How To Organize Your Digital Scrapbooking Supplies
In honor of the New Year I thought it might be time to revisit a favorite topic of digital scrapbookers, organization.
Did you know we have over300 responses to the question, "how do you organize your scrapbooking supplies"? And while some of this can be chalked up to personality differences, I think the real issue is that it's a nearly impossible task. I know this from my personal experience of trying to organize my own supplies. It's so frustrating and time consuming that I've finally given it up. I'd rather spend my time making stuff than constantly be thinking about and moving my digital stash around.
What has helped me to give up my own organization system is the fact that I was able to build DigitalScrapbook.com to be a much better organization and storage method than what I could come up with on my own. I used to organize my stash of templates and graphics on my computer (all the stuff I use for designing). But it quickly became clear that this was a difficult task and my own results weren't that great. It was so much easier to just search for whatever I needed on DigitalScrapbook.com that I eventually stopped my own system altogether. To repeat myself, I don't store any templates or files for designing on my own computer. I just search DigitalScrapbook.com for what I need when I need it.
Whether I'm working on designing something new, or decorating a layout, I basically just rely on DigitalScrapbook.com at this point. The ability to search for whatever I need, and actually find it, saves me so much time. Plus I don't have to spend any time organizing it in the first place. Our hardworking upload helpers have made sure that everything you need is uploaded individually and ready to be searched for wherever you need it.
When I'm working, I search for what I want, download it, use it and then delete it. I'm not only saving time with this method, but also hard drive space. My iPad has basically zero storage so this is a very important factor when I'm looking at digital scrapbooking supplies. And if you've ever had a hard drive go bad, you know the pain of that (we've had lots of sad posts in the forums about this as well). At DigitalScrapbook.com we worry about backing everything up so you don't have to.
They include me looking and downloading on DigitalScrapbook.com.)
It may seem conceited for me to be here telling you that DigitalScrapbook.com is great, since I did create it. But I think the truth is a little more subtle than that. DigitalScrapbook.com wasn't conceived as a money making business, but created by me to indulge my great passion for digital scrapbooking. Everything you see here was designed to make the hobby better and easier for me, and then it became clear that it was helpful to other people as well. But the reality I think is that since DigitalScrapbook.com is basically a part of me, I use it in a way that may not be apparent to others. So I wanted to share a little about my own creative process here and hope to inspire you to spend a little less time organizing and a little more time creating. If you haven't tried our unlimited download subscription yet, please give it a try. I think you will find that it can free up both your creative time and your hard drive.
Video Transcript:
Hi there! This is Marisa, and today I have a new Watch Me Digi Scrap video for you. In this video I am using the Fresh collaboration which is available at DigitalScrapbook.com. It's from a couple years ago, but the colors are really lovely and I thought they would go well with the photos of my newborn that are available this week.
So I am just scrolling through the papers online and downloading the ones that I want.
Sometimes I just like to browse that way, rather than downloading the whole bundle first. And now I'm also taking a look at the pocket cards that were included, and I'm downloading those. So I'll actually put those in first before I do my papers, just so I know what holes I want to fill with these nice cards.
And once I have those sorted, I will start adding the papers in the background. Once I have my papers settled in the background, I will start adding in the elements on top and
I will browse for those on DigitalScrapbook.com as well. There are lots of great filters in the sidebars, so you can easily browse through a particular bundle like this, and you can filter for papers, or for elements, or by color, or you know whatever you're searching for.
So I often find it easier to search online than just browsing randomly through a large bundle like this on my computer. So that's what I am doing here.
Thanks so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it please give me a thumbs up and if you'd like to see more please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Have a great day!
Blog By
About Me
Hi There! I’m Marisa Lerin and you’ll see me around at DigitalScrapbook.com a lot. I started this site in 2010 soon after I discovered a new love in digital scrapbooking. DigitalScrapbook.com has gone through some significant changes since that time and it’s grown into this lovely community site you are seeing now. I am daily surprised by the turn of life’s events that has led me down this path. If you're new to the site, welcome! Here are a few tidbits about me that I hope will help you get to know me better!
I’m originally from Minnesota, USA, but spent a good chunk of my childhood living abroad (in Bolivia and Hong Kong). I returned to Minnesota to attend university, got married and then moved overseas again (Korea, then Jordan and 1 year of traveling). My designs are heavily influenced by these many nomadic years. I am currently back in the USA, now living in the great state of Oregon!
I have no official training for what I’m doing, since I decided very wisely (haha) to study physics in university. I am always learning new things about digital scrapbooking, and this community has been immensely helpful for that!
If I manage to stop digital scrapbooking you will probably find me watching TV, reading or baking. I also enjoy writing for the blog here at DigitalScrapbook.com where I talk about whatever happens to be catching my fancy at the moment.
