Scrap And Mac

I received a great query from Erin regarding organizing her digital scrap elements
Hope my answer helps

I am in search of tips on organizing my digiscrap elements on my mac. I recently made the switch and am trying to find an easy, logical way to organize and display my digiscrap elements. Do you use iphoto? Right now, everything is in a folder and they are organized by designer. On my PC, i could see mini thumbnails on each folder, but not on the mac. I have so many elements now that I don’t know what I have!! I just want to be able to see everything when I’mworking on a page. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You do have to do what works for you, but here is how i tackle it!

1. ORGANIZE FOLDERS
Regrarding elements and the like I keep these organized in folders on my computer. I tend to keep my photos for iphoto and digielements and things for folders. I keep them in a folder with the name of the kit firstly then I place them into a folder labelled with the designers name/place I got them. I also have themed folders for events like Celebration Kits / Baby Kits and so on. One of the best things i did to organize my scrapbooking digielements was to place the preview jpeg of the kit that you buy in one folder labelled KIT PREVIEWS. This will help you to quickly find the kit you are after.

2. UTLIIZE THE SEARCH FACILITY WITH MAC FINDER
To find elements I will usually always do a search in the right hand bar- for example ribbon….all the ribbons come up and I can select what I like.

3. ARRANGE YOUR WORKSPACE BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Now when you are working on a page and you want to view all your elements. If you are using Adobe Photoshop- Open all the elements and files you are wanting to use GO TO WINDOW on the top bar then select TILE vertically or horizontally. All the elements will be displayed neatly all over your desktop. This is a great way to arrange your workspace before starting a layout.

Last post I mentioned the Scrapbook Plan that I use to help me organize existing and future Scrapbook pages. Each month I list events that have happened so I know what pages I have to scrap. It is also a great overview of the year when it comes to putting a review of the year together. The second page in the download is simply listing project ideas of what I want to do, great photos that I want to get (eg. Take photos of Grandparents with grandchildren) that I would regret not organizing. It is great to print this off and have it as a visual reminder so you can jot things down straight away as they come to mind! When you look back on 2008 at least you won’t miss opportunities

DOWNLOAD SCRAPBOOK PLAN

If you are like me you probably have a trigger happy finger when it comes to photographing your kids and you have 1000’s of photos! It can be overwhelming to even be in a creative frame of mind to start scrapbooking these photos. Here are some practical tips to help you…

1. IMPORT PHOTOS SAFELY
Once your photos are added to your library into iphoto you will be asked if you want to delete the originals off the memory card.The best way to delete photos from a memory card is to reformat the card using your camera’s menu controls. This creates a fresh set of directory structures on the card, lessening the chance of losing photos to a memory-card glitch.

2. DELETE KEEP & TITLE EACH PHOTO
When scrapbooking, it is a great idea to only keep the pictures worth scrapbooking in iphoto. At this stage simply delete the pictures you don’t want. You can then go and label each picture and add dates and specific information that you can use that are specific memories of your photos. Doing this will save on relying on your memory for the details!

3. THINK CAREFULLY OF YOUR KEYWORDS
This is the key to being able to access pictures you are looking for. Be specific - examples include date, place, iphone photos, B&W, Birthday, Favourite, Animals, and so on. Think about your circumstances and spend a few minutes brainstorming. Time to establish this is well worth it!

4. MAKE TIME
Make time to download, title and store your photos. It will make spending time to scrapbook so much more enjoyable. If you want your layouts to be fantastic this foundational organization is essential!

5. WRITE A PLAN OF YOUR 2008 SCRAPBOOK PAGES”TO DO”
I keep a spreadsheet with the months on it. When I have taken pictures and they are stored in iphoto I just jot down what pages I still have to do. eg. January - New Years Eve 2007 February - Valentines Day Picnic in the Park. This page gives me an outline so I know that when I have spare time I can be productive. My photos are organized and I can spend time creating what I love rather than getting frustrated trying to find things!

If you have some fantastic tips love please share it with us