How Organized Are Your Digi Files?

[Crabbe]

I gotta tell you. I have not been doing this that long and I feel so un-organized. And this is not like me at all. I'm not productive and I can't seem to find anything!!

I have tried twice now to organize and just can't seem to find the best way.
I have read other people's posts on other BB's and everyone rants and raves about Picasa.

So, I downloaded it and what a bigger looking mess I have now.

I know there are others who are newbies to this and would like to hear some feed back on the format and structure some of you more experienced ladies are using.

[Tbog]

I started out making a folder in My Documents labeled Scrapping Stuff.

When I download a complete kit , I make a new folder just for that kit. So for example, I have one folder with that designer's name, and seperate folders inside that folder for each different kit they make. That way if I want a kit by a certain person, I click on their name, and there will be seperate folders with each of their kits in that folder.

Then I have folders for Misc Papers, Misc Ribbons, etc. Anything I download that is not in a kit, goes into the folder for whatever kind of piece it is. And I ALWAYS put the terms of use in with the pieces or kits. This way I know who made them and where I got them.

If there is no terms of use in the file, then I make sure to rename the file with the name of the person who made it in the filename.

Hope that helps.

[peggy]

You mean we're supposed to organize everything???

[Crabbe]

Peggy your a hoot!

[BarbaraS]

Ok, chickeydoodles--try this one on for size!

http://www.gottapixel.net/phpBB2/cms_view_article.php?aid=10

[chantryss]

I do pretty much the same as Brenda..

1.) I have folders for each designer, and organize kits that way. I do have it broken down like this: Designers A-F in one folder, G-R in another, and S-Z in a third. ( each designer has their own folder, with subfolders for each kit under that) I file by designer's first name, cause that is how the scrapping community tends to operate.

2.) I also have a folder that holds scrapping site compilation kits, like the monthly kit given here at GP. So in my site compilation folder, I have a GP folder, with a folder for each group kit. I keep the files inside each kit folder separated by the contributing designer name.

3.) I also have a folder for quick pages, which is organized by designer name too.

4) Within each main topic folder, I keep a folder of just previews for each kit, so I can look for things by deisgner name or by color. I rename everything to include the deisgner name (or at least their initials) if it doesn't already.

5) Then I have a folder for everything I make, with subfolders for different things, layout jpgs in one, psp lo files in another, posting info files, QP's I make, kits I make, lots of subfolders in there!

6.) Lastly, I keep a folder for zip files from all my downloads. When I get enough to filla cd or dvd, I burn them off and delete the zips.

This system doesn't give me visibility to each individual pieces of kits, but it seems to work for me rigth now. The 2 biggest benefist, is having the preview folders to glance through when searching for stuff. I tend to scrap by color, rather than specific element, so that works for me AND having the designers name and TOU info right with the kit pieces.

Good Luck. It will take a big chunk of time to get things put into whatever system you decide upon. Be patient with yourself.

[tracyask]

Yes, I have a similar system to those already explained. And I print off a sheet with a preview to the kit that I keep in a 3 ring binder. When I need a kit, I look at the thumbnails on the computer, but when I need a specific element and don't know where to find it, I leaf through my binder and look more closely at the preview. The previews also have the name of the kit (as it is filed under), the designer's name, and the place I obtained it.

Good Luck with your organizing. It does sometimes take a few tries to find what will work best for you - you will get there.

[photomama]

I tried to get organized - but I forgot where I was and who made the kit - I am hopeless - sorry

[katt]

I have my kits and elements sorted into folders with the site name I downloaded from. At the time I download I make sure that there is a TOU with the designer's name included or I edit the name on the folder so that the designer's name is included. This makes it really easy for me to give credit when I post a layout. I use Picasa's labeling so that I can quickly see all the papers and different elements when choosing colors. It works for me so far. :)

Katt

[KarinvdB]

Well I just started digiscrapping and already it's a mess. I have a folder digiscrapping in my media/images/ directory and just unzipped all the kits there in seperate folders, that way at least I know what kit it is. But I haven't removed the zip files yet so that's a clutter...

