Blog Train Folder Names

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Blog Train Folder Names

Have y'all been busy downloading all the wonderful Birds In Snow kits today? I know I have. Which made me realize how important it is when we are sharing our work to give our folders consistent and meaningful names. After I had downloaded a bunch of kits and unzipped them, there were quite a few where I couldn't remember exactly who the artist was or where I had gotten it and there was no way to tell from the folder. Some of the folders that I downloaded just had a single number or just the word Paper or Elements. Of course I could open the folder, find the TOU and find the designer's name and rename the file, but that's a lot of extra work.

I guess I would really encourage you to put your name (or entity) and a unique kit name on every folder, even if it is nested inside a container folder - make it easy for clients to keep track of your work (even if they separate the papers and elements/alphas) and know who you are and to honor to your TOU.

A lot of folders that I download will have initials, but I would try to be unique as possible -- SSands is easier to spot on my folder list than ss -- and it's easier to feel a sense of community with a name more so than initials or a number. And to me, scapbooking is so much about community and connecting. But that's just how I see it. I'd love to hear what y'all think and if I'm missing something.

What do you think Blog Train participants? Do you have a system for naming your folders? Ideally, how would you like for me to keep your folder and identify your work on my hard drive?

Well now, that would have been a very smart thing to do! I labeled the main zip file with my name etc...but I didn't even consider doing that for the individual files. I'll add that to my list of things to do differently the second time around.

I agree Tina.

Let's help the participants of this blog train and future designers with a few helpful tips, they can use it as a learning experience.
Please note I am very grateful to those who have designed and made freely available their creations smiley

I personally would like to see designers using a pre filename relating to palette co-ordinated blogtrains only eg PixS_BT-2012-12_followed by designers name_kit name

I don't mind if everything is in the one folder, so long as the total size is not too large for downloading purposes. Some people can't download large files.

I like to see the preview first, so I always add an underscore to the previews file name

If no internet shortcut to your blog/facebook is included, then make sure that your tou has an address listed, not just an email address.

I thank all participants on their generosity smiley

So, when you're talking about pre filenames...does that mean that each individual file would have names like that or just folders within the zip?

I've been trying to rename my files, but I may have forgot for this train. Here's how I usually do it:

marisalerin-kitname-paper-stripes-92.jpg

If you give something a good title, it can be found through searching too which is helpful when people have so much stuff.

I'll put this on the list of things to do for the next blog train, thanks ladies!

Ah, that makes sense now. Thanks Marisa.

For me, file names within the folder are not that important because I don't take a designer's stuff out of "her" folder - UNLESS - they are nested folders, then I sometimes will move the Alpha's folder to my master Alphas folder were it can hang out with all the other alpha folders, but I can still find it by that designer's name (whew! sounds more complicated than it is!)

If the kit has separate folders for papers and elements, I usually move them all into her main folder along with the TOU which, if she hasn't labeled with her name/shop and kit name, then I (have to) do it.

Now my Pixelscrapper files are easy to find because I have so many that they have their own hard drive on my PC (not really, but just about! smiley

Your file names are part of your branding, your uniqueness and I think help, to some degree, to protect your work --if your name is on your file it makes it less easy for people to say, "oh I don't know where I got this file, so I don't have to worry about copyright or TOU."

/offsoapbox

i spend a lot of time renaming files some designers will label the folder but then everything in it will be ... bird, flower1, flower2 ... etc. when i do a search for flower, flower1 and flower2 come up but its hard to remember who created it, so then i have to do a lot of searching to give proper credit. So instead when I unzip a folder, i make sure the designer name and kit name is at the beginning. its time consuming, but i find it worthwhile later on when i'm creating my pages

I do the same thing, Melissa, and I agree - it is very time consuming...

