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RebeccaH

RebeccaH

Life is exciting, yes it is!
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
11,875
'Cause I need help!

DIGI STUFF ORGANIZATION :funfun

here's the thing... i have always had these great intentions of using my pse organizer that lets you tag stuff and whatnot.

i think i've finally come to the realization (after 5 years of trying) that it's not actually going to happen.

why won't it work for me?

1) it takes too long
2) i start and get through the first 1% of my stash after a solid 2 days of effort. *sigh*
3) then i forget where i left off when i work up my next push of determination to get through this.

it's a vicious cycle and i need to put a stop to it!!

BUT i also realized as i was browsing through my stash tonight that i have a million amazing things that i didn't even remember i had.

SOOOOO.... any ideas for a quick & easy way to organize stuff so i can find it easily? and don't forget i have it? and that won't take me 10 years to set up??

anybody have anything that works really well for them??
 
I use iPhoto, which is Mac only. But the way I organize in there is super easy and could be done in folders. As a matter of fact, I do the initial organization in my folder and then the same thing in iPhoto (because I drag from iPhoto into PS, and I like that I can see everything in there instead of looking at tiny thumbnails.)

So, this is how I do it.
Folder for templates, broken down by designer, broken down by template kit.
Folder for each designer, broken down by kit (I do NOT put templates in designer folders)
Folder for each site, broken down by a folder for each site collab
Folder for TLP BYOC, broken down by month, broken down by kit (I also copy these kits into individual designer's folders)

Then in iPhoto I set the preview file as the main picture so I can scroll through my library to find what catches my eye. And to help me with credits, I tag the preview file of each kit that I use something from so I don't forget.

I do not tag. Nope, takes too much time. I *cough* usually *cough* unzip and organize immediately after downloading so that it doesn't become unbearable.
 
well, i have everything saved in a digital downloads folder, like this...

Each Kit / Product folder I name like so: Designer Name - Name of Product
that way, all the products from the same designer stay together and fall into alpha order.

My problem with this is, I could make a career out of scrapping with just the stuff I have of Krista's or of Allison's or of Val's just as examples. So the sheer quantity of folders is huge.

Right now I just search the TLP shop for whatever I'm looking for, find the kit preview in the store that looks like what i want, then go see if I have it on my computer already. Not exactly the most efficient method of finding stuff.
 
I'm not a good candidate to talk about a non-time consuming method as I use ACDSee and I do tag items. I've spent so many hours at it that I'm afraid to stop. I do actually use it every time I scrap so for me it is time well spent. I store mine in subfolders by designer with a tag for store. So I can easily search for red paper from the Lilypad.

Hope you find a method that works for you!
 
I use Adobe Bridge which is nice because it links right to Photoshop. The most important thing I do is to change the folders from the image of a folder to the preview of the kit. It makes my stash look and feel like a mini TLP. I can visually glance over everything and choose what I need. Now, I used to go through almost every paper and element and assign a keyword to it so that I could do a search for "red" and "ribbon" and it would bring up all my red ribbons. However, I'm starting to realize that most designers will incorporate the name of the object into the file name so really all I have to do is link it with a color. I assign a color to almost all the papers so I can find them by color, if needed. I also label all my journaling cards because I have high hopes of eventually pulling off a mini PL at some point soon and catching up since Jan. I don't group in folders by designer, I just have everything all in one giant folder and have it automatically sort alphabetically so it sorts by designer since their name is the first thing in the folder name.
Good luck! :)
 
I am also an ACDSee user. I use a speed tag method that I have found fairly manageable over the years. Despite having a huge stash, it works well and I can always find what I need. As a total mix and matcher, I need the easy previewing, searching and tagging that's part of the program.
 
RebeccaH said:
well, i have everything saved in a digital downloads folder, like this...

Each Kit / Product folder I name like so: Designer Name - Name of Product
that way, all the products from the same designer stay together and fall into alpha order.

My problem with this is, I could make a career out of scrapping with just the stuff I have of Krista's or of Allison's or of Val's just as examples. So the sheer quantity of folders is huge.

Right now I just search the TLP shop for whatever I'm looking for, find the kit preview in the store that looks like what i want, then go see if I have it on my computer already. Not exactly the most efficient method of finding stuff.
Click to expand...

Giggle.... you said my name. <3
 
I just tag my previews in Lightroom, nothing else. I have them subcategorized into kits, elements, stitches, journaling, etc. And I have a few that are theme specific (birthday, summer, christmas, etc) but for the most part every preview is in "Previews" and most are subcategorized. I could just right click on them and choose to open the containing folder in Explorer, but I use ACDSee as my file browser so basically I just look through the previews much like you look through the TLP store - then I see something I like and I navigate to it on my hard drive (my supplies are in designer folders like yours).

I used to tag every single item in ACDSee but I got too far behind and it just doesn't work for me anymore. Previews are good enough.
 
Please guide me. I have started just recently mixing and matching. I've been buying papers from this person elements from that person - there is a few papers and elements that I'm just so in love with I find myself wanting to use them all the time. IDK. i wish i could provide you with some kind of answer - but i'm just.... so lost.