I used Picasa to put all the stuff together but that's still one big pile, still need to seperate paper, ribbons, etc. Haven't really figured all that out yet.


I do have a system for my digi photos (had to, there's a couple of thousand), but it's simply date-wise: I have a folder for each year, in that folders for each month (2006-01 for example, the year up front for sorting purposes), then in that each day (2006-01-31, again for sorting) and every now and then I use a renaming tool ("The Renamer", freeware) to rename all files to 20060131_0003_IMG.jpg for example. I first kept the count going across dates but I gave that up, it doesn't work, forget 1 file and you've got a problem. So for each date there's a 0001 etc.

In Picasa I try to label files as I'm browsing as much as I can. If I would have to sit down and label them all It'd take a week. At least.

[michie_michie]

OK, you've inspired me. I'm currently making website folders to place all my kits. I'll then attach tags to everything in picassa. I didn't like my system, because many kits fall under multiple categories.

[mainely]

I also have had a problem with this subject! I tried to download picaboo but having dial up it was so slow I ended up cancelling it before it was done. I also downloaded a program for my fonts but haven't had time yet to figure it out.
I did create a file called scrapbooking and am saving everything in that with subfolders. Going to read all the posts in this thread now and see what everyone else is doing.
Mainely

[mainely]

Love the idea of a binder with everything printed out! Great idea, thank you. I also did this for my knitting and it works great, Don't know why I didn't think of it for scraping.
Mainely

[AndreaW]

I have everything I've downloaded just like katt does. I have a folder in my documents labled "scrapbooking", then under it I have folders labled, "my layouts, elements, challenges, etc" and under elements I have the websites that I download from and have them listed by kit name or designer. I also have a folder for the things I have made. It took me over a year to find a system that actually works for me, lol. This one does what I want so I easily find what I'm looking for and who to credit for it.

[Carole]

The only way I can stay somewhat organized that is if you can say organized is to put all my kits to an unzip folder. When I have enough kits, I put them on a cd and label the cd with all the kits that I have on there. I am sooo afraid that my pc is going to crash on me and that I will lose all the kits that I d/l. So that is my "organization". :-[

[SpicedAngel]

Well to be honest i never though i was going to like it this much. So I made a folder called Scrap booking. Then i started downloading kits. So I made each kit there own folder . So i guess im kinda orgignized

[tedibear220]

I was doing them by themem but just recently started doing them by creator. It seems to make it easier when I go buy new kits so I don't duplicate them.

[keaddy]

I haven't got anything organized yet. The only thing I've done so far is keep the kits in seperate folders.

[mitkov]

I actually took the time one day to sort all my digifiles. I have all paper packs and kits in one folder, then inside that folder they're sorted by color, and a seperate folder for holidays. All digital embellishments that don't come in kits are in a seperate folder, then they're sorted by type: metals/tags, love, holiday, word art, alphas, fonts. It took time, but now it's so much easier!

[Jezza]

I'm pretty organised (I think) but they seem to pile up again (before I get a chance to label them, unzip them etc. :-/

mitkov, would you like to do mine? ;D

[RainbowBunny]

Under My Pictures I have a folder called Scrapbook. In there I have all kits in seperate folders with their name. If not I would be so confused.

[lmno1]

I stumbled on this thread and have read with great interest. Being a new digi scrapper, I'm already wondering how in the world I'm going to get things organized! I've started separating things out, as far as full kits in one folder, quick pages in another, embellishments (with subfolders), etc.

But, then I wonder what if there is a paper I might want to use, but I don't look there because I'm only looking in the "paper" folder? Or, an embellishment that would be perfect, but it is with a different kit than the one I might be using?? AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! LOL!

A question for the experts, though...what do you do if there is no TOU file in something you've downloaded?? And, you downloaded it before you knew how important it was to keep track of those kinds of things?

