Digi-Scrapping 101 - Organizing

One of the biggest mistakes that I made when starting out digi-scrapping was not figuring out my organization system before I went crazy downloading gigs of digital kits. I was like a kid in a candy store, not believing my eyes that all this stuff was seriously free! So I downloaded away and just randomly saved stuff on my computer with no rhyme or reason. Then when I went to actually create some layouts I had no idea how to find anything without clicking through 500 folders and just seeing what was inside. Plus, if you have any plans to share your layouts on your blog or other forums, you will have to keep track of who created the supplies you are using so you can give them proper credit (that will be a later post). And now, I have spent so much time going back to re-do so many folders and having to deal with all my dowloads again to get them organized and tagged so that I can find stuff when I need it. So listen up - if there is one thing you learn from me, please take my advice and figure this out from the very beginning - it will save you a lot of time and effort later on. And you can then send me chocolate for saving you the frustration...

There are many different methods for organizing stuff and it will depend on your personality and how you will be using stuff to digi-scrap. Things to think about. Will you be posting layouts online to share? Would you prefer to work with whole kits or just use bits and pieces from a lot of different places for a layout? Do you plan on downloading a lot of kits or just have a few basics? Do you have a photographic memory to remember every kit you download and exactly where it is when you want it?

Since I can't tell you what will work best for you, I will just try to help you think about what you will come up against when digi-scrapping, and what I found through trial and error.

1. Organizing by Designer and Kit Names - originally I just kept each kit in a separate folder within a folder called "scrapbooking kits" on my desktop. I told you I went crazy downloading, so soon I found that I had so so so many folders that it would take forever to go through them. And I hadn't even looked at them when I downloaded them to make sure that the person I was downloading from had included in the folder a "terms of use" (TOU) or "read me" file so I would know who to give credit to. Once I did start organizing, I ended up having to go back online to try to find where I had downloaded some of the kits from to find out who had made it. Lots of wasted time and lots of effort. Pain in the butt - don't do it! I found that since I post my layouts on my blog and need to give credit for things, that the best way for me to do this was to create a folder for each designer that I have kits from. I cringed at this in the beginning even though I had read many other people's thoughts as to why they liked organizing this way. I now agree with them. I found after a while that I tend to get a lot of my freebies from the same group of people much of the time, so it works really well to have a folder for that designer, and then have a folder inside of that for each one their kits.

I currently have my folders on my desktop, but will be moving them over to my new EHD. The tip that you should know is that you should create these folders right in your hard drive. For example, if C is your hard drive, then create your digi-folders right in drive C. It will look like this: C:/DigiScrapping

Originally, I created digital scrapbooking folder where I keep all my other folders (my computer, my documents, Deanna's stuff, Digital scrapbooking). First, I found that it was a total pain when I started downloading and saving stuff because I would have to click through all those folders to get to where I wanted to save it. So it saves tons of time just in saving your download to have it lower down on the computer, but it also makes a difference in the speed with which your computer can access the files when you actually want to use them. If I am in PhotoShop Elements and want to open a file, the more folders it has to go through (the farther away it is), the longer it takes for the program to access it and pull it up for me. Does that makes sense? Also notice that I have a zero at the beginning of my folders (0_DigiKits). This is so that when things are sorted alphabetically, it will be at the top and easier to locate. Also note that I have read that computers prefer reading files with no spaces. So a good way to name things is with underscores and using capitals at the beginning of new words (I am working on renaming things this way) Example, instead of this - Deanna Ebbert Summer Kit...I would do this - DeannaEbbert_SummerKit. Supposedly it makes things easier for your computer.

So, you can see I have 2 folders - one for all of my kits, and one for my other files. This just makes it easier for me to know where to put things when I download.

This is just to show you how my digital kits folder is broken up. I have created a folder for each designer, or in some cases, a website that I download from (i.e., there are some websites where I get daily downloads or monthly kits that have multiple designers collaborating, so I find it easier to just have a folder for the website).

The other tip that I would give you for these folders of designers is to also save an internet shortcut to their website or blog within that designer's folder. This is helpful if you can't remember where you found them online, or to add a link when you post credits for them on your blog, and is helpful if they for some reason didn't include full TOU in their download, etc. This is super easy to do. I learned how HERE - and I use the 3rd option (#6 of her tutorial).

Another tip (which I am also working on) is to just rename all your kits as you download them to make sure they have the name of the designer and name of the kit on the outside folder. So if I download a kit from Bren Boone called "Bohista", after I put it in her designer folder, I would rename it: BrenBoone_Bohista This is a great safeguard in case a folder accidentally got moved. You'd know right where it belongs.

Also, to save yourself time later on when you are working on layouts, it is a good idea to get rid of any excess folders that you don't need. A lot of times when you download a kit, it will have a folder for the papers, a separate one for the elements, another one for alphas, etc. I always make sure to just move everything to the outer folder, with exception of when the alpha letters are each individual - I keep those in a separate folder. But everything else can be in one folder together to save you time having to flip through different folders.

2. Now, for my Digi-Scrapping folder. This is where I keep everything else that isn't a full kit - my templates, tutorials, saved scrapbook pages, individual sets of embellishments, individual papers, etc. When setting up this set of folders, I used this tutorial HERE. It's definitely a great starting place and you can customize it to what will work best for you. It has definitely been helpful to have all these folder division because a lot of the freebies you find are things like sets of flowers or hearts, some doodles, and some other smaller things that aren't in a full kit. I also download a whole bunch of templates to use. You just really help yourself save a lot of time if you think about all of this beforehand and create a system of organization where you know exactly where everything is and exactly where to put it after you download it. Here are a few screenshots of my folders:

I have a couple random ones here at the moment that I haven't cleaned up (the atomic cupcake, etc.), but you get the idea. You separate your alphas, background papers, embellishments, etc.

I showed the breakdown of my templates folder just to give you an idea of how I separate things out to be able to find things easier. I'm a huge believer in micro-organization. The more I break things down, the easier it is for me to find things and to know where to put them. I showed the breakdown of my saved folder because this is a very important thing for you to know. Here's some info on this from the 2peas website:

WHEN YOU SAVE YOUR FILES:
WHILE CREATING: Save often. Save at either 300 dpi for high-resolution prints. (Some say to save at 200dpi…experiment & see what is best for you.)
ALWAYS keep a layered file (.psd, or .tiff can be saved in layers) so you can go back & make changes if necessary. Once you flatten your image, it’s a done deal! No going back.
PRINTING: When you go to print whether it’s at home or you want to burn it on a disk for a lab, flatten the image, but keep it at your highest dpi you were working with. (200 or 300). Trying to print a layered file is a pain, don’t do it.
EMAIL OR UPLOAD ONTO INTERNET: Flatten & save at 72 or 75 dpi. This can be done in your image size window. On some software programs, there is an option to ‘save for web’. This will compress it into a .jpg file for the web. Recommended quality: high. But, you can also SAVE AS .jpg at a high quality, too. It’s just not as compressed as your web file.
So, yes, for 1 layout, you will have 3 versions:
High-resolution layered file saved at 200 or 300 dpi:: for changes.
High-resolution flattened file saved at 200 or 300 dpi:: for printing out.
Low-resolution flattened .jpg file for email or the web.
Suggestion: Keep each of them in different folders

You can see from my screenshot how I decided to label these folders to help me remember how to save them as well.

Ok, this is really long and I will end this section of organizing. That is the set-up. My next post will be about organization programs that help you tag all your files and make it really easy for you to access your stuff.

Go organize your folders - then download!