A Time to Download, a Time to Delete

I like to keep a copy of all my scrapbook kit previews in one place so that I can easily see at a glance what I have available. I used to keep a copy of all the previews in a folder on my computer. But more recently, I’ve been importing them into my iPhoto program. Not only are they all in one place, now I can assign tags or key words to each so they are easily searchable by color, theme, designer, store, etc. This has made it so much easier to find the “right” kit to use for my scrapbook pages.

It has also made it easy to do a kit cleanup / purge when I feel one is needed.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a hard time getting rid of things, especially if it is something I’ve paid for. Over the past few years, I have acquired a lot of kits. A lot. Freebies, kits purchased from stores and also kits received from monthly paid subscriptions.  But my hard drive was getting full and I kept running across those kit previews in iPhoto that I finally had to admit to myself that I’d never use.

I am pretty picky about the freebies I download, so most of them were keepers. The kits I purchased directly from stores were also mostly keepers, not because I’d paid money for them but because I’d purchased them individually and with intent. But the kits received from monthly paid subscriptions – not so much. Yes, I did receive many great kits that I love and will use. I was also glad to discover many new-to-me designers. However, I also received MANY kits that I finally had to admit to myself that I would never, ever use. Even many from “top-name” designers. Not that they were bad or poorly designed kits, they simply were not my style.

So I began deleting. It was hard at first. I kept thinking that maybe *someday* I’d want to use that artsy kit for a special artsy page. Or make a fantasy page with the fun fantasy kit. But realistically, I probably won’t do either. So off to my trash bin they went.

Then for the hard part. Actually emptying the trash. No going back now! 100+ kits deleted and my hard drive with 15GB more free space, I feel pretty good about my decision.

Have you cleaned up your scrapbooking supplies lately?

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8 Responses

  1. clo says:

    Not yet able to do what you did. But perhaps I should… taste is changing, what I liked in 2008, is not anymore what I love…. I need to stil do the work to this idea.

  2. You can start always small. Pick just one or two kits that you know you’ll never use. It gets easier as you go. 🙂

  3. DeMo says:

    Ugh. This is so hard for me to do too. What I do is just stash stuff on my EHD, that way it’s out of the way but never *fully* gone. Cheating, huh? 🙂

    I don’t have scrapbooking stuff. The stuff I have a hard time knowing if I should keep are my not-so-spectacular Graphic Design projects from college. Am I ever going to show those to my future kids? Will they care? I could throw out a few CDs worth of stuff if I get rid of them.

  4. I enjoyed your article about cleaning up your scrapbook supplies. I’m intrigued. Most of my clients are using Windows OS and Creative Memories’ StoryBook Creator for their scrapbooking. What program do you use on the Mac OS for digital scrapbooking?
    Thanks!
    Stacy

    • I use Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for my scrapbooking. I did start out (many years ago) with a dedicated scrapbooking program but have found that I really like the versatility that Photoshop gives me.

      I was intrigued by your title of Personal Photo Organizer. How fun! I am sure there is a need out there for that now that so much is digital. Photo backup is especially important to me and I am so particular about trying to backup in 2-3 places now. (Computer, external hard drive, and online backup service) It helps me sleep at night knowing my photos are in more than one spot should my computer crash!

      Thank you for your email (and comment). It is always encouraging to hear from others. 🙂

  5. Leslie says:

    HI! I came over from your comment on my blog. OK, maybe I need to try to do at least a few digital pages a month. Sigh. Your pages are wonderful. Love that 2-page template you designed (and used).

    I can so relate to the purging of files. I recently did this with my Homeschool files. I will grab freebies if I think I might ever use them, but as I went through this last purge I was very serious about asking the question “Are you ever going to print this out and use it?” If the answer was no or even probably not, I let it go. Most of it I had downloaded free but a few things I paid for like you. It does feel good once it is done! Very freeing!

    I need to do the same with my digital kits and I LOVE the idea of putting the preview in iPhoto. Genius!

    I will be sending out invites to my blog sometime next week. Thanks for sharing your blog with me. 🙂

    • Oh, I probably should go through my homeschooling files next and do some clean up and purging. I am sure there are quite a few that I don’t need anymore too!

  6. Devon Lee says:

    I am relentless about removing clutter from my home. I recently deleted a few items from my computer of digi scrapbooking things that I haven’t used. I was hesitant to do more. My older home schoolers design their own pages and so the collection has to be such they can find something and it’s not always mom’s pick. So… I keep a few more things that I personally like. However, I might just have to employ the “(no one has used it so I’ll secretly delete it” method. Anyway… great post. And I totally understand the “it’s not bad, it’s just not my taste”

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