[taz_uk]

well i started by designer, then tried by theme or colour but now going to go back to designer cos i'm completely confused - i have about 20gb of stuff that desperately needs a new home on cds before i lose it!!! :lol:

[taz_uk]

A question for the experts, though...what do you do if there is no TOU file in something you've downloaded?? And, you downloaded it before you knew how important it was to keep track of those kinds of things?

this is a good question - i have a few things that i have no idea who made them or where they came from in my very early days of digi

[lukasmummy]

They used to be really organised all renamed to include the artist name of kit and site they came from and then divided by type until Stupid partner wrecked my hardrive now they all zips on CDs by site they came from until I organise them again.

[June]

I am trying to get my kits on CD's, but hate taking them off my computer. I want to be able to see what I have quickly. Any advise will be appreciated!

[Eliza]

Organization????? lol I try and organize them into kit folders... by color... It all seems disorganized and I'd LOVE someone to come fix them. Good ideas though here... Maybe I'll check out Picassa....

[Jezza]

All I do is have a Folder called Digi Scrapping Kits and then in them I have the kit names all in aphabetical order and who it's from :) Probably not the easiest way, but for now it suits me lol

[heylady]

I organized my theme, now I believe I will have to start my designers. At least my favorites.

[kohorses]

I'm fairly new - but already have over 5 G of "stuff" so... I'm pretty organized but wished I had known more at first... I just separated stuff into categories... elements (folders like alphas, ribbons, brads, tags, wordart, misc, frames, etc etc..), papers, overlays, etc... now I file according to kits but if I LOVE something thats really really universal, I will save a copy in the kit and then a copy in the category file too!

[kohorses]

I also have all papers organized by designer...like shabby princess, etc...

[Carolyn S]

I have big dreams about organizing but the truth is, my computer is a mess. I have been trying to save the zipped file in a folder with the kit name. I have been putting the preview if available and the url of the website so I know where I found it.

Carolyn S

[scrappy-mom]

I am still working on the best way to organize my supplies, but I find that having the kits all together with the TOU is a must have. I put everything in groups from the site I downloaded them from, but I have noticed that designers post kits on many different sites so it might be easier to group them together by designer instead of site. Most message boards don't allow you to post the web address, so it doesn't really made where it came from as much as who made it.

[mccannl]

I appreciate all the organization ideas. I am new to the craft, and just beginning to collect stuff, and sure don't want it to get out of hand.

Linda

[vkimmycat]

I never put my kits in folders by site name - too general for me and it's tough to remember who sells where as there are plenty of designers selling at multiple places.

I have 2 organizational plans in use:

First, I have a folder under My Documents called My Downloads (original, I know). In that folder is a folder for the current month, and the prior month. Everything I download element-wise goes its current month. The prior
month's folder gets sorted into the second plan:

I organize my kits by designer name, alphabetically, by first name, last name, name of kit. Each kit goes into the appropriate A-Z file. When there is enough to burn to a cd (or dvd in the case of megakits for a particular designer), they get burned twice - always backup and store your backup discs elsewhere. A month ago I finally completed burning all my kits obtained for the past 2 and a half years (up to January 2006). Yay! Boy did that free up quite a bit of real estate on my hd!

Megakits put out by different sites go under folders by site name. I still have every megakit I've obtained on my hd, but am in the process of burning them to dvd, by site.

Individual elements I've received are filed in folders by name of element, the actual file is by designer name. When I have enough to burn, I burn.

NOTE: I don't keep the original folders the kits come in. I open the main folder, and move all the elements withing the individual folders to the main folder, along with the tou and anything else the designer has included. I then delete those extra folders. I like being able to open a folder and see all of the elements at once. :)

Other downloads - brushes, fonts, Photoshop goodies (layerstyles, textures, etc.) go in folders by type of item, under My Downloads. These get burned to cd as soon as I have enough, and no, I keep very little loaded into my PSCS as possible to speed both startup and filter render times.

I also keep copies of tutorials and ezines, in folders named for the site and/or author. These also get burned as soon as I have enough to burn a full disc.

