Organizing Digital Scrap Downloads

[carterv2]

Hey! Does anyone have any good ideas for organizing your digital scrapbook "stuff." I have downloaded several and it seems to take me forever to find what I'm looking for as each file is zipped and then even when unzipped I can't "see" what I'm looking for so I have to open every file that I think I may want...............It just gets a little frustrating! Any advice?

[AmberK]

I havent really figured out how to use it yet but I have a program called Photo Shop Album that will allow you to organize and add tags to everything so you can do a search for specific items.

I also know that Paint Shop Pro Album is the same thing. I think they are both around $50.

I would get one of these and start now. It will make it much easier for you! I have TONS of stuff on my computer and going back in and organizing at this point is going to be a major undertaking!

[mekstamper]

[QUOTE=*amber*]I havent really figured out how to use it yet but I have a program called Photo Shop Album that will allow you to organize and add tags to everything so you can do a search for specific items.

I am using Photoshop Album to organize my elements and I'm pretty excited about it. I've just started and it's one of a hundred projects so I am not making huge progress. Bascially I broke down my Elements into Major categories with sub-categories underneath and created a tag for each category. I also tag by color.
If I want a blue floral tag I can click on blue, floral and tag and it will pull up all the pictures that meet those requirements. I can quickly look to see which one I want to use!
I think it is a tremendous tool! I can't wait until I get all my elements in there and tagged!!!!!

[elizabethlmccoy]

Quick question...I have album too but haven't taken the time to install it. But my question is this: If I have things saved on cds...like pictures & elements can i include in searches what is on my cd's??? I mean If i tag what is on the cd and then take it out and the next day i do a search but don't put the cd in will it have a thumbnail or some kind of way of going through the cds??? Hope that makes sense.

[mekstamper]

Quick question...I have album too but haven't taken the time to install it. But my question is this: If I have things saved on cds...like pictures & elements can i include in searches what is on my cd's??? I mean If i tag what is on the cd and then take it out and the next day i do a search but don't put the cd in will it have a thumbnail or some kind of way of going through the cds??? Hope that makes sense.

Yes! I forgot to mention that I created an Album just for elements. I have one album for pictures, one for elements, one for household items that I want to label some information about (this was grandma's sugar bowl for example) - that's a long term project anyway it is helpful to keep the elements in their own album.

When you put your CD in you then pull the items into PSA. It doesn't actually store the item but instead a thumbnail. Then when you go back to use it, it will tell you which cd it is on. How nice is that!!!

This is true with photos. If your photos are backed up to cd and you read them into album from the cd it will reference to the cd.

For elements I am really excited about this because I could never remember where most of the doo dads are stored!

[elizabethlmccoy]

Thank you!!! that is exactly what i needed to know...I figured it would have to do it that way tooo....Now I am more excited about installing it. :D :D

[mekstamper]

Thank you!!! that is exactly what i needed to know...I figured it would have to do it that way tooo....Now I am more excited about installing it. :D :D

I put off installing mine too! LOL
But once I did I was sorry I hadn't gotten it the day I went digital! I am currently going back through all my digital photos and tagging them all. I am also making sure I have backups for every folder, printing out a thumbnail sheet and getting prints of the really superior pictures so that we have a hard copy backup too. It's a big project but I decided to just try to do one folder of pictures a day. I have a chart to check off as I go. It is pretty easy one folder a day.
I love having the thumbnails printed out! It will help me with my scrapping so much - even more so with speed scraps! <giggle>

hmmm maybe once I have all my picture folders done (it should take me to the end of July) then maybe I could do a folder of elements a day until I get those caught up! Good idea!!!

You'll love it!

[Margie]

i just view thumbnails in windows explorer! :) course i don't have much time to play, so my organization isn't so important to me at the moment, but i've heard much good on the album programs. but it's convient to just browse thumbs in explorer when i need something.. :)

[elizabethlmccoy]

I do that too margie...but I was thinking that the searching key words might be what comes in handy for me.

