Categorizing kits for organizing...

I've been cataloguing my kits since I started collecting them about 14 years or so ago. I have a lot of categories, but I also have a lot of kits.

 

Building off of Cheryl's idea, maybe you could make a shortcut and place that in the corresponding theme folders? That way you can easily find what you want with the click of a button.

 

That is brilliant. I already organize with just an image. A shortcut would be awesome! Why have I not thought of this before?

 

I keep my kits in folders for each designer. I do copy some into catagories like.... Birthday, Christmas, Beach.
Then when a kit is a collab between 2 designers I will put a short cut link from the initial designer to the second designers folder.
I have all my kits with the folder image changed to an ICO copy of the kit preview. ( am working on a Windows computer and not sure you can do that on a Mac).

 

Aw, ladies!


I actually started using shortcuts because of BYOC. There are so many great items but they're "scattered" all over my DS folder (templates; kits; paper packs; WA; paint; JC; etc. ETA: obviously you two wonderful ladies know all about BYOC's plethora of goodies...this is more to show how many of my subfolders have BYOC items in them lol!). It was easiest to use shortcuts and put them in a folder labeled "BYOC yyyy-mm." If I can remember, I even put a shortcut for the BYOC folder into the corresponding items' folders. That way I can look at all the coordinating goodies quickly after finding just one item. The one issue is if you move something, but it's easy to remake a shortcut.

 

This is what I do and I LOVE it!

 

Oh and here's my current list of themes:

4th of July
Birthdays
Camping
Carnival
Christmas
City
Cooking
Crafting
DIY
Doctor
Driving (for my 15 year old learning to drive)
Easter
Exercise
Fishing Garden
Graduation
Halloween
Lots of Photo Templates
Movies and TV
New Years Eve
Reading
Road Trips
School
Scrapbooking
Snow Kits
Sports
Swimming
Video Games

 

Tagging has been really helpful for me. Hopefully it helps you, too!

 

Just for BYOC I rename all the relevant download folders with BYOCmmyy - that way I can just do a search in windows explorer for everything from all designers for each BYOC.

 

I use a combination of things listed here. My supplies are organized by designer folder. I tag previews only, and copy those to a main "previews folder". I have shortcuts for specific themes i use a ton... which changes based on my current projects. For example, when i was working on December daily, i had a folder of shortcuts to the products i chose to use. When i was working on my reading planner, i had a folder of book themed kit shortcuts.

In large part (since my tagging project is incomplete), i use the store to tell me what i have in a specific theme, then go hunt it down in my designer folder. For example, i would go into TLP store, click on baby theme, then see an image for a kit I think i might like to use. If i am logged in, it will tell me if i purchased it... you can also use visual order history now. Clearly, that method does not work for retired product, or designers who've moved on/retired... but it does usually get my brain rolling on an idea.

Tags i use: i always add "justpreviews" "colortagme" and "themetagme" at first. I also add a tag for designer and store. And collection, if it's part of one: "BYOC" or "M3" + "month" "year"

I do not immediately tag colors because i can't remember my numbered color system and because i spend way too much time overanalyzing colors. "Is this more pink, or more orange?"

When i feel like going through colors or themes, i go to my previews folder, search for "colortagme" and then batch add colors to kits and delete the colortagme tag (or themes).

Themes i like to use:
Things i use for a specific project album... so i might tag something "project life" if i bought ot to use for that project.
Besides projects/albums, I'm an event scrapper, so i like to have tags for events I'd be scrapping.... like holidays, birthdays, date nights, sports games/competitions/meets... i have a tag for disney and legos, because i know i have tons of those supplies and/or photos to get to. I have tags for hobbies, like reading, crafting, scrapping or planning (like printable planner stickers).

 

I gave up organizing my stash a few years ago when my ACDSEE database got corrupted and the backup was bad too. I tend to scrap with the most recent things I've purchased so I just organize by designer folders and call it good. I know, I'm lazy but it works for me right now so I'm stickin to it!

 

I'm on a Mac, so it's easy peasy. Every time I download a product, I add tags it at the same time I add a preview to the folder. Each product is tagged with the designer, store, theme (if applicable) and type (if not a kit). It takes me only a few seconds and it's so easy to use.

 

I almost combine both of these ideas. I change the folder to end with BYOCMMYY so I have prd_RoomWithAView BYOC0320. That way, I can search for all BYOC0320 like a keyword and see it, while it stays organized in my original file system.

 

I use designer folders. M3 has its own folder. I also keep by store so I don't mix up designers and stores.