BEST ADVICE: If you are not burning copies to cd/dvd, start immediately because you never know when your hd will crash! Sure, there are experts who could possibly recover your hd (for a huge fee) and some programs available so that you could do it yourself. But why have to go through that trouble when you can prevent it. Been there, done that myself. Learned my lesson and fortunately, only lost about a month's downloads.

[Kimmistil]

I like some of the ideas here for organization, I'm new to this too, so I like to see how other people handle the mess.....

[wingedheart]

I'm pretty organized. I make folders called "PSP files to organize", "scrapbook files to organize", "alphas to organize," etc. Then, when I download, I put them there. About once a week I filter them into the folders they go in. It really helps.

[cmmlanderson]

Well, I thought I was really disorganized but after reading everyone else's replies, I guess I fit right in. I have way too much stuff to print and keep in a notebook--I already tried that. I'm working on an access database right now because I have 82 cds full of clipart. That doesn't include all the paper and element collections that I've collected over the last 6 months or so. I need to quit my job so I have more time to organize!!

[MaryE]

Organization? What's that?

[s_k_wilson1990]

I save everything in folders in my pictures and I also make cd's for backup incase my computer crashes.

[digiscrapmom]

I have a whole internal hard drive dedicated to digital scrapbooking. Organization has been a big deal and ordeal for me since I started digiscrapping. I used to save my downloads under designer's names but now I'm using the Site-Designer organization. I think I might have to go back to the Designer @ Site Name organization for my downloads. But I'm still thinking deeply about it.

After having 3 major hard drive crashes last year, I've diligently been backing up my files every end of the month. It usually lasts 2-3 days depending on the amount of data I need to backup. I'm on Day 2 right now and so far I'm slowly starting to free up my hard drive by deleting the files I've already backed up.

Freebies and other downloadables such as challenge prizes and stuff are stashed under the site folder and I just label the folder so as not to be confused. I have also printed out index prints for all the full kits that I download so that if I need a particular kit, I know which CD/DVD to get from my collection and start using it. I handwrite the contents of my backup CDs in a notebook in that way, it makes it easier for me to remember where is which.

Like Kim, I also remove the original folders after unzipping the files. I don't like having lots of folders. Unless the kit has coordinating alphas, I separate the alpha folders but the rest are all stashed in one for easier access.

For my layouts, I sort it by year then by month. I name them: Date Created (mmddyy)-Kit Name by Designer-Title of LO. I keep a separate folder for the original PSD files or collage files (in FotoFusion), maximum resolution JPG, and Web/Internet version JPG. It makes it easier for me to sort my layouts that way.

Finally, after I clear out the files that I have from the previous month, I defrag my hard drives to keep it up clean and always optimized for heavy use :)

I did get some tips from the others who posted here. I hope we can all get the kind of organization we can be comfortable and happy with.

[Scrappieness]

Does anyone know of a image file manager software that will act as a data base so I can retrieve files by different key words? I dont want to have to write my own database... but there must be programs out there that the professionals use!

I also sort by many categories... usually by the files use. ie.. Alphas, Corners, Ribbons, Brads, Buttons Fibres etc.. Also Kits- by Theme, Kits- General (kits that can be used for any occasion), Tutorials, etcetce. In the Kits by theme I keep all kits, elements and any item that pertains to a specific theme ie baby, Christmas, Valentines etc. I also have a favourites folder where I keep an extra copy of all the elements or kits that I just love and want to keep close to use time and time again. I do tend to over do it in the way of folders though. Every file if it has a TOU or anything to identify the creator will be placed in a folder with the TOU even if it is a single file so that TOU never gets lost and I can always give credit. Its a primitive system but is working really well.

I have found that the Kits- General have been the group that has grown the fastest and when I can fill a DVD I will burn from my external HDD. I used to burn on a weekly basis but I foudn that it was deleting files that were already on the DVD/CD so Im too scared to do it for fear of losing stuff!!