FYI If you are using windows 2000 it also allows the thumbnail view too. :)

[carterv2]

:D Thank you so much! I am going to get this and get going while I can still control what I've got...(quickly becoming out of control :)


[QUOTE=*amber*]I havent really figured out how to use it yet but I have a program called Photo Shop Album that will allow you to organize and add tags to everything so you can do a search for specific items.

I am using Photoshop Album to organize my elements and I'm pretty excited about it. I've just started and it's one of a hundred projects so I am not making huge progress. Bascially I broke down my Elements into Major categories with sub-categories underneath and created a tag for each category. I also tag by color.
If I want a blue floral tag I can click on blue, floral and tag and it will pull up all the pictures that meet those requirements. I can quickly look to see which one I want to use!
I think it is a tremendous tool! I can't wait until I get all my elements in there and tagged!!!!!

[jmayers87]

I put my dowload into a folder. I call it elements. Inside that folder, I have multiple other folders. One is kits in which I put all of my different kits (each in their own folder with owner information), in another I have eyelets, another is paper, another is brads, another is tags, another is photo corners and frames, etc.... Inside each of these, I have my view set for thumbnails, so when I am looking for elements I want, I go to that folder, then view the thumbs for something that will work. Hope this helps someone!

Jamie

[canay]

Is there a way to set the default view to be thumbs. I seem to have to change it each time I open the file.

Canay

I put my dowload into a folder. I call it elements. Inside that folder, I have multiple other folders. One is kits in which I put all of my different kits (each in their own folder with owner information), in another I have eyelets, another is paper, another is brads, another is tags, another is photo corners and frames, etc.... Inside each of these, I have my view set for thumbnails, so when I am looking for elements I want, I go to that folder, then view the thumbs for something that will work. Hope this helps someone!

Jamie

[Emma]

Is there a way to set the default view to be thumbs. I seem to have to change it each time I open the file.

I'm not sure: on mine, some open with thumbnails and some open in list view. It just depends on the setting I last used, but I remember having to change it each time. I wonder if it's a new feature on Windows XP over Windows 2000 or something.

[jmayers87]

Is there a way to set the default view to be thumbs. I seem to have to change it each time I open the file.

Canay

In your folder, go to tools, then select folder options. Under advanced setting, be sure there is a box checked that says "Remember each folder's view settings. That should do it.

[jleist]

The is also Picasa, which is now free.. I believe the web address is www.picasa.com
I love mine


Hey! Does anyone have any good ideas for organizing your digital scrapbook "stuff." I have downloaded several and it seems to take me forever to find what I'm looking for as each file is zipped and then even when unzipped I can't "see" what I'm looking for so I have to open every file that I think I may want...............It just gets a little frustrating! Any advice?

[reneekinkead]

I created a "scrapbooking" folderon my desktop. I organize mostly by catagory (buttons, paper, ribbon, elements, tags, etc....) I drag my files from the WinZip folder by clicking the first one and typing "ctrl and A" at the same time (this selects everything in the folder.) I then drag all the files to the scrapbooking folder. Once I have them there I put them where I makes the most sense to me "ribbon, tags, etc.) If I really like a collection and want to keep it together I just make a folder with the name of the collection and put all of the files in there. This does take up a lot of space on the hard drive, so I would either get an external hard drive or just burn them to DVD.

[BeckyBair]

I have a question... How do you keep track of your elements and "kits" by variouse creators so you can state the creators when you show your layouts. I hope that makes sense. We are suppose to mention the kit names and the creators when we upload our layouts, right?

[Hershey]

I have microsoft digital imaging pro 7 and it allows you to organize everything with key words and names for easy finding. It organizes a gallery for you.

[jleist]

Yes, we are suppose to credit the designer when we upload layouts!
I use Picasa I think you can find it at picasa.com or google.com/picasa.