When I download a blogtrain, I usually create a folder for it (our blogtrain I named PS_Dec2012BT) then I unzip all the parts on this folder, and not on the designers folder, even if I have one. So, for me, its better when inside the zip there´s a folder, named by the designer, containing all the things that comes on that zip. If it don´t happen, stuff can mix up with other designers if, for some reason, I unzip on a rush (for example, on a day with lots of limited-time files to download.

If the folder contains or not the name of the desinger and kit it doesn´t matter, but its better when it does, as, in this case, we are sure we don´t have more than one designer that used the same file. But, for the elements, its really useful to me when the files have the initials of the designer.

I don´t like so much long file names, so I really prefer the initials. Only once, in almost 2 years downloading blogtrains, I had problems because of two designers using the same initials in the same blogtrain, and, anyway, I could find it easy. Of course, if you have very common initials, you can maybe concern about this, but, as I haven´t seen any other LW before, I deceided to use exacly like this.

About the content in itself, I don´t really have any observation on naming. I prefer "flower1" istead of "element003" but that´s all. For the papers, I can´t come up to a solution to make the description less generic keeping the filename short.

I really don't care how people deside to name there stuff, they are giving it away and i'm just greatful for that smiley If i don't like it, i can rename it smiley I would never ask a person that have been nice to give something away to change it just for me smiley

Since I always use the Copy&Close and Supply Tracker scripts in Photoshop (they are free and save you loads of time! Want to know more, find out here or read the ongoing discussion in the forum here), it is really a good thing to have your name and/or kitname included in your filename. The script opens and copies every opened jpg or png file into my PSD, so I can start arranging them on my page. If the names only consist of 'flower1' and 'paper' I'll have a hard time finding whose stuff I've been using after a period of time. I try to give credits where I can, but when no designername or kitname is used, I have to do this by memory... and that doesn't always work properly smiley

I rename stuff every now and then, but since I download a lot of stuff, I don't always have the time or the will to rename all my files... I am lazy... sorry!

Same here, Melouise smiley

Quote:
I rename stuff every now and then, but since I download a lot of stuff, I don't always have the time or the will to rename all my files... I am lazy... sorry!

@Melouise: I agree with what you said... but, it's not completely about being lazy on our part to not want to rename it. smiley -- our scrapping time can be very valuable and sparse sometimes; so, it is hard to spend 1/2 hour renaming downloads to be able to give proper credit.

@Shawna: Exactly! Meant to say that smiley

@Jessica: We are discussing this just to give ideas to the new designers (seems we have some of them willing to work together on our next blogtrain) have food for thought. So, each one is sharing his/her personal preference, and explaining why. It´s not being ungrateful or something like that. And I bet we all agree that we love freebies independently on how they´re named.

No no i didn't mean you where smiley I just said my point of view. For me personly it doesn't matter how people name there stuff. Cause the system i use makes it easy to use/store with how ever they name them so smiley And i am just really greatful for everything people doing and giving away, that how they named stuff etc never matterd to me at all smiley

Wow! It is getting so chatty. I am the ss_ I label my items the way the store's Blog Train say to. Your name or initials_kit name or initials_item name. I am going to continue that way. It is clean and organized. I put my blog trains together. Elements - Misc - Previews & TOU I like the papers to be open. I also label papers by color.

That sound like a really good way of doing it smiley Maybe i'll copy it smiley

i didn't mean that i don't like when things are labelled flower1 flower2, etc, as its a big pain when they are labelled element001, element002 ... i was just saying it would be really helpful if the designer name and kit name preceded it. i break up a lot of my kits so if i have 82 files with the name flower1, flower2, etc, its impossible to know who created it.
also, I don't understand why designers name their files, element002, element003, etc, and then in the TOU they say no renaming files. i hate to admit it, but its the one TOU i generally break, because I like to have the designer name and kit name before the item name. its much easier to give credit this way, as the other way is practically impossible once i break up the kit.

