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Post by LisaDV on Aug 5, 2014 20:44:03 GMT
What program do you use?
Especially for those that use multiple kits/supplies on their pages, what is your organizational tiers? Do you still only do previews or do you do each individual item?
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,514
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Aug 6, 2014 1:00:11 GMT
I use Picasa (it's FREE) for both my photos and digi supplies.
For photos everything is by year-month event. Example 2014 Misc, 2014-05 Mission SLO, 2014-05 Alaska , 2014-06 Scrappy Weekend, 2014-07 K Birthday, etc.
For Supplies I file by Designer_KitName_(what it is). Example CosmoCricket_MrCampy_Elements, CosmoCricket_MrCampy_Papers, etc. I also have some items labeled MiscElement_Cogs, MiscElement_RustyStars, MiscPaper_RedStripe, Etc, for items I acquired before I knew I was supposed to keep that info.
I didn't know about tagging when I first started so my tags are basically non existent. BUT I have all the Preview pages tagged as Preview, so I can search Preview and scroll through the pages quickly.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 6, 2014 14:58:33 GMT
I don't do a lot of digi scrapping but I usually do my Christmas cards that way, and I typically mix and match things from different collections. Finding certain elements that I knew I had was a huge pain. I started using My Digital Scraproom software for organizing both my digi stuff and my photos earlier this year and I love it. I like that all of the digi stuff I have is visible so I can just scroll through what I have to find what I'm looking for, and once I get everything fully tagged it will be very easy to search through my collections using keywords too. I've picked up collections here and there over the years so I have quite a bit to tag but I'm working my way through it gradually. I really hated having to open up every file and use cover flow to see what was inside. Now I just open up the software and it's all right there.
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Post by LisaDV on Aug 6, 2014 16:21:32 GMT
I don't do a lot of digi scrapping but I usually do my Christmas cards that way, and I typically mix and match things from different collections. Finding certain elements that I knew I had was a huge pain. I started using My Digital Scraproom software for organizing both my digi stuff and my photos earlier this year and I love it. I like that all of the digi stuff I have is visible so I can just scroll through what I have to find what I'm looking for, and once I get everything fully tagged it will be very easy to search through my collections using keywords too. I've picked up collections here and there over the years so I have quite a bit to tag but I'm working my way through it gradually. I really hated having to open up every file and use cover flow to see what was inside. Now I just open up the software and it's all right there. Do you know if the tagging in My Digital Scraproom goes to the metadata of the image? |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 6, 2014 17:27:09 GMT
I don't know but I can check and see what it says in the documentation/manual. You can also check it out at their website. My Digital Scraproom |
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Post by anniefb on Aug 6, 2014 22:45:58 GMT
I keep mine in folders with the designer/kit name. I don't tag but search for the file name eg flower, tag etc and mostly can find things. I guess if I end up with a lot more stuff I might need to start a more sophisticated organising system.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,688
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Aug 7, 2014 9:24:54 GMT
I also use Picasa to tag my digi files. I rarely use more than one piece from any kit on a layout so I tag all the elements that come in the kit. I use some really generic tags (like paper, or solids) as well as more specific ones. I tag items with object, colour, and any other keywords that I might use when looking for the product. I try to keep my keywords generic enough that they will apply to a whole group of items so use things like "buttons and brads" since the two are often interchangeable on a lo. I also use some specific themes like travel and Christmas.
I'm sure it sounds like overkill but I can find the perfect pink floral paper that has a vintage or distressed finish to it in seconds and it doesn't take me long to tag kits, I usually just put a podcast on while I do it. I also have an "untagged" section in picasa where the kits I haven't tagged yet live so I can scroll through my newest purchases for additional supplies.
