When you get into graphics software, there is something always to bear in mind. From the very moment you have the software installed you will want to be able to access the files you will be working on easily.

Of course there are several ways of doing this. This is my personal choice.

Firstly I never install this kind of software in my C: drive. I make sure I have partitions for major groups, graphics in one, games in another, etc.

Then, in my graphics partition I install each software in it’s own folder. I know this may sound crazy, but I even split up software from the same company, such as Adobe. This does not upset anything in the installation because they still get grouped in the registry and still interact properly.

Then comes the fun part of organizing your graphics files. You will soon find that dealing with various stages of a project can become a minefield without organization.

ALWAYS keep your original files untouched in their own folder. How you nest and sort your sub-folders for the various stages of each project is up to you. Just keep in mind that simplicity of access is essential. It can soon become confusing to your minds workflow when you have several files of the same name if they are not placed in sensibly named and ordered folders.

I shall be moving on to more specific points in my next postings.