This is really serious stuff.

lizzyfizzy

lizzyfizzy

New member
Disclaimer: This is Lizzy serious...so not very serious at all.

I need to know on a scale of 1-10, how badly do I need ACDSee??

I don't have that much scrapping stuff yet (cause I'm a purger), so now would be an ideal time to get it.

BUT is it really worth it?

For those of you that have it, do you utilize it often to find 'outside of kit' stuff?

I'm an 'outside of kit' stuff user...so...what's the census?
 
I do not use it but I am a kit scrapper. So.. if you're not a kit scrapper, it would probably help you. :)
 
kscwgirl said:
I do not use it but I am a kit scrapper. So.. if you're not a kit scrapper, it would probably help you. :)
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i def use my kits a lot (since mostly for CT's), but i do like to add touches of this and that from elsewhere.

annnnnd...i find that i can't find what i know i have often.
 
I'm rarely a kit scrapper, so I divide everything up in folders that I made myself. I'm sure there was an easier way to do it (like with tags), but it's done now and not too hard to keep up with.

Wish I'd had something fancy to make it easier in the beginning.
 
if you have windows vista (not sure about previous versions) you can just change the filename for each item like red flower or white stiching with the initals of the designer and the kit name then you can simply do a search in your folder which holds your scrapbooking supplies. That is what I do. I still sometimes cant find what I need but I have not finished labeling everything
lizzyfizzy said:
i def use my kits a lot (since mostly for CT's), but i do like to add touches of this and that from elsewhere.

annnnnd...i find that i can't find what i know i have often.
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I love ACDSee, Gina's method is a waste of hard drive space IMO, especially when you can do the same thing in ACDSee without duplicating files and such. You can also further categorize stuff in ACDSee all the way down to tagging it with red, stitched, button, metal if you wanna be super anal and find all your red metal stitched buttons, etc :)
 
Traci Reed said:
I love ACDSee, Gina's method is a waste of hard drive space IMO, especially when you can do the same thing in ACDSee without duplicating files and such. You can also further categorize stuff in ACDSee all the way down to tagging it with red, stitched, button, metal if you wanna be super anal and find all your red metal stitched buttons, etc :)
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Word.
 
I have it, but since I have to many stuff I quit tagging the first week (thanks God was a prize). I usually use it to sort through my templates (1 pic, 2 pics, 3 pics, square, rectangle) or when I need something from a specific store for a challenge...

Truth is I buy (money and CT) faster that I can tag... so is not a big help for me.
For random elements I've used the Gina method since I start scrapping (but then it was MY method as I figure it out myself... LOL) and so far works for me faster and easy
 
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If it were me, I'd say you don't need it. If you have a good organizational thing going for yourself now - go with it. That..or wait til they have a B1G150off or better sale.

I think it's a good program, but I wouldn't buy it again if I had to do it over. I'm not using it for much more than mass extracting now.
 
I'm sorry I ever lived without it. Getting the tagging done in the beginning was a PITA, but now I'm SO glad I did it.

I force myself to tag something as soon as I unzip it, so it's easy to keep up now.
 
I use ACDSee and I love it. The categorizing is time consuming, and I do NOT categorize every single item. I don't do my paper - I lump it together by designer or kit unless it's something I see myself using over and over - I have a category for "distressed" and then a few others and if a paper falls into 1 or more of those categories and I think I might use it a lot, in it goes. For embellies - I only categorize the individual items that I could see myself using outside of the kit or basic things (like staples or frames or something) I might use repeatedly with other kits. I do use that A LOT because sometimes a particular kit I'm working with just might not have a frame or staple or a torn edge or whatever. Now I don't have to go searching through everything to find what I want - I just go to that category and voila! there's all of them. Everything does get put into a category for designer, the store it came from, theme, etc. Does this make sense at all???

I did initially categorize every SINGLE item in a kit and it was just taking WAY too long. I stopped that pretty quickly. And it did take a little bit for me to figure out a category "system" that I like. Hope this helps!!!

I do find it interesting to see how other ACDSee users set up their categories - We should start a thread where everyone lists their categories...
 
Just wanted to mention that you can also use ACDSee to categorize your actual photos. So when it comes to making that album for MIL or whoever, you just search for her name or the kids names or a holiday or whatever and up pop the pics you need! :)
 
I think it is so worth the money! For some reason (I can't remember why) I didn't have it on my computer for a while, and I couldn't scrap at all! I LOVE it. And I agree with Traci. Don't waste hard drive space.
 
Hmmm, interesting, I'll be watching this thread! I use the "Cindy" method now, lol. I love it, but I do worry about all the extra space it takes up with duplicating the files. Now that we have a new computer with mega memory, I can have other programs open with Photoshop without bogging my system down, so I may consider it.
 
I love it! I've just started tagging again (after a computer change where I lost my other version and then an EHD crash :cursing: ) I also tag my finished pages (by person and if I've printed it). I really like that you can see psd files with it too :thumbup: I don't tag everything - just things I know I'll want to use over and over and then the previews for kits I haven't yet used so I don't forget I have them since I can't seem to quit buying faster than I can scrap
 
I've been scrapping for almost 3 years and have never seen the need to purchase it for myself. I have my own method of organization which I think is pretty similar to what most people call Gina's method and it works for me. :)
 
Darcy Baldwin said:
If it were me, I'd say you don't need it. If you have a good organizational thing going for yourself now - go with it. That..or wait til they have a B1G150off or better sale.

