If you were going to reorganize.....

[littlekiwi]

@HavaDrPepper interesting idea to have a spreadsheet of used kits….I’m sure if I did one it would be huge because I mix and match so much!

Interesting re: changing mindset of what kits to use. I wonder whether for me rather than mindset it’s more that I don’t know truly what I have in my stash but until I figure out a way of organising I doubt that’s going to change. Or alternatively I just need to put myself on a spending freeze - this time of year is actually good for me generally with that as a lot of new releases theme wise don’t work for me (fall, halloween, snow, traditional winter Christmas etc).

 

[HavaDrPepper]

@HavaDrPepper interesting idea to have a spreadsheet of used kits….I’m sure if I did one it would be huge because I mix and match so much!

Interesting re: changing mindset of what kits to use. I wonder whether for me rather than mindset it’s more that I don’t know truly what I have in my stash but until I figure out a way of organising I doubt that’s going to change. Or alternatively I just need to put myself on a spending freeze - this time of year is actually good for me generally with that as a lot of new releases theme wise don’t work for me (fall, halloween, snow, traditional winter Christmas etc).

Yes, not knowing what I had was a part of it as well. And, as you know I don't break up my kits so I had everything all right there in front of me. But I didn't know how many different autumn kits I had because they were from various designers. Or even Christmas kits. Since I tended to go to a couple of designers all the time, I would only see those kits. Doing the preview setup/tagging in Bridge has really changed my scrapping habits.

But, yes, it does take time to get things set up.

As for my spreadsheet, it got too big since I included the 600x600 file in it of every layout. So I have the original that has every year and a working copy that is only 3 or 4 years. Each year has its own page so at the end of the year I just copy it to the original. Believe it or not but I started it because I was tracking the number of layouts I did every year for a challenge with some friends. I just expanded it to include papers/elements/alphas/fonts/templates used and also included a column to indicate if it was printed. Even the old information has come in handy these last couple of years.

 

[Kiana]

Like @HavaDrPepper I use Bridge to view PREVIEWS of what I own.

However, I am drawn to certain themes more than others. So I've learned to go "off theme" by using kits for things that don't follow the theme of a kit.

I'm also not really concerned with having a huge stash though. And don't limit my love of a pretty kit, even if I don't use it for years to come. ROFL

When I had to budget, I ONLY bought during the BIG sales, Black Friday etc. AND I only bought a few things from my wishlist. Mostly I just admired everything in the shop, and I found that by the time I had money to spend, some of those things I admired I no longer wanted as bad as I thought I did.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

When I had to budget, I ONLY bought during the BIG sales, Black Friday etc. AND I only bought a few things from my wishlist. Mostly I just admired everything in the shop, and I found that by the time I had money to spend, some of those things I admired I no longer wanted as bad as I thought I did.

I feel the same. I've got kits on my wish list that I just haven't felt the real need to buy during the last few sales. Some are theme that I really don't have photos to scrap with them... well, until family posts some new ones. But I already have a couple of kits for that theme that I haven't used. Need to use them first before I buy more. One of them is on sale today even but not buying it!

 

[Cath_]

don’t know truly what I have in my stash

hear you, i uziiped 6 kits today, looked over drives... why in world did i save by store - month of purchase - kit. moved templates and planners to another driv, in same way, and shortcuts to them.

just feel like i going to explode...

3 months of 2015 digapress ones to take off and then think i go thru and take lbw and prd
have 105 of sept purchases unzipped to external to one big folder, 35 kits left to do.

 

[bestcee]

a spreadsheet of used kits….I’m sure if I did one it would be huge because I mix and match so much!

If this interests you, what if you made it simpler?
I did this in Google Sheets, but you could use Excel too.

You could do whatever works better for you - turn it green, or use the X or whatever. You could add the kit when you buy it, and add previous kits as you desire. With Excel you could sort by theme, or used. I put designer in because I store my kits by designer and that way I'd know where to look for the kit. You could check kits off easily, no matter how many you mix and match together. And if you were looking for a theme, you would be able to sort by theme and see how many you have of that particular theme.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

@bestcee On a spreadsheet I have for all my digital kits (yep, I have lots of spreadsheets), I set up a conditional statement that every blank cell was blue in color. When I would type yes, the color would disappear. When I add a kit to the spreadsheet, the cell automatically turns blue. Then I have column filters and can filter it to only show unused kits. And, I've even used it to filter by designer. Since I'm a one kit scrapper this works great.

My columns are: Kit Name, Designer, Store, Theme (only mark Disney though), Purchased Date (if known), Used, Retired.

I have store column because I have a page that includes every single kit I own which have been purchased at various stores over the years. After setting that up, I set up individual pages for the 2 stores I buy from the most. And, I do not include templates on these pages. FDD and SWL have their own pages since I have so many of their templates!