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Post by mswhittaker23 on Aug 8, 2014 19:04:46 GMT
I use Evernote - I did a tutorial a little while back to show how I organize with Evernote. |
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Post by anniefb on Aug 11, 2014 4:38:57 GMT
I use Evernote - I did a tutorial a little while back to show how I organize with Evernote. Oohh thanks for the reminder mswhittaker23. I already use Evernote for my stamps so why didn't I think of it for digi supplies as well. Will have a look at your tutorial  |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 12, 2014 19:46:27 GMT
I don't do a lot of digi scrapping but I usually do my Christmas cards that way, and I typically mix and match things from different collections. Finding certain elements that I knew I had was a huge pain. I started using My Digital Scraproom software for organizing both my digi stuff and my photos earlier this year and I love it. I like that all of the digi stuff I have is visible so I can just scroll through what I have to find what I'm looking for, and once I get everything fully tagged it will be very easy to search through my collections using keywords too. I've picked up collections here and there over the years so I have quite a bit to tag but I'm working my way through it gradually. I really hated having to open up every file and use cover flow to see what was inside. Now I just open up the software and it's all right there. Do you know if the tagging in My Digital Scraproom goes to the metadata of the image? Sorry it took me so long. I posted it once and it didn't take and then have been busy for a few days! Here is what it says about metadata in the manual. <<Details: This is where the metadata of an image is viewable. Select an image by clicking on it and clicking on the red drop-down circle beside Details. See the Image Title, Rating, Add a Headline, Shot by, include your journaling in The Story box, File Size, etc.>> <<Can I import metadata from another program? Can I export metadata out of ScrapRoom? Many questions are asked about importing and exporting data and the answer given by the developers and in many articles researched is that metadata lives with your photo in the program that it is imported to. At this time, it is not exported with a photo, unless both the exporting program AND the importing program can read each other’s information.>> Hope this helps a little! |
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Post by LisaDV on Aug 20, 2014 12:15:56 GMT
Sorry I've been up to my eyeballs in moving and prepping houses with one house's end being a couple of weeks away.
Crazy4scraps, thanks for searching for that information. You rock!
mswhittaker23, thanks for the link.
Chinagirl828, would you be interested in sharing more of your organization tree? this sounds like what I'm looking for. I typically mix and match multiple kits.
Thanks for all of the responses. You all are the best.
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Post by lovetodigi on Aug 27, 2014 20:06:47 GMT
I don't do a lot of digi scrapping but I usually do my Christmas cards that way, and I typically mix and match things from different collections. Finding certain elements that I knew I had was a huge pain. I started using My Digital Scraproom software for organizing both my digi stuff and my photos earlier this year and I love it. I like that all of the digi stuff I have is visible so I can just scroll through what I have to find what I'm looking for, and once I get everything fully tagged it will be very easy to search through my collections using keywords too. I've picked up collections here and there over the years so I have quite a bit to tag but I'm working my way through it gradually. I really hated having to open up every file and use cover flow to see what was inside. Now I just open up the software and it's all right there. I had never heard of My Digital Scraproom until I read your post. Looked it up and it looks like a good program for digital scarpbooking. I have Photoshop, but MDS looks so simple to use. I am thinking about giving it a try. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 28, 2014 3:16:49 GMT
So far I have really liked using My Digital Scraproom. The lady who developed it (Blayne) is a scrapbooker herself, so she really thought of just about everything. I haven't been able to really use it a whole lot but I'm pretty impressed with how easy it is to use.
PSE will definitely do a lot more, but the learning curve is way, way steeper. I've had PSE since the third version and have upgraded it several times. I've taken a six week class on it and now I'm taking another class to learn how to use actions to fix photos and I still barely know just enough to get by. With Digital Scraproom, I was quickly able to import and tag about 20-30 digi collections. I've imported, categorized, rated and tagged hundreds of photos, edited a few photos, changed a few to sepia, exported some to Costco for printing and have been nothing but impressed. I really like so many of the features, especially how I can check off which groups of photos I've printed and which ones I've already scrapped. The videos on YouTube give a much better overview of everything it can do, and they are definitely worth taking the time to watch.
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michellegb
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,919
Location: New England and loving it!
