CT File Management

julifish

New member
I would love to get the opinion of both scrappers on CTs and Designers for this one.

How long do you keep a kit that you download for CT use? When do you finally delete the kit? What makes you really want to keep a kit?

Designers - how long would you expect a CT member to keep your older kits for mixing and matching with new kits? Are you okay with a CT member asking you to re-download a kit if she deleted it and now needs to use it again?

Inquiring minds need to know. My laptop is in need of a total restore and I'm slowly moving all my CT kits over to our server, I'm on day 2 of this. I'm thinking that perhaps I'm a little too anal and should just delete the majority of these kits - but I'm having issues doing this.
 
About once a year I sort all my products (CT or purchased) in ACDSee by age and then go through the oldest ones to see if they are outdated.

I keep kits that have certain themes, especially school kits, because I love those for projects. I also usually keep "helper" products like clipping masks, shapes, templates, etc.
 
I delete anything I know I won't use again, whether it's CT or not. IME designers say upfront what they expect, e.g. 1 layout per new release or whatever, so once I've fulfilled that obligation, it's up to me if I will use it again or not. I keep most things just because I like them. I mean, I don't CT for designers I don't like! So it is usually just older, outdated stuff that gets deleted, or stuff I've used so much that it's just not feeling awesome anymore.
 
LOL....I actually never thought about deleting things!!! LOL. I have everything. Disk space is cheap. I have some of Traci's FIRST things ever designed. And He's Krafty from Robin Carlton, back in 2006!! LOVE still that awesome Krafty blueprint paper (just used it recently in an album!!). I make layouts from CT kits, but I do all my albums (big annual photo books and my boys birthday magazines with random stash stuff....like the nature of how it all looks not all matched up)....and I love having all different styles to choose from. I've been around forever so I've seen all different styles and I like going back to get some stuff from way back when.
 
If something looks outdated enough that I won't use it anymore, I delete. Otherwise I save it. I wouldn't feel right asking a designer to spend the time giving me access to/reuploading an older kit that I've already downloaded from them. On the other hand, I've had some CTs where I had a code to get anything from their store when I wanted it. If I could download like that without inconveniencing the designer and was short on disk space (which I'm not right now), I'd feel a little more free to delete and re-DL kits I was on the fence about, like one where I didn't think I'd have another use for the theme. In general I love my CT kits and reuse many of them, and I'm on few enough teams that keeping everything is realistic.
 
Last edited:
I think if I look at my old EHD I have every kit Zoe Pearn has made since I joined her team 9 years ago. o_0

Right now I have almost three years of SSD kits from being a Babe sititng in my hard drive as well.

I think I'm going to go through and get rid of older ones I know I'd never use again - but there always seems to be something in a kit I love. :) Perhaps I should have asked for more storage for Christmas???
 
I usually keep kits, CT or otherwise, abt 3 years. By then, it usually starts to look outdated, the designer has come out with a similarly-themed kit in a newer/better style, etc. There are exceptions, of course, but that's what works for me. I do have a few odds 'n' ends, mostly alphas, that are 5+ years old, and I usually keep tools/masks/actions since those can always be altered and look much differently from how they were created.
 
once the designer has retired it, i usually delete it unless i'm in loooove with it & use it all the time. if not, it's gone. i go through my stash every few months or so & delete purchased items if i won't use them again. i should probably do it again since i swore i'd never go over 500 kits (that doesn't include stand alone items) & it's blown WAAAAAY past that.
 
I am pretty bad I delete everything... I rarely use a kit more than twice, so after a second LO I delete the kit. I do not want my LOs having so many that look the same when printed. So my stash on my PC is not very big at all.

And imo.... if a designer is going to require you to use something they should have no problem with you downloading it. That is silly.
 
I delete some files each month if I won't use them and it does not matter of they are from CT stuff or purchased. If I won't use it, I just don't keep it. There are certain items that I always go back to because they have that "timeless" feel and I keep them for when I am looking for that particular item.
 
One thing I do is that if there is anything in the kit that I know I will not use, I delete that as soon as I unzip it. If a designer retires or I leave a team due to my taste and their taste changes then I will most likely delete the kits.
 
When I was on CTs, I'd delete anything there wasn't a reasonable idea I'd use anytime soon-- for example, if I liked (but didn't LOVE) a kit about husband/etc, or a little girl kit, then I'd delete it-- I don't have a husband, and I don't have a little girl, so if I didn't think I'd be using any of the kit in the near future, and wasn't so in love with the kit that I'd feel horrible deleting it, then I'd delete after fulfilling my obligations. If I loved the kit, even if I wouldn't use it, I'd keep it regardless.

For kits I loved or could see myself using again soon, I'd keep them forever-- I still have some. But, I'm a kit hoarder.

When I was designing, there was no expectation for my CT to keep any kits. And, if anyone wanted to redownload, no problem-- they had a coupon to my store and could download any current product again if needed.
 
I delete anything pink immediately after using it for CT work. I also delete anything I wouldn't use again just like anything else.

Colors make me want to keep kits and certain themes. I love blues, greens, natural colors and anything with a good pattern and vintagey elements. I also keep and buy tons of travel kits, beach kits, and fall kits. I have so many pictures for those themes, I'll always have a need for them.
 
i had an issue about a year ago where all my stuff was deleted...everything...pictures, LO's, kits...you name it. so i was starting from scratch. i asked all my CT designers if i could re-download a bunch of stuff and they were all awesome about it and didn't care AT ALL. love my designers!!
 
I'd backup any kits that I have used to EHD and online - CT or not. With CT kits, I'd delete them from my computer once I've used them. I love my CT kits and sometimes use them over and over, and for this purpose I'd keep the ones that I REALLY love on my computer for reuse. It's hard to keep everything since I only have 500GB hard drive.

I also delete super old kits from my EHD if they're from 2011 and older. They'll be burnt into DVDs instead for backups.
 
i think i have to cry now. i never deleted a kit and i have close to 1 tb stuff. lots of it has never been used.
to think of deleting an outdated kit without ever having used it... *cry*
but sure... i will not live that long to use all my stuff and even more sure i will not use a kit if i don't like it anymore.
but still... *cry*
 
Back
Top