I think it's a good program, but I wouldn't buy it again if I had to do it over. I'm not using it for much more than mass extracting now.
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Mass extracting??? Do tell! Is this something I need to know about before NSD?
 
oh yes...i remember.

does the program itself take up a lot of memory on the computer and does it make your computer run slower when scrapping?

do you keep it open when you scrap or what? how do you search for tagged stuff and then plug it into what your scrapping at that moment? is it linked to your pse, psp, whatever or do you open it like you would open any other file from your photoshop program.

GEEEEEEZ i'm rambling. sorry.
 
If you have trouble finding things, yes. And a smaller scrap supply is a great time to get it.

I would suggest making your own categories by things you need or look for most often. I love it. I actually use it more for my pictures than scrap supplies. I tag pictures that I need to scrap and it has been SOOOOO helpful since I don't scrap every picture.
 
lizzyfizzy said:
oh yes...i remember.

does the program itself take up a lot of memory on the computer and does it make your computer run slower when scrapping?

do you keep it open when you scrap or what? how do you search for tagged stuff and then plug it into what your scrapping at that moment? is it linked to your pse, psp, whatever or do you open it like you would open any other file from your photoshop program.

GEEEEEEZ i'm rambling. sorry.
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No it doesn't take up much memory or slow things down and it runs really super fast.

I keep it open when I'm not scrapping with a kit. I used to all the time. You can make it open your files into your editor, or just drag and drop--that's what I do. I select a bunch of folders and drag them over all at once.
 
Heather Roselli said:
Just wanted to mention that you can also use ACDSee to categorize your actual photos. So when it comes to making that album for MIL or whoever, you just search for her name or the kids names or a holiday or whatever and up pop the pics you need! :)
Click to expand...

Forgot to add that - it will be by next project. I want to tag if they've already been scrapped too since I don't scrap in order I end up doing multiples sometimes :o
 
I use ACDSee and LOVE it. I just recently purchased it and, while I still don't have everything tagged, I can't imagine how I worked without it all these years.

It doesn't take up much space or slow my computer down at all. I keep it open when I'm scrapping and once I've found a piece I'm looking for you can just click and drag it into PS.

The initial tagging is a pain but for me, it was worth it!
 
ITA I couldn't scrap without ACDSee...I like being able to tag things so that I can find them quickly. I also use the properties pane and add the kit name and the artist to each item. I believe that is gone over in the speed tagging article at digiscrapinfo. I also tag everything that is SSD, so that I can grab right from it.

I use it to tag my designer resources as well. That way when I am making a kit and need a bow, I can click "bow" and see what I have.
 
If you are a kit scrapper like Jamie or Sara, it is prolly a waste of your time and money. If you like to pull things from different kits and different designers, say, on 50% or more of the layouts you create, it is prolly a good investment for you. It might help you to purge, actually, once you categorize everything and can see what other things you no longer need, etc.

It is not a memory hog as it just creates thumbnails and paths to your stash; it does not actually make or hold a copy of the stash. When you back up your database (which you should do biweekly at minimum, btw), just unselect the checkbox that says to save/make copy of your things (I forget what the wording is, but you'll figure it out), so that you're just backing up your thumbnails, and that won't take long to do or much memory, either.

There is a shortcut that I forget at the moment where you hit Ctrl or Alt and some other letter and it will open whatever you've selected in your default program (which you can change in the settings) without you needing to drag + drop. That's what I do, and yes, ACDSee and PS are open at the same time.

You can do searches for whatever you want, but usually, I just check the box(es) of whatever it is I'm looking for on the side panel, and everything tagged with that/those cat(s) will come up in the main screen, i.e. if I want a Robin alpha, I click the checkbox next to 'Alphas' and the checkbox next to 'Robin Carlton.'

[It will be a lot easier to explain this to you and for you to understand once you purchase the pg, btw.]

I ditto Sarah's comment abt customizing your organizational system. Know how you scrap, and tag accordingly. My organizational system is semi-detailed, I think, but not as detailed as others because that is what works best for me. I do NOT tag anything by color because I do not look for items that way, but many other people do and tag everything by color/pattern. However, I almost always include stitching and/or staples on my pages, so despite having a generic 'Fasteners' cat, I also have a specific 'Stitching' cat and a specific 'Staple' cat so I do not have to wade through all the fasteners in the generic cat to get what I want.

Make sense?

Your best bet is to head over to DigiScrapInfo which has tons more ACDSee info than we could ever possibly give you and browse their forums for tips 'n' tricks.

http://www.digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdseeesources

HTH, Fizz. Have fun!! :)
 
Hmm... I have also been trying to decide if I need ACDSee. Is it anything like Google's Picasa?
 
Ok, everytime one of these threads pop up I find myself thinking I'd really benefit from it and this time I'm convinced. I have tons tons tons of stuff and I can hardly ever find just what I'm looking for, lol. I loathe the thought of how much time I'll have to spend organizing, but I think I need to bite the bullet and do it.

Darcy, what is this sale you speak of? Do they often have sales?

Thanks for thie thread Lizzy. It's totally answered some questions for me!
 
scarletsierra said:
Thanks for the thread Lizzy. It's totally answered some questions for me!
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yw! it's really helped me too! i'm pretty sure i'm getting it now!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HELP LADIES!!!

edited: actually on second thought...some more super helpful info is necessary for my decision. anyone out there...anyone. meems, perhaps?
 
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