 

My supplies go:
Store ►Designer Name ► Kit name
In the kit I combine all the pieces. If the kit is small, I'll throw the alpha inside too. If the kit is large, than I'll leave the alpha in a separate folder inside the kit.

My style comes from when I started and did challenges at different stores. I needed to know quickly which folder I could look through for each site. By keeping a designer in a folder, if they move stores I can just move the whole folder. I can also move them if they retire, but I usually leave them in the store they retired from.
I like to have all the kit pieces together to look at. I don't like opening each of the download folders when I'm looking for something. I'm currently using AcdSee to organize my supplies. I like that it will read my folders since I don't have everything tagged or organized. So, I can still search by folder in the meantime.

Tag Categories:

• Adventure (this is mostly general vacation type kits. Hiking, flying, anything that's "going on an adventure")
  
• Alpha (I tag the alpha preview. If there isn't a preview for just the alpha, I tag the letters A, a, B, b)
• Autumn (All fall related kits.)
  
• Brush (any brushes that have a preview. This also ends up including any styles overall. I should change this category name, but haven't yet.)
  
• BYOC (Each BYOC is getting a tag that corresponds to it. BYOC0116 is my labeling system. I like being able to look at just the BYOC without having to search the tag and find my folders above.)
• Camera (I'm a sucker for camera elements. I tag them so I can find them again because I like to use them.)
• Canada (I have lots of trips to document to Canada. And specific Canada kits are rare.)
  
• Christmas (all Christmas related kits.)
  
• Cruise (I have a lot of cruise photos to document. So, if it's a Bahamas, Alaska, or cruise kit, I give it this tag)
• Daily (Anything I pick up for Project Life or that works for that. So, month names, week tags, cards, word art, etc. I also tag these with other things typically, but this is a nice spot for me to browse when I want something to finish a layout)
• Date (Anything with a specific date. Calendar cards, date stamps, etc.)
• Disney (Do I really need to explain? LOL! Anything Disney themed.)
• Document December (I leave all these together because I think every year works together. Plus, it's still a relatively small tag)
• Enamel (Anything with the enamel look. I love these to add to my pages as a finishing touch)
  
• Enamel Dots (I love these things! I can never find them when I want them, so I tag them and can easily grab them.)
• Filler Card (Any Journal Card that has a design or quote or fills a pocket. A card not really meant for journaling)
• Journal Card (Any Journal Card. Or Pocket Card. Or whatever it's called by the designer.)
• Journaling Card (Any card that is meant for writing. Lines, prompts, etc. I have a hard time finding cards with enough writing space, so this lets me see them quickly.)
  
• Labels, Tags (Any label or tag.)
• Masks (any template with a mask, or any mask I've found. Photo masks, not costume masks )
• Number (Same as Alpha, only the numbers. Often I tag the 0&1 since they give me a good idea)
• Nurse (DH's job. Any kit that fits this theme gets this tag.)
• Paint (Any favorite paint. Not all paint makes it here, but if it's a paint I love or unique, I make sure to tag it.)
  
• Paper (Sometimes I just want to scroll through pretty papers)
• Planner (For my paper planner. Anything specifically intended for a planner to be printed.)
• Read (We do a lot of this! So, books, reading, library. This tag started when I did the book calendar.)
• Stamp (Any stamps, especially alphas. I like the look, and I'll look for stamps so tag makes it easy)
• Stitches (Stitches. They add a great finishing touch. I usually know in my head how I want it 'sewn'. This makes it easy to find that way.)
  
• Summer (Summer kits. Water kits. Beach. Backyard. How we spend the summer)
• Video Games (Kits inspired by video games or intended for video game players)
  
• Washi (This one is hit and miss. I go through washi phases and I'll label them all. Then I'll be out of that phase and let it go.)
  
• Winter (Snow. Hockey. Things we do in the Winter or cold.)
  
• Word Art (Any word art. I like to browse it since often the designer doesn't write the word art name in the file name)
• Templates are broken down. 1 main template tag. Then within (similar to BYOC):
  
• 1-2 photos
• 3-4 photos
• 5-6 photos
• 7-8 photos
• 9+ photos
• Double Layout
• Project Life
  These are pretty self explanatory. The reason for the range is often a template could have a photo spot replaced with a journal card, or even have an element spot filled with a photo. This way if I don't see what I'm looking for in one category, I can go up or down based on the photos, etc. Double Layout are also in the photos per page. But I like to also bring up the intentional double layouts. PL pages are those intended for PL - minimal elements, lots of journal card and photo spaces.

Phew! Well, I hope that gives you an idea. I added my reasoning because what works for me might not work for you. But the principle is the same. How do you scrap? How do you look for things? Colors? Shapes? Type of element?