Monthly archive
- November 2012 (9)
- December 2012 (37)
- January 2013 (17)
- February 2013 (13)
- March 2013 (20)
- April 2013 (26)
- May 2013 (29)
- June 2013 (9)
- July 2013 (8)
- August 2013 (13)
- September 2013 (16)
- October 2013 (14)
- November 2013 (16)
- December 2013 (12)
- January 2014 (15)
- February 2014 (9)
- March 2014 (15)
- April 2014 (11)
- May 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (9)
- July 2014 (8)
- August 2014 (7)
- September 2014 (8)
- October 2014 (13)
- November 2014 (6)
- December 2014 (3)
- January 2015 (13)
- February 2015 (14)
- March 2015 (14)
- April 2015 (13)
- May 2015 (12)
- June 2015 (11)
- July 2015 (10)
- August 2015 (8)
- September 2015 (7)
- October 2015 (10)
- November 2015 (8)
- December 2015 (10)
- January 2016 (7)
- February 2016 (6)
- March 2016 (8)
- April 2016 (7)
- May 2016 (8)
- June 2016 (8)
- July 2016 (6)
- August 2016 (5)
- September 2016 (8)
- October 2016 (8)
- November 2016 (11)
- December 2016 (7)
- January 2017 (6)
- February 2017 (12)
- March 2017 (10)
- April 2017 (7)
- May 2017 (9)
- June 2017 (9)
- July 2017 (10)
- August 2017 (7)
- September 2017 (11)
- October 2017 (8)
- November 2017 (9)
- December 2017 (8)
- January 2018 (8)
- February 2018 (8)
- March 2018 (8)
- April 2018 (4)
- May 2018 (9)
- June 2018 (9)
- July 2018 (4)
- August 2018 (5)
- September 2018 (13)
- October 2018 (19)
- November 2018 (18)
- December 2018 (14)
- January 2019 (23)
- February 2019 (20)
- March 2019 (17)
- April 2019 (14)
- May 2019 (17)
- June 2019 (14)
- July 2019 (8)
- August 2019 (3)
- September 2019 (14)
- October 2019 (17)
- November 2019 (16)
- December 2019 (6)
- January 2020 (14)
- February 2020 (20)
- March 2020 (16)
- April 2020 (18)
- May 2020 (19)
- June 2020 (16)
- July 2020 (8)
- August 2020 (5)
- September 2020 (8)
- October 2020 (10)
- November 2020 (10)
- December 2020 (7)
- January 2021 (4)
- February 2021 (9)
- March 2021 (8)
- April 2021 (7)
- May 2021 (7)
- June 2021 (7)
- July 2021 (10)
- August 2021 (7)
- September 2021 (8)
- October 2021 (5)
- November 2021 (7)
- December 2021 (6)
- January 2022 (5)
- February 2022 (7)
- March 2022 (9)
- April 2022 (6)
- May 2022 (7)
- June 2022 (4)
- July 2022 (2)
- August 2022 (1)
- September 2022 (3)
- October 2022 (6)
- November 2022 (4)
- December 2022 (6)
- January 2023 (4)
- February 2023 (5)
- March 2023 (6)
- April 2023 (5)
- May 2023 (5)
- June 2023 (5)
- July 2023 (5)
- August 2023 (5)
- September 2023 (5)
- October 2023 (4)
- November 2023 (4)
- December 2023 (5)
- January 2024 (4)
- February 2024 (5)
- March 2024 (4)
Recent Comments
@Sheri: In Photoshop the layers come in with their file name. So if the graphic has the designers name in it, it’s pretty easy to track down in the future. I’m not sure how other programs handle this.
This is an interesting concept. Do you have any articles on how to tag what I used for a project/layout. I think one challenge is I'm always leaving things half way and coming back later, but than can never remember what kit I was using when I need to finish the layout or project.
Like @Zoe Harris, I also use inDesign for scrapping. (Never met anyone else who does that, so Hi, Zoe!)
I keep every kit in a folder named with the name of the kit, and a subfolder for elements, papers, journal cards, alpha, etc. I tend to mix tons of kits in one layout - if I don't find what I'm looking for in one folder, I go on to the next.
I have been using AcdSee for years to organize my supplies and it is working great and for storage I have OneDrive (have had enough of loosing photos etc by broken external drives).
I use Adobe InDesign for my scrapping, which means that I functionally cannot work as you do, Marisa. Whereas Photoshop gives you the option of placing a linked or embedded asset, InDesign only does linked. It needs to look somewhere on my hard drive for where the asset I've placed on the page "lives."
That said, I've had an organization process and workflow for several years now that works really well for me, so I don't feel especially put out. The only downside is hard drive space, which comes at a premium since I work off of a Mac laptop. I'll probably start shifting old kits and bundles I haven't used in awhile onto an external hard drive when free space runs low.
great suggestion Thankyou♥
Thanks for this Marisa. I've been trying organise for years
I have 3 external drives I save to, that works for me. ♥♥
Why didn't I think of this? I have been downloading and saving for years. It's a big change to get rid of all my kits and then think of searching here! Maybe from now on? Thanks for the great idea Marisa.
I am primarily a cardmaker and the organising my supplies is a BIG part of the fun for me.. perhaps because I am a Project Manager IRL. I am lucky and have a IT husband, so I have a server at home and it makes it easy for me to tag and link in PSE organizer, I love the tagging and organizing LOL
totally get this. searching on here would be quicker then going thru my stash
So interesting!
The first time I saw you creating a layout during one of the Slow Scraps, need something, search for it on PS, then download and used it just like that, I was thoroughly impressed! I couldn't believe how quickly and easily it was to find something online - so much faster than searching through my own stash. I saw pretty quickly how far more convenient it was to do the unlimited download subscription for my creative process, too. Thanks for that. Now though, I think I've gotten most of the kits I've downloaded in my brain, so I can sorta find things quickly. I have several go-to kits now but a new kit always motivates me to create another layout and another and another...it's an unending process for me that I love. hahaha
I like a lot of DigitalScrapbook.com, it's great, we find everything we need to create and make scrap pages
Thanks for everything Marisa