Anyway, when I get the organisational program that I am looking for, I will be better able to find things by designer as it will be cross referenced. I tend not to file that way, yet all the designer info is stored safely with each file. :)

I store all my digi photos in a similar folder system. Ie Photos for 2005 on one DVD. Labeled PICS05Vol1 and so on. Then within.... each folder labeled by month 200501, 200502 and so on. THen within that each day is separated, 20050101, 20050102 etc. Then within each day the photos are labeled 20050101-001, 20050101-002 etc etc. I can take any file and know exactly what it means where it can be found etc. Its a terrific system! I think I need to work out a similar labeling system for my digiscrap files. i may just get there being an organisation nutcase!!! hehe Im a Virgo!! hehe

Hope that helps someone!

HUGS
Ness

[bookmom33]

i have a folder on an extra hard drive just for scrapbooking that i have labeled by site of where i got them...that way if i loose a piece or tou i can go back to that site and find it or the person again....then i am a big back upper...(is that even a word?) i burn everything on cd....i just keep the cd's labeled again by site then keep burning until it is full. i did have abinder with previews in it but i have really lacked updating it....so that is the way i keep my stuff in line.

[dixiewalls]

i wish i was this organize, thanks for all the tips. now i have something to do this weekend.

[jax]

I'm fairly new at this but since I HATE having my computer a mess, I tried to organize my stuff fairly quickly. Still working on how to do that, but so far so good.

I download into a file called "zipped". After I unzip (& delete the zip), I move it to a seperate folder titled "Scrapbook downloads" (original, huh? LOL) Under that I have seperate folders for each site, and then each designer. I'm not sure if I will keep it that way, but that is the way it is now. I have that entire folder copied on an external HD and I also burn cds. Most are by site, some are just several designers with room to add to the cd.

I have a large binder with previews of all the cds. Each preview has the cd it is on, folder it is in. For kits or things I don't have a preview for, I made up contact sheets...they have the file name listed under them also. This is large, but really nice for when I'm not working at the computer, I just make a note of what I would like to use.

I like to keep my regular hard drive fairly clean, so I delete them as soon as I've copied them to cd. That is kind of scary! :)

I am also working on tagging all my stuff in PSE 4 once it's on the cd. Probally should worry about doing that with my external HD too, but haven't gotten that far yet.

[deborahlunn]

I try to organize my files as I download. I also make copies of some embellishmnts, papers, etc. and put them in several different folders because, trying to remember what kit had a certain embelishment can overwhelm my brain!

[Pat K]

I have PSE and use the PSE Organizer to keep track of all my elements & kits by catagories. It took awhile to catalog them at first, but now I keep this current each month, and it is easy. I keep my photos in folders by year; monthly sub-folders; date of event sub-folders [Ex: 2-25 Car Show]. I use a free program, XnView, to rename my digital photos after I download them to the computer Ex: Car Show-1; Car Show-2 etc. This can be obtained from
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/enhome.html

[ccmentor]

Mine are totally disorganized. I am working on trying to organize them all but just can't make myself sit down and do it. That is my next goal.

[heartspun]

Thanks, everyone, for all the tips. I can see I have a lot of work ahead. I've tried to organize several times, but have changed my method twice already now. Hope this is the last time!!

[FireWolf]

Nice topic! I have hundreds, maybe thousands of kits and pieces spread over 3 machines and about 5 external harddrives. I've got my work ahead of me on this one, but I am now designating 1 day each month to sort and burn to clear up the mess. I sort by site>designer>kit or element...so far so good, but it will take ages to do.

[mandiannie]

How I organize.
I just realized that I have 9 cd of digital kits that I've downloaded and more often than not I have no idea what's on them and end up looking through all of them before I get what I'm looking for.
So, today I came up with a wonderful idea.
I created a folder and put all the previews of the kit i had on 1 cd into it. Then using Microsoft picture viewer I selected the print option. I selected all the photos and printed out a contact sheet.
Once printed I labled the paper cd#1, cd#2 and so on. Now instead of looking through the cds I look at the contact sheet to easily fond what I'm looking for.

[createdbydigi]

On the computer
by site, designer, kit

Now so that I don't break up kits - the cds are very inexpensive...
I burn the kit on the cd and label it - Put it in a cd envelope, with a 5 x5 picture of the kit showing through - then label the envelope kit name, designer, and site

I have tons, but it is easy to flip through looking for exactly what I want.

