Organizing fILES

[Metal Works]

What program are you using or to organize tour drawings?

[SegoMan DeSigns]

E: None of the above LoL I wish their was an option out there that would read most formats but I haven't found one. You can find DXF organizers but the other formats are a wild card.

[rdj357]

I need a full time person to review files and organize them in a searchable way. Maybe it is actually a 2-person job.....

If anyone every finds a good way, let me know. I just search the whole computer hard drive with Windows File Explorer and hope I put some kind of identifying info in the file name and that I spelled it right and didn't have a typo.... LOL

[caretech]

I have a folder on my network attached storage server (NAS) named Artwork. Within that folder I have my files organized into subfolders -- Agricultural & Heavy Machinery, Aircraft, Animals (which also has subfolders for different kinds of animals), Automotive Cars Bikes Boats (with lots of subfolders)... you get the idea. This lets you drill down fairly quickly to the type of drawing you are looking for. I also try to save an image file sample of each dxf or svg so that I can flip through them in an image viewer. The image file (JPG or PNG) is named the same, or at least very similarly, to the DXF and / or SVG.

If there are better ways to do it, I'm all ears.

[tinspark]

I have a folder on my network attached storage server (NAS) named Artwork. Within that folder I have my files organized into subfolders -- Agricultural & Heavy Machinery, Aircraft, Animals (which also has subfolders for different kinds of animals), Automotive Cars Bikes Boats (with lots of subfolders)... you get the idea. This lets you drill down fairly quickly to the type of drawing you are looking for. I also try to save an image file sample of each dxf or svg so that I can flip through them in an image viewer. The image file (JPG or PNG) is named the same, or at least very similarly, to the DXF and / or SVG.

If there are better ways to do it, I'm all ears.

Mine is basically the same. my main folder is named GoTorch which is the brand of my cnc machine / project folder/ then animals, or automotive, etc as suborders. Inside the animal folder there are all of the species in separate folders.. i have customers names in here too as a main file. As well as files called bbq pits etc. And have subfolders for the different bbq pits that i have made or have files for. I have a file for “home projects “ for various things that i do around the house. I have a few thousand files. But some members here have stated that they have purchased bundles and have tens of thousands of files that are all unorganized.. That is a BIG problem, and a waste if resources imho! Waste of time searching through the gibberish, and waste of $$ because the purchased files cannot be located easily or at all!!

That being said, it was a bit of a task going through all of my disorganized files several years back, but I was only dealing with a few hundred files. Niw i have thousands. And cannot imagine the nightmare it would be to find stuff that i knew that i had but did not have them named properly and in their correct location. Organizing is well worth the effort imo.
I find myself still making new main files and subfiles occasionally. A jumbled mess is basically worthless. Which is what I was dealing with in the past. I can usually find a file in less than a minute. I have saved a lot of frustration over the years, compared to searching for gibberish. and have saved a. If I save a file, I religiously put it where it can be easily found and if it is unique, then I make a new main file for it.. And, i can open a file anywhere in the world on any smart device since i save everything in free cloud services..
I use “DXF thumbnails” to see a oicture if the dxf file while it is still in