Jun 26, 2014 0:04:59 GMT
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Post by michellegb on Aug 28, 2014 9:09:45 GMT
I use Evernote - I did a tutorial a little while back to show how I organize with Evernote. Thank you for that post! That was what motivated me to get mine organized with Evernote.  |
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,688
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Aug 29, 2014 8:57:05 GMT
Chinagirl828, would you be interested in sharing more of your organization tree? this sounds like what I'm looking for. I typically mix and match multiple kits. Sorry it's taken a while, I've been offline for a couple of weeks.
My first level of tagging is usually Paper, Embellishment or Template. I add an Unused tag to everything - I like to try and make the most of my supplies so I'll often pick an unused item over one I've already used if there are similar items. I delete this tag once I've used the item.
I then use the following types of tags -
solids (for cardstock papers or any patterns that are mostly solid, such as a solid with a distressed finish) florals stars arrows circles and dots (I use this for polka dot papers as well as journaling cards that have a round shape) stripes lined (for journaling/grid papers) alphas word art (for papers, journaling cards or embellishments like flair with text printed on them - either as an overall design or a specific phrase, as well as for actual word art in kits) birds and animals buttons and brads flair wood veneer distressed tags (includes tags with space for writing as I may want to use these for layering) journaling tags (a second tag applied so I can sort out the journaling only ones) masks and overlays retro (helpful for me when working on photos from specific time periods) vintage (as above) Christmas travel
If I scrap a lot of challenges for a particular store I will also add that as a tag so I can make sure I have enough of the right products on my layout to meet that store's minimum % for layout content.
I also use colour tags - black, white, grey, brown, beige, red, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, purple, gold. If a paper has multiple shades I will tag the colours depending on how I plan to use the paper. So a floral that has a lot of pink, blue and green will have those tags applied, but if only the flower centres are yellow I will likely not add yellow as a tag.
As I get enough of something to create its own category that I want to search for on its own (such as flair) I'll pull up the category I currently have it in, delete the original tag (which was buttons and brads) and add the new one.
I keep my untagged kits in a separate folder which I have Picasa pull in. Once I have tagged a kit I move it to a separate group of folders called "Digital Scrapbooking Supplies". I have subfolders for each designer so just drop the kit into the correct designer. I have Picasa set up to constantly scan my folders so it will usually move the tagged items from my Untagged section within seconds.
I know this way of managing digi supplies is not for everyone but I really struggle with the idea of using just one kit to create a layout, I like to mix and match designers and products just like I do with my paper scrapping. Once I get in the groove of tagging it doesn't take that long (although I dread tagging the big collab kits with 200+ pieces - they do take a while) and I try to tag as I download new supplies.
For me the key to my tags was working out how I think about the supplies I want to use. I have tried to keep them broad enough to pull in a wide range of products so that I can see that perfect element that I had forgotten I owned but can apply enough tags to make them specific enough to narrow my search down to just a few items. I open products straight from Picasa into PSE by right clicking so don't even need to know where they live on my hard drive.
I hope you made it through this essay and that it has helped. Let me know if you have any questions.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Aug 29, 2014 19:02:25 GMT
I have a bunch of different file folders on my computer. When I download a collection, I save it under that collection's name in a general folder but I also separate out the elements and save them in various other folders, e.g. flowers, hardware, ribbons, etc. It's a real pain to go in each folder to view what's in there. My digital scraproom looks like a great program. I just went and looked at it, but honestly, there's no way I can afford it.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 29, 2014 22:32:37 GMT
Jeremysgirl, if you subscribe to her blog she sometimes runs specials on it. I sat on the fence for probably six months or more thinking about it after I first heard of it. Then I got a blog update that she was doing a special on it for one week and I decided to go for it. I really like how much faster and easier it is to see and use individual papers and elements from across my various collections. Now I just need the time to get everything imported and tagged! I have stuff on two different computers and three different hard drives and it's pretty much of a disaster but I'm slowly locating everything and getting it in there.