I don't mind wasting the cds, when I find my favorites for a project, it is no problem keeping them close.

[Scrapdragon]

I'm a bit disorganised at the minute, when I started out I had the 'brilliant' (NOT) idea of splitting all the kits up and having folders for all the different bits. This was so not a good idea. Now I have folders by designer, and am making up index sheets which I will pop into a ring binder, that way I can flick through the sheets tio find the kit I want, then go straight to that CD

[catz1031]

I have a mess in my computer. I ended up like you guys, having a lot of CDs that I don't know what it contains. Now, with your help, I know what to do. Thanks! :-D

[sarah130]

I am VERY organized when it comes to Digi files! I have a website where I upload them into catergories (such as ribbon, eyelets, paper, brads, etc.) I realize that you are NOT suppossed to do something like this (that the files are ONLY for PERSONAL use) and because of that I have my catergories in a PRIVATE file with a password that only I can access,

[tarawohlford]

I just started investigating digital scrapping after Christmas, so I'm an avid collector and have done nothing with it yet. It's going to take me forever just to unzip everything!

[xDesertLilyx]

I'm a bit on the, insanely organized side. I have my zip files I download from online seperated out by website, category, designer, documents. (IE: C:\Scrapbooking\Gotta Pixel\Designers\Jane Doe\010203 buttons -would hold the read me, thumbnail, etc documents-) My photos are broken up by subject, year, month. When I go to back them up onto CDs I'll probably sort them out by types - papers, buttons, ribbons...etc..then have one disk with all the needed documents for backup. :)

[TaraNPhil2]

I spent a few hours this past week re-organizing all of my files. I had a while ago put some stuff *I thought* on DVD but when I went to use someone on the disc realized it would not read. I have to figure that out. So until now I will keep well organized and in a few months have to do it all over again..LOL

[Neetnailz]

My digi files were and still are a mess. I installed FxFoto and it was meant to organise my files for me but somehow it's even harder to trawl and find anything

[tchualessn]

I was actually quite organized...til my DH LOST them all (as well as my pics)

[field_ja]

What is organized??? LOL I have everything by site at the moment but that just isnt going to do it for me any longer.

[sme605]

ha! I try, and then I think of another way, and them am to lazy to rearrange the old stuff to fit the new way and it's just a mess

[tenessaa]

I keep mine grouped together pretty good. Of course my collections still small

[beckylouwho]

How sad would you be if your computer crashed and you lost all those digi files? I have one word for you, "CD" actually that is not a word is it?
Anyway, I have all of mine burnt on CDs and have them orgainzed by the site. Like this site is "Gotta Pixel" and like was mentioned before I have a notebook of the previews and it is organized under the site's name also.
I have to thumb through a rather large notebook to find certain files, and sometimes whished I had categorized them by theme. You know like Halloween, Christmas, Babies....
I have had a major computer crash and I was so very very sad. I invested in CDs. Even they are not 100% safe but what's a person to do?
Becky

[sljohns]

Orginize, whats that?? I am lucky if its all in one main folder after that I just have to dig and dig.

[twiddlebug]

Well I've only just started with this digiscrapping and already I have a pile of files and folders. I just have a folder on my computer called 'scrapbooking' and then I download all my files into that. I leave them in the folders that they are supplied in, so that all the terms of use etc are all kept with the files.

I have came across software from extensis which is called portfolio. I have been using this to organise my files and am happy with it so far. You can catalogue them anyway you like ie all together, by designer or whatever and it remembers the location of the file whether it be on your computer or cd. You can add keywords etc so you can narrow down your search. It shows you the file in image format so you can just scroll through them and look or you can do a search.

