MANAGING SLIDE STYLES

[marmart Profile Private message]

Forgive me if this has been already discussed. Has anyone figured out a good way to manage styles yet? I have so many now.

I just bought Style Pack 2 and am trying to find an easy way to have them be in their own category short of doing one by one. When viewing "all categories", there are so many now, that it takes forever to find one I want.

Thanks for any tips!

Mary

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Excellent question Mary. I was wondering the same thing, but more from the point of view of a maker of styles.
How should I organize everything so that would suit everybody's taste?
I am very curious about all the methods that the members have come up with.

[marmart Profile Private message]

Mona, I like the way you created all your styles with the "M" before every name as this allows me to find all of yours instantly.

I can just see ahead with more and more styles, that I will forget most of what I have. It already takes me awhile to find something I may be looking for.

Mary

[Rosemary Profile Private message]

I also like Mona's method. I tried putting a "D" in front of Dale's and "I" in front of Iris but I failed!! Eagerly awaiting solutions!

Rosemary

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Thanks girls, I'm glad that you both like the M but that's not really a category, is it? It's just a little sign.
When you have two (or maybe more ) of my collections, you will probably have to confront the same problem as with Photodex' styles, no?
Do you like the categories that are built in Producer? or do you create more categories? and if more, then what other categories?

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Hi there

Having only imported Dale's transition styles to date, I see them show up in their own category named 'Transitions'... I did not create that category, Dale did that when he created the styles - but the category name suits the styles so I know where to look if I need them. If I didn't like the name of any particular category I could edit the name of it save it under a new one I created especially - but that Manage Styles box is so slow to work with

With regards to the one pack I have put up for sale so far, they should show up in other people's available listings as 'Fun Frames' because that is the category I created when I made them. If I do get around to creating any other styles then I will create a category name that commences with Iris or Trulytango if that helps in any way?

Styles bought from somewhere other than Photodex, or shared by another person, should ideally go through the Import process rather than this business of pasting into the program files - because if so, the category gets installed with the style? That seems to be what happened when I imported Dale's. Or maybe we should put our collective heads together and crack this nut - because as we each create, gather or purchase more styles, then our listings in All Categories will simply carry on getting longer and longer...

I see Photodex originally created categories such a Basic Montage, Complex Montage, Single Image Enhancements etc. and as far as I know, the style packs issued by them install by themselves, rather than through user import - so its likely the style packs get stored all over the place Confusing if you have just purchased a pack and have to hunt through Photodex's original categories to locate them. Far better for a selection of styles to load into a new category such as 'Photodex style pack 2'?

Slide Styles.. we love them but yes, they're sometimes hard to find

TTFN

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Iris, people cannot go through the process of Importing manually each style for a collection of 32 styles (my collections) or 50 styles (Photodex) - I'm counting here both 4x3 and 16x9 styles.
If created correctly, and together with the styles, the categories are maintained even if the user places the styles directly in the program directory. This is not the problem.
The problem is the categories themselves and trying to put into categories something which is not always self evident, and quite repetitive.

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Mona... I was simply trying to help.

It all sounds like swings and roundabouts to me Time is time whichever way you look at it - either spend it at the Import or post-pasting stage or later, once installed, in trying to 'Manage' the darn styles. Neither seems quicker or more favourable to be honest. Sadly, it all boils down to filing. And filing in general ( from personal experience in teaching file management to adults) is not a strong point for most people nor is it easy to dictate.

Seems like most people are now trying to locate and manage styles from a lengthy single listing in All Categories, because the existing categories don't make that much sense to them? But with the accumilation of so many styles possible, the onus has to rest on the individual to name and store styles under something that is pertinent to them - because everyone's naming requirements/descriptions will differ.

Rosemary - The 'Manage Styles' box currently contains everything needed to rename a single style or create your own categories with names you want to see - to rename a style i.e. add a prefix 'D' to a single style of Dale's, just select the slide in your available list and go to 'Manage Styles', then choose 'Edit' and go on and amend the name of the style. It does work, but the key word I used there is 'single'. The box would be so much more useful if you could select more than one style at a time and then edit the category en masse?

Iris

[Rosemary Profile Private message]

Thank you, Iris. I think this method would work for me because it identifies an individual's slides. I love the tutorial and will start organizing!

Rosemary

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Hi Rosemary

When you open Slide>Slide Styles and select any slide from the available list - you can not only edit the name of a style (as I described before) you can also create a new category for it by amending the name of the current category - of course you could also choose another, existing category from the drop-down list, but you can always create a new one by simply amending the current category's name. Once you click 'OK' and then 'Done' to close the 'Manage Styles' box, your new category appears in the list of available categories accessible via the dro-down arrow in the main categories section.

This is undoubtedly painstaking work when you have a lot of styles to organise, but for now i.e. until Photodex come up with a more user-friendly interface in 'Manage Styles' (which is something I doubt figures highly on their 'to do' list), it looks like it's down to us as individuals to take control of our own styles - be they existing Photodex styles, those that we create for ourselves or the ones we happen to come across or purchase elsewhere.

TTFN
Iris

[Rosemary Profile Private message]

Iris, thank you again. I agree about the painstaking work but I think it is worth it because now I can identify whose slide style I used. I spent an hour and 2 mugs of tea, with Dale's slides alone. Feels good though. I love your tutorials as I find them so easy to follow.
Must be nighty, night with you as it is 5pm with us on the West Coast of Canada.

Rosemary

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Well I certainly wish there was a better way to categorize / manage the slide styles. I'm at loss as to exactly how to do it and am muddling around right now ... but I don't have a lot of styles (as in hundreds ... which is entirely possible in the future). I wish Photodex would create a folder-based system (or similar) where we could add a folder (category?) that PSP would recognize when pointed to it. The all-styles-go-in-one folder approach is fine for a few but gets unwieldy quick, I think. Naming a style file won't help much except for the user to ID the style ... however, the real information is inside the style and not easily accessed or modified.

Photodex allowing only 1 style at a time during an import is ludicrous! We should be able to import a whole folder of files at one time!!!!

Dale

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Photodex allowing only 1 style at a time during an import is ludicrous! We should be able to import a whole folder of files at one time!!!Dale

Hi Dale,

The 'Manage Styles' feature had too little time spent on it in the rush to put out version 4? Mainly it seems geared towards people creating their own styles (naming and categorising them at the point of creation or later, on an individual basis), and next, loading large packs automatically from Photodex - and for that they provided their own categories into which these styles suddenly appear.

If they did foresee the need to bring in other, large selections, they seem to have ignored it. But I agree with you, if the categories themselved appeared somewhere as folders, and even if they were hidden in the bowels of the programs files, then at least people would stand a better chance of organising their burgeoning collections!

As with any filing system... the need to organise only becomes apparent by the time the task has gotten to be huge!

TTFN

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

I haven't collected much in the way of styles, but reading this thread has given me a definite heads-up for the future. We all collect something, and for those who collect styles, this is going to very quickly become a nightmare for them. Photodex deserves a heap of immediate correspondence asking for a way to keep order in the style house.

Barbara

[PhilipWeir Profile Private message]

I've already got in excess of 250 styles and can easily see that being extended in the next 6 to 12 months. What is needed is for the styles to be managed within a smalll database system. Preferably someting industry standard and not proprietry to Photodex. In such a way the styles could then belong to multiple categories, have other metadata associated with them and the user could search/select on the basis of multiple criteria. e.g. Select the style(s) that I bought from Dale before 20th May 2009 that have "curl" in the title.

Maybe we should put this discussion into the features request forum? Does anyone know if Photodex looks at that forum?

Philip