I have a dedicated external hard drive for my digi scrap things.

but I download to the main (c) drive to downloads\scrap\shopname.
Where they stay until I'm ready to deal with them. At that time,
I unzip them where they are. If the kits are brokem up into several folders,
I dump everything from a kit EXCEPT individual alphas into one folder.
I will rename the alpha folder "Designer Name Kit Name Alpha" I will then
drop it into the folder with the rest of the kit. Then I rename the main kit
folder "Designer Name Kit Name" Now I'm ready to move it to my external hard
drive. (you can still move it to regular home on your (c) drive)

I never dreamed when I started two years ago that I would have over 3,000
folders, if I had known that I would have eleminated some sub folders. I
have already converted some... but it takes a l o n g time. If I were just
starting, knowing what I know now, I would just have subfolders for each
shop on my external HD and would moves them from the (c) drive to the
appropriate Shop folder on the external HD... because of the way I have the
kit folders labeld they would stay alphabetized.

Picasa reads and organizes only individual folders. Your sub folders look like
top folders in Picasa. So if you haven't clearly labled it you won't know
at a glance, in Picasa ,where it belongs. For instance if I had not renamed
the alpha folder I would end up with a bunch of folders labled alpha because
thats the way they come in most kits.

The first time Picasa scans your files, it will put all the folders in a category
labled "files on disk". I have created other categories.. simply, Calendar
Templates, color swatches, inspiration, my layouts, PC Crafter,
Scrap and skrap sketches with the exception of my layouts these are all
names of folders I have along with all the kits in each shop main folder. They
would be labled "shop name color swatches" or "shop name sketches" etc
in picasa I will move each folder to swatches or calendars. SO when I look at
Picasa I have a folder Color swatches and in it will be a folder for each shop
that I have collected color swatches from. I also have subfolders in the shop
folders for newsletterss and newsletter items They are labled "shop name
newsletter month year" and any sub folders in that folder will begin with that in the file name. The will show in in Picasa just like that, so Sorted by Shop
name.

After picasa has scanned my files and the new items show up in the "folders on disk" category and I have dragged them over to their proper folder (or
moved them through the menu) I have an organized easy to read database
of all my digiscrapping stuff. I can now search it by key work or scroll through
it. I tell it to list in alpha order so when I look in the scrap folder it lists
every kit i own in alha order by designer then by kit. If I need to know where
I bougoht something, I just right click on a piece of the kit and select
properties, it will give me the path to the file
"drive:shop name/designer name kit name" If I find something I want to work
with I right click on a piece of the kit and select find on disk. A windows
explorer window opens on my desktop to the kit. Now I can just drag and
drop into my graphics program.

I know this may sound like a lot of work, but once you get a system down,
it becomes second nature. Oh, and the reason I don't move the files over
before I have renamed them, is because I don't want picasa to pick them
up until they are ready. Also, I have learned the hard way.... back up your
Picasa DB file every once in a while.. it will save you the long wait of
rescanning your files again should something happen.

Most Designers lable things in a wayth at you really don't need to assign a
lot of extra key words. You can type in a color and get just about everything
in that color, or a piece, say frame or paperclip and you will see o nly all
the frames or paperclips. Youwant to see at a glance what you have by
a particular designer? Not so easy anymore since often they are selling
at multiple stores anymore. BUT, in PIcasa you can type in the designers
name and it will pull up every kit you have from that designer. If for some
reason you need to know everything you bought at a certain shop... type
in the shop name and it will pull up everything you have bo ught at that shop.
Sometimes you might want to go back and add key words.. but it doesnt
happen very often

Hope that helps.... I can send screen shots if you like, feel free to email or
pm me with any questions!

[Stacey Jewell Stahl]

I haven't read through the thread, so forgive me if I repeat this advice: take Lauren's DSU185 class. I'm taking it for the organization tips and photo manipulation. It starts in March, so you'll have to hurry to sign up. It's $15 for a two-week class. Since it's self-paced, I'll be doing my homework in April since I'm teaching DSU295 in March.

[Lauren]

Yes I have to push my new class DSU 185 for kit and photo management - It goes in to quite a lot of depth with the organisation side and you get the bonus of learning some awesome editing functions too

[LadyNimue]

Thanks for the link for Picasa2 .. its going threw my puter now. Wow what a cool little program. Been meaning to organize my puter better. This sure will help out big time. thanks again

[Mikidzmom]

I have picasa. I have been trying to tag individual files so when I look for blue papers they all show in one file.
My question. Is there an easy way to know which files have been tagged and which need tagging?