So far it is working out really well. I have one of the older versions of this software and it does a great job. I'm glad I found it before getting too out of control. :)

[Belindaann37]

Im halway organized only because when i first started out i had no idea what i was doing. I didnt save the kits with any clue on TOU's etc. I assumed (wrongly) they would already have something inside when I downloaded them that would tell me who created them and where I got them what a mess! That was in earlier days before so much digital piracy ..now most kits do in fact have the info inside but I also dowload them to a folder much the way Brend described. The only difference is I usually dowload them by the site I got them at also in case I need to go back for some reason or in case i have a particular challenge connected to that kit.

[wildirish67]

I'm pretty organized. I have seperate file folders for the sites that I use, and have subfolders for designers and their kits.
I found out pretty quickly that I needed a lot more memory. So, I went and purchased a 200Gig external hard drive. I love it! I don't have to worry about my photos and digital kits taking up too much room anymore!:)

[Wishful]

I have my kits and elements organised into site folders, then designer folders, kits, but when it comes to saving my files on cd is when I get into strife. Because I cant remember which ones I've saved and which ones I havent, so then need to check each folder over and over.

[Oletta]

I know I should be more organized, but I fear being too constrained by color, theme, etc. There are many times when I'm scrolling through the "pile" and find just the right element or paper that is "misfiled".

[mommy,rn]

terribly disorganized...I'm looking forward to seeing some of your solutions! That's reminds me...gotta buy some discs at Walmart this week!

[beccasue]

I'm with photomama, but still pugging away at it.

[wallstrednekwife]

I'm sadly behind on backing up. Thankfully when my pc crashed last week, my darling husband was able to retrieve almost everything that i hadn't backed up yet. I'm going to get my cd's burnt today! I'm not horribly organized, but am getting there.

[CMH1]

This is great advice for us newbies! It is so much easier to start organising at the begining instead of once its all messed up!

[scrapcatb]

Ongoing struggle for me. I'm such a graphic collector that it sometimes gets to be too much. Love the ideas though!

[JeanneCF]

I've only seen one post mentioning the organizer that comes with PSE. I can't praise it enough! I spent a lot of time setting up my tags and key words, and then loading and tagging all my "stuff" but man, it was worth it! I have a long list of tags, but now I can find everything blue or green, etc.; all papers blue or greet, etc.; or all different elements in blue or green, etc. Or I can find theme stuff like all Halloween or all Boy or all Baby, etc. I have set up catalog tags for each designer, so can go and pull up all the kits by each.

I have four PSE catalogs: digital elements, personal photos, my completed layouts, and layouts that I like and might want to "lift."

On my computer I have one big folder labeled "downloaded elements". Within that folder I make a folder for each kit or embellishment that I download. I make sure that the preview of the kit is renamed to include the designer's name and kit name. For kits that have different parts to download (like GP's download-a-day) I name the folder with a "z-site name" - that way my folders stay at the bottom of my list of folders and I can remember to go to that site and download.

I also have a large external hard drive just for all my scrapbooking stuff, but I still burn everything to CDs after I tag them with Organizer. If you burn the CDs from within Organizer, it keeps a thumbnail in the catalog and tells you which CD it is on.

[Fran]

Gosh.... I am so new to this and so disorganized for sure. I have spent so much time trying to obtain all the necessary things to use for scrapping that I seem to have no time to use it. Helpppppppppp!

[WhitsEnd]

i am new to this also and learned the hard way at the beginning to keep a Terms of Use for EVERYTHING
Sometimes even in the terms of use i will add a footnote about what site i got the kit from if it is not mentioned in the TOU.
i have a folder that i download to that has seperate folders inside for each different site and within the site folder a different a different folder for each kit
i have rearranged things several times since starting, but this seems to work best
And don't forget to do backups!:)

[schlpic]

I tried to org by name and color, but once I started saving to cd's--that kind of makes it more difficult! An external drive would be nice. All in one place again.

[birdmom]

I sort them according to the designer, but I spend more time sorting and filing than I do creating! The really hard part is when I'm looking for, let's say a bow. I end up looking in way too many places. There has to be an easier way.

[sandracvrt]

Well, I'm fairly new to digiscrapping, but I must admit I started organizing as soon as I started with the whole downloading because it just makes it easier... so my files are pretty organized.