 |
This document provides guidelines for organizing your projects,
files and folders, including naming conventions and file structure,
which is critical in Desktop Publishing, as well as any other project
you perform on your computer.
The Junk Drawer Syndrome
It's tempting to treat your computer like a junk drawer. While it
may be easy to throw things in, you'll be hard-pressed to find them
again. Therefore, setting up a system for organizing your documents and
your multimedia elements is critical!
"But I only have a few desktop publishing projects now."
It is likely that you will create a stockpile of newsletters,
certificates, brochures, and other desktop publishing materials over
time. Plan ahead now.
By using a logical and consistent system, it will be much easier to
find your resources in the future. These simple organization strategies
will help you quickly and easily find your files.
- Create a logical and consistent filing system for your
electronic documents, just as you would for a paper filing system,
using folders to organize your files.
- Name all files in a consistent and meaningful manner. (Three months from now will you be able to find your file easily?)
Using Folders
Just like paper folders, electronic folders allow you to group like
items together in a way that is meaningful for you. Here are some
suggestions:
| Create several folders, such as… | You might name the folders… | |
One main folder to keep all DTP projects |
RSVP DTP Projects (for RSVP Desktop Publishing Projects) | |
A separate folder for each type of project.
Create one folder for common, reusable objects that you can use in several places (e.g., content, images, templates) |
newsletters
brochures
certificates
reusable_elements
etc. | |
Within
each folder, create sub-folders to further divide your work (e.g., if
you publish monthly newsletters, you might create sub-folders labeled
with the date) |
20010401_news (for your April 1, 2001, newsletter) |
Naming Files
It's a good idea to use the following rules when naming your files.
All too often, people name a file one thing but cannot find it three
months later. Everyone has his or her own system of organization. Here
are a few guidelines that you might want to use to organize your
projects.
|
Guideline |
Do it like this… |
Not like this… | |
Use the proper three-letter extension
|
rsvphomepage.htm
vol_tshirtlogo.gif
|
rsvphomepage
logo1.picture | |
Use lower case |
newsletter.doc
etrbudget.xls |
Newsletter.doc
ETRBudget.xls | |
Never use spaces (use underscores instead) |
volunteercertificate.doc
rsvp_logo.gif
20010401_news.doc
|
Volunteer certificate.doc
RSVP logo.gif
April newsletter.doc | |
Never use punctuation or typographic characters (other than period, hyphen, or underscore) |
application_smithbill.doc
gifts-prizes.gif
|
Application/Bill.doc
Gifts & prizes
| |
Use file names that are short, yet meaningful |
bettycake.jpg
howto_reporthours.doc
|
photo21.jpg
howtoreporthours
tutorialpart1.doc | |
When using dates to name files, use YYYYMMDD to keep your files in chronological order
YYYY - four digits for the year
MM - two digits for the month
DD - two digits for the day |
20010401_news.pub
20010415_flyer.doc |
April2001newsletter.pub
040101_flyer | |
