO of Anything and Everything, Everywhere

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    I'm not a tagger. I'm what you would call a browser. My organization is super simple. I sort them by designer. If I used other store products, I would put the store initials in front of the designer name to differentiate. If something retires, and I KNOW, then I usually will note Retired in the folder name. That is the extent of my organization.

    I have all my kits in a folder, and then I change the folder view to the preview, and scroll. I didn't like Bridge, (I tried for my photos and my scrap stash) and I don't usually search for specific buttons, ribbons or stuff like that. If anything, I will use the Windows search function - button, ribbon, and many pop up. I periodically purge my goodies.

    Here is one of my old images of how my folder looks. I make them larger and scroll:
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    excuse my yelling, but HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?!?!
     
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  20. MrsEm

    MrsEm Well-Known Member

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    This. I've been trying to do this for years. hmph
     
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