Question Folder and File Saving Best Practices

[rastemmler]

I apologize if this has been discussed elsewhere. I tried searching the forum but didn't find anything directly related.

Are there any best practices or standardization that would be beneficial when it comes to organizing folders and files related to drawings, production and output files?

The company I work for is a medium sized electric sign manufacturer. We have about 30 employees between office, design, production and installation. The art department has their section of the server where the folder hierarchy is something like this: Client>Location>Project
and then within the Project folder are folders for Assets, Production, Output, etc.

What are people using for file naming conventions and versioning?
For example, in our shop a typical CorelDraw file for an initial drawing would be ClientName_ProjectDescription_v1_4-27-18.cdr

The sales staff do not have access to the art department files (we've had too many instances of artwork being copied, deleted or moved by sales people before leaving the company). Instead, their section of the server has a similar file structure of Client>Location>Project and then within the Project folder are .PDF files of the project drawings. After a job is sold and artwork approved, the .PDF files are organized into Approved and Do Not Use folders (which is the salesperson's responsibility to organize).

This system makes perfect sense to me (because I put it in place), but that doesn't mean that it is right. It has grown out of 17 years of headaches and frustration. The problem is that sales staff and then new designers and production artists have difficulty locating artwork from their respective locations. Employees that have worked at other shops have described their former employer's file structure(s) which has ranged from being completely different (every project given a job number and all folders are saved as that job number regardless of client, location or project) to being very similar.

Any feedback would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[billsines]

it is whatever is most efficient for your company. actually it comes down to whatever management wants, even if there is something that would seem easier from your perspective, there may be hidden elements that management is aware of that you don't know. so offer suggestions if you want to change, but it is ultimately up to them and you gotta respect how they want it done. every so often you get a worker that thinks he knows best, then when you tell them what to do they get all bent out of shape and mope around. for some reason people are having a harder and harder time listening to reasonable instructions from management. drives me nuts.

 

[Bigdawg]

Our structure is very similar to yours. We have alphabetical folders, then the client name, then the location, then the file name that describes the project. Instead of a date we use a revision level (r1). All our prelim, proof and final files carry the same name and revision level, but are appended at the end with -PROOF or -CUT or -PRINT. We also keep a separate folder for client supplied files and for survey photos and sketches.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Any new hires have to adapt to the structure of wherever they are going. It may not have worked for their previous place, but that's how it works at where they are at now.

Not to say don't make changes to it as the need arises, but not every time the wind blows either.

My naming schema is different, but I have it setup to where each department has access (sometimes read/write, sometimes just read) to needed files/folders that they need to work efficiently, while mgmt is full admin (that may or may not need to be allocated differently depending on the makeup of mgmt) with all rights to all files/folders.

 

[AF]

The challenge is not concocting a file scheme but rather enforcing implementation with your employees. Any scheme is better than no scheme and consistency across all systems is key.

 

[papabud]

every place had a slight variation on the same basic file system.
one thing i always make sure is in place is a "production" folder.
you can have a zillion revisions on the design end. once one of those versions is approved. the designer saves a final production file(s) in the production folder. this way the production doesnt have to worry about how many or what revisions there are. they have a final approved file. and thats all that goes in that folder.
but in my current job, we have a design, proof, production, and photos folders. with in these folders you can add folders to achieve what ever goal you need. thats within a customer name/job number hierarchy also.
but there is no standard way. since every companys layout and needs are different. as long as the right people can access the needed correct files when they need to is all that really matters.

 

[ColorCrest]

This system makes perfect sense to me (because I put it in place), but that doesn't mean that it is right. It has grown out of 17 years of headaches and frustration. The problem is that sales staff and then new designers and production artists have difficulty locating artwork from their respective locations. Employees that have worked at other shops have described their former employer's file structure(s) which has ranged from being completely different (every project given a job number and all folders are saved as that job number regardless of client, location or project) to being very similar.

I would expect a company of your size to use some particular software to generate work orders using unique sequential numbers with separate line items for the individual products and services requested. That software, along with your computers and other software most likely used in your shop such as a printer RIP, can display lists of files using the beginning of the file name. When one is searching for something specific, such as a particular folder or file, the “specific” can be the work order (job) number. It is indeed common and prudent to use a unique identifying number at the beginning of a work folder and file name especially to make the list view easy on the eyes.

 

[ikarasu]

We have a folder for art room -

Every isn't has their own folder. Real estate companies have their own, with seperate folders inside for each brokerage.

Each file is listed with the sales order # first - followed by type of sign/size, then clients name. For instance...

141634 - ReMax 18x30 LS John smith.pdf
The proof and artwork is made/setup in their. Once the proof is approved... it gets printed, attached to.the work order, the output file.is then saved into our production/print folder with the printer it's going on added to the filename so for our hp it's 141634-HP, or RR, etc.

Its not the most efficient way... But it keeps the original file, as well as a copy in the production folder. We have a few artists.. not all of them are in. So if a change needs to be made and it's time sensitive... Any of the artists can access it / modify it, and make a new proof.


I'd like to automate things... We have the production software for everything to go go digital. Onyx is great with its hit folders, so everything can be auto ripped... I hate having 100+ work orders printed on paper, with a proof printed on a laser printing...

Not to mention I'm always going into the artwork and double.checking colors because the laser printer printed the dark blue a teal, and even though our profiles are pretty accurate, I always freak out when a 4x8 sign is blue while the paper shows it as teal.

I'd love for all work orders / proofs to be digital. But when you have management who bareilly knows how to check email, it's not always feasible.. so the best setup is what's efficient for your shop.

I have a script setup to monitor the production folder for new files. Then whenever I see something is there, I walk downstairs and grab the work order. They always wonder how I "magically know" when new artwork is approved every single time

If you see a workflow issue with your current setup, work on fixing it. If not... Be happy it's working.

 

[fuzzy_cam]

We are 5 person team here, now.

We have one single file share set up that everyone can access. We have several folders labled ABC, DEF, HIJK, LMN, etc. Files are saved under the customer/business name under these folders for organization. Similarly, depending on the customer, the next folder is the location or the project name. Quotes are saved in the customer file and labeled with an abbreviated customer name DASH the quote number so that it can be easily pulled up by all of the staff when referenced. With too many hands working in the same set of files, I can see how that gets risky. Our file system backs up weekly as well.

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

We have a file structure template that we keep on the desktop and we just drop it into the client master folder to create a new job. As shown in the screenshot. We organize by Client Name > Year > Project Name. Since we are in the exhibit business, we use the show name as the project name, but smaller jobs are named with the invoice number as the prefix so that we can search by invoice number easily. This way every client folder is organized the same way, and we don't have to name individual files by some index number. Hope this helps!