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Post by lovetodigi on Aug 30, 2014 0:17:53 GMT
I have a bunch of different file folders on my computer. When I download a collection, I save it under that collection's name in a general folder but I also separate out the elements and save them in various other folders, e.g. flowers, hardware, ribbons, etc. It's a real pain to go in each folder to view what's in there. My digital scraproom looks like a great program. I just went and looked at it, but honestly, there's no way I can afford it. try using this code: julyscrap99 for $30 off. I just bought it and it worked for me. It looks like a great program and I am looking forward to starting to import everything in. I plan to begin tomorrow while DH is watching football. I should have lots done by the time football season is finally over. Yes, I know it just started...again.  |
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Post by LisaDV on Aug 31, 2014 2:52:52 GMT
Chinagirl828, would you be interested in sharing more of your organization tree? this sounds like what I'm looking for. I typically mix and match multiple kits. Sorry it's taken a while, I've been offline for a couple of weeks.
My first level of tagging is usually Paper, Embellishment or Template. I add an Unused tag to everything - I like to try and make the most of my supplies so I'll often pick an unused item over one I've already used if there are similar items. I delete this tag once I've used the item.
I then use the following types of tags -
solids (for cardstock papers or any patterns that are mostly solid, such as a solid with a distressed finish) florals stars arrows circles and dots (I use this for polka dot papers as well as journaling cards that have a round shape) stripes lined (for journaling/grid papers) alphas word art (for papers, journaling cards or embellishments like flair with text printed on them - either as an overall design or a specific phrase, as well as for actual word art in kits) birds and animals buttons and brads flair wood veneer distressed tags (includes tags with space for writing as I may want to use these for layering) journaling tags (a second tag applied so I can sort out the journaling only ones) masks and overlays retro (helpful for me when working on photos from specific time periods) vintage (as above) Christmas travel
If I scrap a lot of challenges for a particular store I will also add that as a tag so I can make sure I have enough of the right products on my layout to meet that store's minimum % for layout content.
I also use colour tags - black, white, grey, brown, beige, red, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, purple, gold. If a paper has multiple shades I will tag the colours depending on how I plan to use the paper. So a floral that has a lot of pink, blue and green will have those tags applied, but if only the flower centres are yellow I will likely not add yellow as a tag.
As I get enough of something to create its own category that I want to search for on its own (such as flair) I'll pull up the category I currently have it in, delete the original tag (which was buttons and brads) and add the new one.
I keep my untagged kits in a separate folder which I have Picasa pull in. Once I have tagged a kit I move it to a separate group of folders called "Digital Scrapbooking Supplies". I have subfolders for each designer so just drop the kit into the correct designer. I have Picasa set up to constantly scan my folders so it will usually move the tagged items from my Untagged section within seconds.
I know this way of managing digi supplies is not for everyone but I really struggle with the idea of using just one kit to create a layout, I like to mix and match designers and products just like I do with my paper scrapping. Once I get in the groove of tagging it doesn't take that long (although I dread tagging the big collab kits with 200+ pieces - they do take a while) and I try to tag as I download new supplies.
For me the key to my tags was working out how I think about the supplies I want to use. I have tried to keep them broad enough to pull in a wide range of products so that I can see that perfect element that I had forgotten I owned but can apply enough tags to make them specific enough to narrow my search down to just a few items. I open products straight from Picasa into PSE by right clicking so don't even need to know where they live on my hard drive.
I hope you made it through this essay and that it has helped. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you SOOOO Much for posting this. This is very similar to mine. Except I have an even more extensive organizational tree because of how I think when I scrapbook, but I believed I was going too far. And maybe a bit I did, but I feel so much better. Like I have fasteners, but then I even sub divide that into - brads, staples, pins, hardware, etc. It just seems to take so much time to tag. |
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,688
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Aug 31, 2014 3:35:58 GMT
Like I have fasteners, but then I even sub divide that into - brads, staples, pins, hardware, etc. It just seems to take so much time to tag. See things like this I would label as either "metals" (for all the staples, pins, and other metal looking stuff) and "buttons and brads". I grouped brads with buttons because for me they are interchangeable - so either would work as a flower centre, in a cluster, or in a line across the page.
