Tips for saving space on HDs and freebie

If you are like me you surely have an huge amount of digiscrapbooking supplies sitting on you hard disc and this means you need to organize them. 

I created a folder called "scrap-booking" and added several sub-folder in it one for each item, for instance : papers, masks, overlays, kits etc. and each sub-folder has its own sub-folders inside. 

I filed embellishments per type ( flowers, brads, buttons ...) Papers per color, kits per alphabetical order based on the name, or per theme ( school kits, sea kits etc) It is up to you!

The next thing is saving space. Have you ever noticed how big folder kits are? 150 MB -200 MB , unbelievable... 

Here's what I do : I open all papers of the kit in Photoshop and click twice on the magnifying tool to view them 100 % and then I save them with the command "SAVE AS" with the same exact name, click OK when asked to replace them and in the JPeg option dialog box I lower the number down to obtain a file size (shown on the left) below 2,0 M. You can check how the paper changes in the process and decide where to stop. I sometimes choose 1 or 2 with no apparent quality loss at 100% , sometimes the paper gets a little bit grungier , but that's fine for me. This way you'll save a lot of space.

After that I open all the embellishments and check their size by dragging them on a 12x12 page ( the usual paper size I work with). I resize each item down to a reasonable size on the paper and then resize and trim the original file the same way. I will never use a flower as big as the page itself or a ribbon that goes outside the page. Just think about your pages and decide how big you want your embellishments to be. Overwrite them.

Using this method I normally reduce the kit space of the 50-40 % !

To speed up the process I also create two actions called Resize and Trim and Trim and Save. Let me know if you want them...

I wish designers would consider sizes when assembling their kit , this would save me a lot of time! Bigger sizes does not mean better quality...

The new kit for today is called " The Dark Side of the Moon" and is a collab kit designed by Scrap'Angie and Desclics

 

On sale at:

I created a page with this kit dedicated to the memory of a great Italian scientist, Margherita Hack who passed away at the end of June.

 

the freebie for today:

 

As usual all my creations are for free and for personal use only.
All I'm asking is a little bit of patience in reading this post's few lines to find the download link which is hidden in the post.
Once you reach the linked word and you move your mouse over it, it gets highlighted or changes colour (it depends on how you browser setting regarding links are configured). Click it and you will be taken to 4shared.
You will be prompted for a password. The password is:  caldo
PS: if you don't find the link (it's there I grant this) drop me a note or a comment but give me a way to contact you back... , I will be more than happy  to help you out as this is not a treasure hunt, it's just a way to let you read my post.

Please leave a comment, a little love is always appreciated!