[amanda_m]

Okay, so I just organized all my stuff this weekend and this is how I did it:

I saved each kit uner one folder, and named it using the designer's name and the name of the kit since that is what you need to know to post.

then I broke down the kits into sub folders and put each kit element into the appropriate folder. (So, yes, I have them saved twice.) My sub folders are: accents, ribbon, vellum/overlays/frames, words, and alphas. Each individual piece is saved under the name of the designers initials, the kit name, and the piece name (which is how they come downloaded - I just didn't rename any of them). this way I can refer back to the folder they came from for info abou them.

I just organized based on the way I design...first I chose my photo, then I build my basic page design using the photo and the papers I chose, then I go and get the accents I need.

[ANC]

Picasa doesn't view png files, though, right? I can never view everything I have in Picasa.

[LadyNimue]

I belive it does .. If you open it up and up on top you should see Tools then click on options / file types and just click .png and they should open up. Sorry I'm new to this program but hope this helps you out.

[ANC]

Oh yay! That really helped. It's STILL adding pngs!! Thanks.

[jleist]

Picasa doesn't view png files, though, right? I can never view everything I have in Picasa.
yes .. oh never mind I see you got it!

[jleist]

I have picasa. I have been trying to tag individual files so when I look for blue papers they all show in one file.
My question. Is there an easy way to know which files have been tagged and which need tagging?


I would say to work backwards.. but remember, Picasa pics up on the file and
folder names when doiong a search as well as key words, so every element
that is already namaed "blue whatever.png" will already show up in a search
So you might do a search and then if you can remember, go back and add
key words to things that didnt come up in your search.. but when it comes to
color key words.. I figure what I am missing is negligable..

You might get frustrated and want to give up... if you have a lot of files
just dedicate a l ittle time every day on old files until your done and
do all new files right away... believe me when eyou are finished you will
be so glad you took the time... some one in this thread recently posted that
they have duplicated their files and are keeping them bothe by kit and
element paper etc.... Holy Cow! I have 114.5 GIG .. yes GIG dedicated
to kits... that does not include my layouts or photos, that's JUST kits,
I don't think I want to DOUBLE that! One simple filing system and a great
cross reference tool! Picasa

[Abby]

I have zillions as well, and sure don't need to save them twice!! I am 'fairly' organized, but definitely need to do some keyword stuff - I have PSE with it's Organizer, PSP Album with it's organizer and Picassa with it's own system too, so 'should' be covered - but none of them are any good if you don't start out with a system ... now to go in and do the keywords - what a daunting task!!

[Mikidzmom]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been labeling files but I forget which I have done between sessions of labeling.

My question. Is there an easy way to know which files have been tagged and which need tagging?

[Kaer]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been labeling files but I forget which I have done between sessions of labeling.

My question. Is there an easy way to know which files have been tagged and which need tagging?


I'm doing the Picasa class just now and I had the same question. It seems that you cannot see which one has a label (or more) and which one not.
So you need to have a strict working order to be able to tell what you already have done and what not yet.

But Lauren thougt that with the keywords you can tell which one has a keyword and which one not. I have not tried that out yet. Keywords will be used in the search, but it doesn't make a virtual folder like labeling does.

[Lauren]

Thanks Kaer - we cover all this in the Picasa class which you might find useful - keywords are transferrable to other applications , labels are not - and you can not see what labels you have applied to a particular image once applied - a bit of a pest.

[Karooch]

I have just discovered the joy of Picasa for organising my stuff. I have tagged all the folders with keywords and every time I download something new a coloured dot appears against the folder name in Picasa to let me know it hasn't been tagged with keywords yet. So I don't need to go hunting through all my folders to find the new stuff. Brilliant!

[Mikidzmom]

So I know how to add keywords and/or labels in Picasa2. I've tried to search for files that I know are labeled. But I can't tell that Picasa is finding any of them.

What am I doing wrong?

[Kaer]

Hai Kim,
to tell what is going wrong with your search, I think you need to explain more precise what you are exactly doing.

And are other searches working well? Like searching on words that often are in the name of a file? For example: if you type "kit" or "blue" in the searchbox, what is Picasa showing you?