search for a certain design? I could really use some help on this. Thanks, Happy New Year everyone.

I find using file folders similar to the "catagories" on some sites is helpful. Alphas, Animals, Angels, Birds, etc. and I have sub folders under each one, Animals has many, cats, dogs, safari, jungle, etc. I have had as many as 450 designs in one folder at one time and was able to view them in organizer, but it does slow it down. I don't always rename files, keeping the digitizers name/number makes it harder to search as described by jdore, I would never be able to find the pretty cross that is named D47598.vip by searching for cross. So folders are mandatory! I also find keeping all my files on a usb stick (jump drive) and then transfering the designs I want to use in the next little while to a smaller stick (under 100 designs) keeps the machine from bogging down. I have a Viking Diamond and it will read several sub folders, but goes slow and is easier just to copy/save what I want to stitch out to the small stick and then dump them when I am finished. That way my folders are always complete. I spend alot more time than I would like sorting, as I download something almost everyday (freebies, sales, etc) and I don't always do my "filing" like I should. So I put like items (hoidays) into that folder and then go back later and sort into birthdays/Christmas/Easter etc. That helps me stay orgainized.
Linda

1 comment

by designcrazy 04 Jan 2011

Thank you Linda, I just came back to this question to see if anyone had made a comment. Thanks for the information. I really have a long way to go, I may never finish.*4U

Thank you for the question and the answers

1 comment

by designcrazy 29 Dec 2010

Your welcome, I should've asked it a long time ago. Here's a*4U

I've got the 4D and have sorted all my designs into individual folders, cats, dogs, birds, etc. I have even made subfolders inside the main folder, i.e., birds, then cardinals, parrots etc.
Also as jdorie says you can't overload a file the system will freeze. but I do know that the number of files each folder will hold easily is 100. Hope this helps.

1 comment

by designcrazy 29 Dec 2010

Yes it helps, now to get busy organizing all my designs. It will really make finding a design easier. Thanks for your help.Here's a*4U

You don't move designs to the Organizer. You use the organizer like you do The Windows Explorer to search for and organize designs. If you are searching for a design you need to tell the Organizer where to look. That is which folder to search, or to look on your whole hard drive. If you don't have a clue where you put a design you can tell the Organizer to look on the C drive.
Go to the top toolbar and select the first tool icon. The 3rd box down is labelled "Look In." Click the drop down arrow at the right end of it, and select your C drive. It will likely have your computer's name or make as well. In the top box type at least part of the file name OR in the second box type a word or phrase in the note box of the design. If it doesn't have notes don't fill this in. If you type the file name incorrectly you may not get a result so try again with a different name or just a part of the name. Click Search (not New Search) See page 4 of the book on the Organizer that came with your software.

It is helpful if you have your designs all in one grouping under MyDesigns. You can have many subfolders to hold different categories. Organizer tends to lock up if you have too many in one folder. I don't know how many is too many buy you might want to keep a sub folder full limit to 50. It also tends to lock up if it can't read a design format.
Within the Organizer you can use the File menu item to make a New Folder. Select designs and use Edit, Move To Folder to move designs to the folder you created. Having some knowledge of how the file system on your computer works is very helpful. The Organizer is quite similar. You can move files and folders around usiing the Windows Explorer too but you can't see what the embroidery files look like if you use it. Hope this helps.

2 comments

by dino 28 Dec 2010

I have 4D Organizer and use it all the time. You did a great job explaining how to use it.

by designcrazy 29 Dec 2010

Thanks jdorie for explaining so well how the 4D organizer works. Looks like I have alot of work to do in order to get my designs organized. I've had this software for awhile but I didn't really know how to go about using it. Thank you so much for your help. Here's a *4U

I dont use 4D but I do recommend you create a ton of folders to sort your designs into. It makes searching for designs much easier :)

I have PE Design, but I dont usually use the Design Database, I usually just rummage thru the folders I created in Windows Explorer (My Computer -> drive name -> folder name). xXx

1 comment

by designcrazy 29 Dec 2010

Thanks for your help, I hope to someday be more organized.Here's a*4U