Where do you store your scrapbook kits?

Welcome back Jan I use an external hard drive. I have a folder reflected as The Lily Pad and then a folder for each designer and then I file the kits under each designer name. If I am looking for a "flower" I just search for that under the lily pad or under the designer I am interested in using product from. I am on a PC.

Not sure how others store their kits/files.

Good luck

 

I’m using an iMac. I store my digistash on an EHD. Everything I get from the TLP store goes into one folder called The Lilypad. I change the default blue folder icon to the kit preview for every product. That way, I can scroll through the folder and see at a glance what I have. I also make extensive use of the search function.

I wouldn’t store my kits in the cloud. I think the cloud is for backing up. Keeping kits local means faster access. My kits are backed up to the cloud just in case though, using Backblaze.

 

I used to use an EHD, but my current laptop has a large built in drive, so I use that, and back up onto two EHDs.

 

I think the Cloud is a great "place" for a backup but it probably would be a difficult place to scrap from. (But that's my opinion: maybe it would work well for you. I'm impatient and I don't think I'd like having to download stuff as I scrap.

Because having one copy of a file is never safe, perhaps an EHD would work as a place to store your supplies and the Cloud could be a great backup, if you're allowed to back up the EHD to the Cloud.

 

I have iCloud and even pay for extra space, but I don't find it terribly user-friendly except for storage. It's not very fast and I get impatient every time I use it, but I'm a very impatient person.

I have lots of space on my computer + I also use an EHD. I keep files that I don't use as much on my EHD, also out-of-season files, if I know I won't be using them the rest of the year, like very specific holiday stuff.

 

Using a cloud requires internet access or cellular access. There are remote areas without those, so something to consider. I certainly would think it would be slower than your hard drive or an EHD.

Also, I don't know about Photoshop but I do know that users of another software got corrupted layouts when using the cloud as workspace for their layouts. The auto-synch feature and the software did not always play nicely. If you are storing just content on the cloud, that may not be an issue as you are not modifying the content like you do with a layout.

 

I have kits for my CTs that need to be used + a favorites folder of all my go-to stitching, alphas, etc. on my computer HD. Everything else is kept on and backed up to EHD. I back up all of my photos on Google Photos, and my current (since I got this phone last fall) photos are backed up to the cloud.

 

I also store all of my pictures and digital kits on an external hard drive. I have two computers in the house, so it's nice to be able to unplug my EHD and take it to whichever computer I'm working on.

Some Routers for your wi-fi actually have a spot to plug in an EHD too... you could plug one into that and then access it from anywhere in your house. I actually have that type or router and keep forgetting to try it.

 

Everything that Michele said. I too am on an iMac and all my digi supplies are on an EHD with an alias link (the main TLP folder i.e.) to my desktop. Ditto making the blue folder the preview image (and I ditch the 'Folder' image at the same time keeping only the preview jpg).

One thing I do that not that many do is have a full TLP catalog in Lightroom. I use that a lot to find things, get ideas and yes, I am a serious keyword-er.

 

I scrap on an iPad Pro and use iCloud for all my storage. I have the lowest tier subscription and have all my scrap stuff stored there and still have lots of room left. It works great for me but that’s probably because I am on an iPad. I’ve never used iCloud with my desk top. I use affinity photo app for scrapping so I can have my scrapping app open and also my iCloud files open at the same time so I just drag from cloud to my page I’m working on. I also have everything downloaded so I am not tethered to internet or anything like that. I have even worked on pages while sitting waiting for my kids in car rider line.
This is how my set up looks. I have a folder strictly for scrapbook stuff in my files app:


I also use the tags feature to organize all my stuff. You can see some of my very long list of organization on the bottom left of my photo.

ETA: I also have an EHD that I strictly use as a backup to store all my scrap stash on too. I’ve also used jump drives in the past when I was working on a laptop so that I could take my scrap stuff with me while on a road trip.

 

I store all mine on my hard drive and have an online back up. I had started transferring some older supplies to EHDs but after having two fail within a couple of weeks of each other, I decided to stick to my hard drive.

 

I back everything that's important to Amazon cloud. I'm surprised at how many people rely solely on EHDs since they are so prone to failure. I truly believe it's just a matter of when they will fail. The more you use them, the higher probability they will fail. I only plug mine in when I absolutely need to. I've had several fail in the past (thankfully with back ups).

 

@GodBlessAmerica re making an alias.

Go to your original folder or even file on hopefully your EHD.
Right click on that folder and select 'Make Alias'
The alias will be made usually right next to the original.
It will have the same name but with lower case 'alias' at the end. It will also have a little arrow on the bottom left of the folder.
Holding down the CMD key on your keyboard, click and drag the alias folder to your desktop. Voila! you now have your stash on you desktop but not taking up memory.

btw, if you major-move or really mess up the original folder, your alias won't know where it is. This concept is good training to remember for when you get into Lightroom. What you 'see' in Lightroom is really only an alias of what's on your original photo/stash folder, no matter where that lives.

fwiw, I keep the original folder of what I buy each month on my desktop. March is call ...ta da...1903 Stash. At the end of each month I put that original folder into my EHD folder and it then is ready to import into Lightroom As Is. It's only when I've tagged etc the individual purchases that I move them into the Designer's folder. Let's say I still have quite a few months to tag and move but I DO add tags for Designer and Preview as soon as the enter Lightroom.

Then the joy of buying starts again!!!

 

I store my kits and templates in Finder. Two folders in Downloads labeled kits and templates. Inside those folders are more folders. A folder for each store that I buy from has more folders of their kits inside. The same with the templates folder. Each folder is in ABC order.

Everything I own lives on my laptop. I do have copies of my favorite kits on an EHD, but I don't scrap from that unless I've deleted a kit from Finder. (I've been known to do that!)