I would definitely suggest one main folder with kit_designer name, because I tend to download a set of zip files to a temp folder and then may come back later and unzip them, copying and pasting them all into a main folder that I create for them...blog train, or designer, or store...etc.

Also questions:
1) Does anyone use Picasa? I started using it this summer, and you can tag files - like I'm tagging a kit with S4H or CU...etc. It also will search not only the file names, folder a file might be in, but also by color...search color:blue will show you photos with people wearing blue clothes, or papers in the blue spectrum even if they are not tagged or named as such. It's FREE software, and it has face recognition so you can tag family members and it will learn and suggest photos that have that person in them...VERY VERY POWERFUL and SMART! Extended Annual Family Reunions of 80-200 people, it's a must have software now!

2) Has anyone embedded your designer name and kit inside the files in the comments? Is that visible and searchable on Mac's as well as PC's? I work with ancient PC's.

3) How do you handle and organize your photos? ten years ago for my parents 40th, we did a slide show, and I developed this naming system as we were scanning and beginning the digital photography, and burning CD's...it was the only way to keep the order of photos nicely and easily when using Window's viewer as the slideshow maker.
2012_12_25_LDW_(101).jpg
and the initials were a way to designate my camera from my brothers, and if you selected multiple files, you could rename the first file and the computer would name the next file
2012_12_25_LDW_(102).jpg and so on.
Naming LDW_(1).jpg doesn't work because you have then have the 10's coming before LDW_(2).jpg
And long file names burned to a CD would be truncated.

@Laura: If you have any more tips on using Picasa, you can share them here: https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking/digital-scrapbooking-discussion/organizing-in-picasa

I have to say, even though I don't contribute to blogtrains and such, I do download and use them.... and having meaningfully-labelled folders and names of individual items is sooooo helpful, especially when looking for who to give credit to! So yes, I whole-heartedly agree with this!

i wanted to thank everyone for all the input!! you have no idea how much it helps us designers, especially new at sharing their work like me. this really really helped me take a look at how i was labeling things!

I CT for a store and for a few separate designers and for all of them the standard is to put your ID, usually intitals of your own name or designer name (or the name itself), then the name of project (kit or blog train name or initials), then the item (such as preview, button, ribbon, etc.) each item being separated by an underscore or dash. Such as stampgram_Northern Lights_SNPbtDec12_preview or CKH_NL_SNPbt12-12_prev. From what I have seen this is pretty much the industry standard - just from my experience of having about 3 terrabytes of downloads. LOL

I put my items in a folder that is properly named before zipping so when people unzip a group of items they don't get all mixed together. That is a pet peeve of mine...items being loose in a zip file so they don't stay together when you do a multiple unzip.

I usually download all the parts of a blog train to a folder named for the train then unzip them all at once and it is a mess if some are not in their own folders...and even worse it they have names like el-1 or pp-2 and nothing more. You have no way to know whose they are if there is not a preview included. When this happens I throw them out, cross check all the folders against the zip folders and in that way try to figure out whose I need to download to a folder named after the archive. It is ever so much nicer when the designer puts them in a properly named folder before zipping.

Oh, I wanted to tell you about a great little program that I use called Renamer. You can download it for free and it is great for renaming all your papers and elements once you have your kit made. I have tons of CU items that I have extracted which I often recolor or use to make my elements. They have their own names but when I change them I want to give them the name of the kit they are going into and I like the names of all the items in a kit to be consistant so after I am through designing I can drag them all into rename and use rules to rename them to the kit name.

Renamer download: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/denrenamer.html

@Connie, thanks for the renamer tip....I am going to give it a try.

I just now found free software for Macs called Name Changer and I think it just changed my life... WOW. It can do so many different things, add a word at the beginning, replace a word in the interior of the filename (like if some designers had labeled parts with Pixelscrapper and others with PS and you wanted it to just be one of those for consistency). It's so fast and easy and just WOW! http://www.mrrsoftware.com/MRRSoftware/NameChanger.html