For my digital supplies, I’ve mostly stopped organizing since I purchased Deep. I scrap mostly by color, and Deep does the color searching for me. It also allows me to search for files by color and file type, so if I’m searching for an element, I can search just the PNG files and not see all the Digi papers that color. You can tag in Deep, but I’m not doing much of that these days. I use Deep every time I scrap. Sorry that it isn’t available for PC – it’s Mac only.

I still agree, though, that some sort of file naming convention would be really helpful for everyone.

I know that key wording in .png files is possible(with XMP) but the company who invented this, Adobe, doesn’t make it available in its own products. How strange is that? It would solve all our problems.

I’m looking forward to what you come up with Kayla.

Second, since I like to use Bridge Mini inside CS5 (now CS6), it makes more sense to just access scrapbook products through Bridge rather than drag an item from Lightroom to a specific folder to use within Bridge Mini. I have to have Bridge open to take advantage of mini Bridge. Anna Aspnes does a nice job of labeling her work; while it may not contain the color, the item is labeled. I might add the word preview to a file name if it applies, but nothing else. So I can have mini bridge open and search for a mask or brad or overlay, etc, in a matter of seconds and drag it right onto my layout within CS6, making the whole scrapbooking process more efficient.

Third, I just don’t want that much stuff, including digital supplies cluttering my computer. I found that basically I’m using products from only two or three of designers which does simplify my scrapbooking life. I still have the zip files if I change my mind, but I don’t think I will.

It really is the photos that are most important, that I have them tagged and captioned. While I enjoy the creative aspect of digital scrapbooking and the learning process, I don’t make more than a page a week. I am far more interested in photography!

Thanks for the timely post, I’m so with you on this:)

Ninety percent of my scrapbooking is hybrid, but I have thousands of supplies that need to be weeded out and sorted. I thought I’d try to do some of that in the folders, but it’s just too overwhelming. Fact is I don’t use more than 5-10% of what I have because I can’t find it quickly enough. I think I would like it all in a separate Lightroom catalog, but it’s in the distance future. I also own Shoebox and at once time had quite a bit of it organized in there, but after a couple of computer upgrades that is no longer functional. I’d do the organization much differently now at any rate. I’m not sure if Shoebox or Lightroom would be easier. I’d love to hear what anyone knows or thinks about this.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!