by MaryCatherine McCoy

Editor’s Note:  I happen to offer a free file organization system on my group that is customizable, for those interested please visit & join:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheEnchantedCottage/
and follow all the instructions there in the files area for download and before installation.

Experienced embroiderers and rookies were completely sympathetic with the trials and tribulations discussed in part one of this article.  But what if you’re not a novice anymore, but also not an expert?  Wouldn’t you like to know now what you’ll know then?

So, if you’re feeling like a ’sophomore embroiderer’, this article is intended to help you discover a few shortcuts on the machine embroidery super highway.  One of the concerns which frustrates many machine embroiderers after a few weeks or a few months is downloading and filling designs.

There are so many great designs available:  at the dealers, at the fabric stores, and online – especially at DesignsBySiCK, where you can download up to 49 free designs per day (or buy a membership and get over 15,000 designs).  But what do you do after you’ve downloaded all those designs and now you’re looking for that one really cute sunbonnet design which would be perfect for your granddaughter’s birthday party this weekend?  Where did you file it?  And more importantly, how can you find it quickly?

First things first, whether you’re a rookie at machine embroidery or a seasoned veteran, the most important question about filing designs is where will I look for it when I need it?  It’s doesn’t matter where or how your best friend maintains her embroidery files.  Downloading and filing designs away is NOT about storage; it’s about retrieval!  It’s all about where and how ‘you’ will look for a design when ‘you’ want to retrieve it.

Once again, you may be saying, “That’s great but if I knew now, what I’ll know then, I wouldn’t be frantically searching for that sunbonnet design at midnight.”  The solution is in 2 parts.  First, try using your computer’s operating system to find that elusive sunbonnet.  If you’re using a PC and you have at least a vague idea of the design’s name or the folder’s name, then click on the Start button in the lower-left-hand corner, when the pop-up menu appears, click on the search button (next to the magnifying glass).  A dialog box should appear titled Search Results that looks like this:

In the dialog box, enter a search word like “bonnet” after the prompt:  All or part of the file name:  OR, after the prompt:  A word or phrase in the file:  Then, click on the search button at the bottom.  The system will start searching for everything with the word “bonnet” and begin creating a list of results.

If you only have a few designs with the word “bonnet” in the title, then you may be able to recognize it from the list.  If you have quite a few designs with the word “bonnet”, then it may take a little longer.

Of course, if you have a MAC or are not using Windows on your PC, then use the search feature on your system.

The second part of this solution is even easier.  Going forward, set up a design retrieval system (remember, it’s not a storage system) based on where YOU will look for it.  Don’t worry, at this time, about all those designs you’ve already saved somewhere.  Whether you’ve downloaded 2 dozen, 200, or 2,000 designs, start your new retrieval system with designs you download today.  Otherwise, you may be overwhelmed with trying to organize all the designs you have PLUS all the designs you’re downloading today, tomorrow, and forever.

As you create your retrieval system, you (and only you) can decide whether you want to store designs in files by category (animals, alphabets, etc.) or by website (DesignsBySiCK and others) or some other methodology.  There are no “right” categories; only categories which work for you.  Still not sure what the “right” categories are?

There are various software systems and packages available to help us organize our designs.  Many software packages offer a free trial offer.  Spend a little time before you spend a lot of money on a great system that doesn’t work for you.  You can ask for opinions about software packages on the DesignsBySiCK Forums.  Remember though, it’s like a recommendation for a movie or restaurant.  Just because an embroidery expert likes Chinese food, it doesn’t mean you will.

After you’ve established your own retrieval system and filed about 200 – 250 new designs, give it a test drive.  Can you find that bonnet design easily now?  If not, then it’s time to tweak your system.  You don’t want to file 5,000 designs and then discover your retrieval system doesn’t work for you.  After a successful test drive, then you can go back and get those 5,000 designs and put them in your retrieval system.  But, just as we discussed in the first article, take baby steps.  Give yourself a reasonable goal or schedule.  For example, “I’m going to organize 100 designs each week until I catch up with all those old designs”, or “I’m going to spend 2 hours each week organizing my old designs into my new retrieval system.”

Don’t over-schedule yourself in your attempt to get everything done or get everything perfect.  Our goal is an excellent retrieval system, not a perfect storage system where you can’t find anything.  Take baby steps.  More importantly, have fun with your machine embroidery hobby.