 

[Cath_]

sad .. no more oganising tips, with you being guest poly

 

[marijke]

I do store/designer
Templates are in a separate folder under the designer folder
I have a folder with all my styles/actions
I don't tag and I haven't missed it in the 13 years I do digi scrap...
I use Bridge to search ...
Tagging takes me way too much time - time I'd rather use for scrapbooking... or other things I like to do...
I'll put the preview on the folder

 

[littlekiwi]

sad .. no more oganising tips, with you being guest poly

it won't change anything from my end @Cath_ for a wee while yet, I'll still ask questions like I have done up until now....I'm still a normal member for a few more months.

 

[Cath_]

great

 

[Cath_]

Lynne-Marie is so wonderful, to include in her, kit write up, that this or that was included in a m3 main kit. Thank you so much Lynne

Any idea, if other designers of the m3 era, going to do same?

Are you going to make a copy, of the files, within designer folder?

 

[Cath_]

i have real addiction to buyig kits. 140 fo october. yet i cant figure what to do with them. i look at directorys and drives... then just get fustrated. unknown if it a depression thing, or something in kit, i had or did something that i once was... perhads tomarow, i do more then look at directories..

unknown how you pollys do it, keeping up with new and sales, guess ya dont wait 4 years, then get a year woth to start order to it.

 

[janedee]

I've definitely simplified my ACDSee organization over the past few years. I was a detailed tagger but, like many of you, my database just exploded. I just tag previews now but with a fair bit of detail - type of elements, patterns, theme, colour, also brushes, actions and styles. I have started using keywords for unusual elements which make them much easier to find. I have always used a store/designer/kit/template file structure and sometimes that's all I need - say, during MOC.

 

[janedee]

Also, ACDSee has a function under tools - create - contact sheet. When you select all items in a folder it creates a preview of each item on a contact sheet which you can then save with the file. You do have to remember to change where it saves the contact sheet each time though as it just uses the previous folder otherwise. I've found this really useful when there is no preview available (brushes and elements I've downloaded elsewhere).

 

[Cath_]

today 11/10 Cath's off topic question
how do you verify, that you unzip all files to a kit. just found a retired kit from bella, gooble bundle, i never extracted the elements. oh my this was back in 161116_lily6, i still have the zips.

jlarsen_ retired that month, and i did the 30 day gratide thing... that might account

 

[HavaDrPepper]

@Cath_ Since my organization is to keep the kits together in one folder, when I'm downloading the zip files I create that folder in my directory structure. Then I unzip them right in the folder verifying that I have the same number of unzipped folders as zip files. Once that is done I then move the items from the unzipped folders in to the main folder with the alphas in sub-folders and delete the empty folders. I do keep my zip files but move them to another location so they are not in the folder with the kit.

And, most importantly, I unzip right after I download. I don't wait days to do it. That way if there is a problem with the zip file getting corrupted during download, I can get it replaced right away.

 

[dawnmarch]

Also, ACDSee has a function under tools - create - contact sheet. When you select all items in a folder it creates a preview of each item on a contact sheet which you can then save with the file. You do have to remember to change where it saves the contact sheet each time though as it just uses the previous folder otherwise. I've found this really useful when there is no preview available (brushes and elements I've downloaded elsewhere).

Great idea!

 

[littlekiwi]

Feeling so much time pressure at the moment (100% self inflicted/motivated) to get some sense of organization before MOC in 5ish weeks. If you had limited time, where would you start? At the moment I can do maybe an hour of computer time every other day, some times everyday depending on how much back pain/fatigue from covid I have. I am such an all or nothing person that even half done doesn't feel 'right' to me.

 

[elseepe]

If you had limited time, where would you start?

I’m going through my more recent downloads that haven’t been pulled into Lightroom yet. Since I like having each kit combined under a single kit folder, I’m pulling all the pieces from the kit sub folders into a single folder. Alphas stay in a sub folder of the kit. Then I’ll import those into Lightroom and tag the previews as kit, paper, element, journal card, brush, alpha, and templates by#of photos (1,2, 3, 4+).

After this I’ll probably spend a little time going through photos and flagging and/or creating collections for ideas/stories

and if that all goes well, I might create a temporary folder of more recent purchases that I know are still in the store to try to limit my supply stash for MOC. It probably won’t keep me from searching my entire stash during MOC, but I can try.

and I need to move some completed layouts to an EHD and try to free up a bit more space on my laptop drive. The great thing about my 7 year old MacBook is I still love it, but I’ve had it 7 years and it has lots of files that are no longer relevant. I’ve been putting this off for a while.

fortunately, I’m not too far behind on my digi supply organization. Did you say 5 weeks? It’s right around the corner. I think the drive cleanup is going to be the most challenging for me.