I'm also not afraid to delete things if I know they are not my style and will never become my style. In some of the collab kits there will sometimes be elements that are more cutesy which is not something I'll ever use so rather than spend the time tagging, and then seeing it every time I pull up that tag, I just delete. I've also deleted papers that are not a colour or pattern I'll ever use (I really hate plaids for some reason so they often get deleted).
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Post by LisaDV on Aug 31, 2014 12:51:13 GMT
See things like this I would label as either "metals" (for all the staples, pins, and other metal looking stuff) and "buttons and brads". I grouped brads with buttons because for me they are interchangeable - so either would work as a flower centre, in a cluster, or in a line across the page.
I'm also not afraid to delete things if I know they are not my style and will never become my style. In some of the collab kits there will sometimes be elements that are more cutesy which is not something I'll ever use so rather than spend the time tagging, and then seeing it every time I pull up that tag, I just delete. I've also deleted papers that are not a colour or pattern I'll ever use (I really hate plaids for some reason so they often get deleted).
That's what I need to do, learn to delete unused/unloved. I just don't know if I can. In paper scrapping, I see buttons and brads the same and store together as well. I just was looking for a generic term for stuff digitally to group as much together as possible. I'll have to keep a journal how I scrap digitally and what I look for. Thanks for all of your help!! |
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,514
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Aug 31, 2014 15:41:31 GMT
Like I have fasteners, but then I even sub divide that into - brads, staples, pins, hardware, etc. It just seems to take so much time to tag. See things like this I would label as either "metals" (for all the staples, pins, and other metal looking stuff) and "buttons and brads". I grouped brads with buttons because for me they are interchangeable - so either would work as a flower centre, in a cluster, or in a line across the page.
I'm also not afraid to delete things if I know they are not my style and will never become my style. In some of the collab kits there will sometimes be elements that are more cutesy which is not something I'll ever use so rather than spend the time tagging, and then seeing it every time I pull up that tag, I just delete. I've also deleted papers that are not a colour or pattern I'll ever use (I really hate plaids for some reason so they often get deleted).
I simply can not do it . I can get rid of traditional supplies with no problem (after keeping them in a separate box for at least six months), but digital - not so much. I even keep my purchased zipped kits in a folder called --> wait for it ---> zipped kits. I also have zipped brushes, zipped actions, zipped fonts, zipped other. 16.3 GB of zipped digi stuff. aside regarding the zipped font folder - I know that all my fonts were free and I could just re-download them, but when I got a new laptop, it was so much easier than looking for the font again. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 31, 2014 16:03:04 GMT
I hesitate to delete stuff just because it's the wrong color. I've read that things can be recolored--not that I know how, LOL.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,688
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Aug 31, 2014 20:16:38 GMT
Things can be recoloured. Here are a couple of tutorials I like:
simply Tiffany
Pixels & Co
I used to be scared about deleting stuff so I used to put it into a separate folder out of my normal digi supplies. Like with paper scrapping, I never went into the box to look for things. Now I just know that even though I can recolour plaids, it's just not a design that I like or will choose while scrapping, so just as I wouldn't buy plaid for my paper scrapping, I see no reason to keep it for digi. Chances are I have a stripe or other pattern that will work just as well in any situation where I might have chosen the plaid.