I need to learn toooooo

I did want to add that currently I have all TLP products in my TLP folder - and from there I have Folders for each product i've purchased... that's the extent of my organization.

if anyone has like intricate instructions on HOW everything is organized HOW you search for your desired element or paper and are able to scrap in a quick manner - i'm totally there - i'll soak it up eagerly!
 
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side question - i'm looking around in Bridge - toying with idea of tagging everything (i'm building up a stash finally because i really don't have a WHOLE lot where it would be unmanageable). what tags do you use to find helpful?

i guess i could use,
alphas
hardware
buttons
ribbon bows
long ribbon
string
frames
doodles
buttons
small elements
stitching
scatters
paint
journalers
matts (did i spell that right?)

any thing i'm overlooking.
 
Spill about your speed tag method, Laura! I'm always looking for ways to improve my ACDSee. I LOVE that program and how easy it makes things for me!
 
PSE organizer never worked for me either it was too much work. I'm a folder person and it works well for me. My biggest folder by far is my STORES folder. Every store I have ever bought from has it's own folder. Within each store is a folder for a designer. I have sorta the same problem with as in that some of my designer's folders are ginormous! However, I've made it easier on myself to look through these folders by doing two things. Each folder I assign a preview of the kit, that way I can see what is in the folder. I also rename each folder to the name of the item in it. That way if I see something in the store I like I can go to that person's folder and scroll down alphabetically to see if it is there. Easy peasy!

A few other folders that I keep going that I found extremely useful are: needs unzipped/organized {I go through this once a week}, Frequent Used Products{Products I know I pull from for like 75% of my layouts}, A is for Alpha{Copied A of every alpha I own and put in a folder alphabetized so I can quickly find an alpha to match a layout}, Templates {Organized by the amount of picture spots} and Stuff I've bought {Spending money causing me to be more inspired to use it}. I have more if you want me to share I will. I could do a screen shot if you would like, just let me know :D

Oh and like Liana said, most designer's are good about incorporating the actual description into the name of each individual product. I tend to search for blue ribbon and can find it without having to tag anything.
 
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RebeccaH said:
Right now I just search the TLP shop for whatever I'm looking for, find the kit preview in the store that looks like what i want, then go see if I have it on my computer already. Not exactly the most efficient method of finding stuff.
Click to expand...

I've been doing this a lot too. I figure the stuff here at TLP is well organized and is all I want to us anyway, so why should I tag my stuff? :giggle.

I have a folder for each store and I just keep each kit/element pack/paper pack together in a folder under there. Yes, I have a zillion folders, but they are all listed by designer together based on how they've named their folder, so I usually can find what I need quickly.

Another thing that I started doing almost right away when I started digi in 2006 was to create a Word Doc and I save a 2" thumbnail in there by date of purchase. Then when I want to quickly search my stuff for ideas of what product I want to use, I scroll through there. It's great when I get a few pages down and see something that I forgot I had. LOL. After about six months to a year, the document start to get a little slower when saving, so I just create a new one. "Purchased Stuff 1" "Purchased Stuff 2" etc.It doesn't take long at all and is pretty handy. Plus, it's my way of double checking that I actually downloaded everything I purchased.
 
Liana - how do you change your folder images to a preview? I've been trying to figure it out, but I am having no luck!
 
On a Mac, I select the photo, press cmd+i for "get info." Then I open the preview file, select all and copy. Then I go back to the get info page of the folder and paste the image in that tiny folder image at the very top of the box. If you're on a PC, I've seen someone write a tutorial out there but I can't recall where. Let me know if you need more help.
p.s. I think your Name Fairy name is the very best one I've ever seen. So dirty! :)
 
kelley, on a pc, it's as simple as finding the preview in the folder and renaming it 'folder'. yup, that's it. then, when you view the high level of the folder, that's the preview you'll see.
 
well, i've started something, but i'm not sure what exactly this will look like when I'm done. i've started copying my kit previews into a folder of their own. i figure since the previews are small file sizes, creating copies won't eat up a ton of hard drive space. now i have to decide whether i want to do folders (i.e. stitches, templates, journal cards, etc) or whether i want to just do tags for each preview. i figure it will take me a few hours to copy all of my preview files into one folder anyhow, so i'll cross that bridge when i get there. ;)
 
I couldn't sleep last night so I went through my TLP stash on my ExternalHD and in Bridge made all kinds of keywords by what I usually find myself looking for while I'm doing a page. I still have about the same amount I need to tag and transfer from my laptop to my ehd.

Looks like a pretty decent system. I'm glad Bridge has that. It's the finding the time to tag. I did notice that if a designer named their element - paper or flower or button it brought it up too without it being tagged.... i think. around 5 am i was pretty much delirious...
 
Right, Sarah! I tag my templates, papers and colors of things but mostly everything else shows up in a search anyway. Lately, I've been tagging kits for holidays and different parts of the year, too. Other thing you can do is make "smart collections" so you don't have to search each time. I have collections of journaling cards, paper, templates and it makes it easy to just press a button and pull up all the goodies easily.
 
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