I no longer download the zipped kits, I just open the folder and extract the elements to my hard drive. I used to keep them all but after a computer crash which wiped everything and forced a new computer purchase I decided I didn't need them. Most sites are pretty good about reactivating the downloads for items I've purchased if I've needed it and I've only ever lost one kit where the designer had moved on from the store and it was no longer available. I can still buy that kit if I need it but it's not something I've missed having.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 20, 2014 22:57:45 GMT
Just a heads up if anyone has been thinking of getting My Digital Scraproom software (now renamed simply Scraproom Software), they are running a promotion where you can get $30 off with the discount code NDSD30 through the end of November and she just added several new features. It's both Mac and PC compatible. Scraproom Software |
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emkayess2
Shy Member
Posts: 10 
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Post by emkayess2 on Oct 23, 2014 2:27:19 GMT
I had to register for this board just so I could chime in and say that I'm surprised no one has mentioned ACDSee. It's a great organization program, and it's less expensive than the scrap room software. There's a free trial, and the current version costs $79.I find that completely worth it, because I can categorize and tag everything in my stash so that I can search for blue paper, or red brads, or stitching or even paper from a specific designer or store. Www.acdsee.comYou can embed the tagging information into the metadata of the file with ACDSee, but you do have to do that in a separate step. You just periodically tell it to embed the data for all files, and then it just runs for a minute while it does all that. |
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Post by streetscrapper on Oct 27, 2014 23:40:42 GMT
Organizing my digi stash is my worst nightmare! I use PSE13 (started off with PSE5) and I use the organizer. I've got 20,000+ digi supplies, mostly purchased but a lot of freebies. I too don't hesitate to delete stuff I know I'll never use. It took me a long time to do it with purchased stuff, but to tell you the truth, I'm so sick of organizing and reorganizing everything that now when I see something and know it's just not my style, I trash it without giving it a second thought. I tag everything and my list of key words is huge, but when I'm looking for something, it helps so it's worth it. My problem has been that I have upgraded my computer and changed external hard drives (for fear of crashing or of actually crashing) and I have recently discovered that you cannot store metadata to png files (meaning that all my tagging is useless when a crash occurs) so 98% of the tagging has been lost when I reload them into PSE. I'm in the midst of doing it again now and it is taking forever. I think I've got about 7,000 or so more files to go! PITA for sure!! But again, when all is running smoothly, I am grateful for my tagging system. And I'm really good at tagging anything new that I add to my digi catalogue when the files are downloaded.
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emkayess2
Shy Member
Posts: 10
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Post by emkayess2 on Oct 28, 2014 16:08:28 GMT
Organizing my digi stash is my worst nightmare! I use PSE13 (started off with PSE5) and I use the organizer. I've got 20,000+ digi supplies, mostly purchased but a lot of freebies. I too don't hesitate to delete stuff I know I'll never use. It took me a long time to do it with purchased stuff, but to tell you the truth, I'm so sick of organizing and reorganizing everything that now when I see something and know it's just not my style, I trash it without giving it a second thought. I tag everything and my list of key words is huge, but when I'm looking for something, it helps so it's worth it. My problem has been that I have upgraded my computer and changed external hard drives (for fear of crashing or of actually crashing) and I have recently discovered that you cannot store metadata to png files (meaning that all my tagging is useless when a crash occurs) so 98% of the tagging has been lost when I reload them into PSE. I'm in the midst of doing it again now and it is taking forever. I think I've got about 7,000 or so more files to go! PITA for sure!! But again, when all is running smoothly, I am grateful for my tagging system. And I'm really good at tagging anything new that I add to my digi catalogue when the files are downloaded. If you ever have another crash (Heaven forfend!) you should consider ACDSee because you can embed the data. I had the same problem with PSE and I finally gave up and went looking for another solution. |
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Post by streetscrapper on Oct 28, 2014 16:15:09 GMT
I have considered ACDSee for organizing my digi supplies, but don't know enough about it... I'll have to investigate... but you're saying that I can embed the metadata in png files too? Because I'm telling you, the amount of time that I have spent organizing is CRAZY! I'd buy the program for that feature alone!
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emkayess2
Shy Member
Posts: 10
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Post by emkayess2 on Oct 29, 2014 21:37:44 GMT
That's right. It's not automatic, though; every so often you have to select Tools>Embed ACDSee Metadata>All Files, then let it do its thing. Totally worth the money and the time, though!
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