How do you organize your screenshots?
I play rotationally, and I love to take pictures of my sims, so I have tons of various photos. Right now I have all of my photos in one folder, but it is getting tedious to go through it each time I w...
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I have one main folder on my hard drive in Documents I created to store a folder for each household I've ever played in my game. I play one household per save and make a folder named after the Sim or Challenge I'm playing in that save. Inside these folders are a copy of the rules if it's a challenge, a folder each for screenshots, Sim tray files and a folder for their house tray files if I want to keep it. Since I play a lot of different saves, sometimes I will remove older saves to play later and create a save file folder in addition to the other folders previously mentioned.
For on-going challenges, such as the BuildNShare challenge, I keep a folder for each round I've entered in the main BuildNShare folder. Inside those folders will be a folder for the build tray files, a folder for any Sims created for that round and a screenshots folder, plus the rules/deadline for the round. Inside the screenshots folder is another folder for a slideshow created to present my entry for that round. Sometimes I'll even have folders inside that one for each room to better organize them for the best screenshot to include in the slideshow.
For my Drifter Challenge, I have a folder for each House in the challenge named after each House and the Sim for that House, for example; Drifter House 01 - Ella McDonough. The same as above, inside those folders is a copy of the House rules, a folder for screenshots, the Sim tray files, House tray files and one for the save game file, if it's been removed to play later or the House is finished.
In the case of the Legacy Bachelor/Bachelorette Challenge by Queenarella where I've entered several contestants, I have one main folder and inside are folders for each contestant I've entered named after the contestant and which generation they were entered for. Inside that will be a copy of their completed entry form, screenshots for their entry and a folder for the Sim tray files. Sometimes I will also have a folder for other Sims tray files associated with that round I've downloaded to put in my game.
I also have a House Plans folder. Inside are folders named after the type of build, for instance; Craftsman, Cottage, Farmhouse, Mid Century Modern, etc. Inside those are folders with blue prints for builds, any photos of the builds and sometimes photos of ideas on how to decorate it and information on typical architectural design elements. If I've actually built a house from blue prints saved in that folder, it will get a separate folder named after the in-game build. Inside that will be the original blue prints/photos, folders for the tray files and in-game screenshots.
Lastly, I have a Miscellaneous folder with folders for competition models and one-off challenges/contests, etc. and other important information such as cheat codes, photos of all the neighborhood lots with names/sizes, frog breeding chart, garden grafting combinations, all the plant types and what season they will grow, where to find them, etc., etc.
I absolutely love going back sometimes and looking at the screenshots in these folders to reminisce and/or see how much I've improved in my building skills over the years. I even have a folder with tray files for the Sims I created in the Demo before TS4 was officially released. The very first Sim I ever played in the game was ported over from that folder. <3
My folders are updated almost daily since I will remove screenshots and/or tray files to put in their respective folders after every play session and also clean up cache files, etc. Once a month or so, sometimes more frequently, I will copy this giant folder of folders to my external hard drive for safe keeping.
It sounds like a lot of work to do all this, but it really isn't if it's done consistently every time you play. The pay off is a more streamlined and lag free game, at least in my case. I started doing this when I still had my old toaster of a laptop out of necessity. I probably could get away with leaving screenshots and tray files in my game now since I have a gaming desktop. But it's become a habit and I like being able to find what I want in a snap from having everything organized in folders. :)
Happy Simming! <3
For on-going challenges, such as the BuildNShare challenge, I keep a folder for each round I've entered in the main BuildNShare folder. Inside those folders will be a folder for the build tray files, a folder for any Sims created for that round and a screenshots folder, plus the rules/deadline for the round. Inside the screenshots folder is another folder for a slideshow created to present my entry for that round. Sometimes I'll even have folders inside that one for each room to better organize them for the best screenshot to include in the slideshow.
For my Drifter Challenge, I have a folder for each House in the challenge named after each House and the Sim for that House, for example; Drifter House 01 - Ella McDonough. The same as above, inside those folders is a copy of the House rules, a folder for screenshots, the Sim tray files, House tray files and one for the save game file, if it's been removed to play later or the House is finished.
In the case of the Legacy Bachelor/Bachelorette Challenge by Queenarella where I've entered several contestants, I have one main folder and inside are folders for each contestant I've entered named after the contestant and which generation they were entered for. Inside that will be a copy of their completed entry form, screenshots for their entry and a folder for the Sim tray files. Sometimes I will also have a folder for other Sims tray files associated with that round I've downloaded to put in my game.
I also have a House Plans folder. Inside are folders named after the type of build, for instance; Craftsman, Cottage, Farmhouse, Mid Century Modern, etc. Inside those are folders with blue prints for builds, any photos of the builds and sometimes photos of ideas on how to decorate it and information on typical architectural design elements. If I've actually built a house from blue prints saved in that folder, it will get a separate folder named after the in-game build. Inside that will be the original blue prints/photos, folders for the tray files and in-game screenshots.
Lastly, I have a Miscellaneous folder with folders for competition models and one-off challenges/contests, etc. and other important information such as cheat codes, photos of all the neighborhood lots with names/sizes, frog breeding chart, garden grafting combinations, all the plant types and what season they will grow, where to find them, etc., etc.
I absolutely love going back sometimes and looking at the screenshots in these folders to reminisce and/or see how much I've improved in my building skills over the years. I even have a folder with tray files for the Sims I created in the Demo before TS4 was officially released. The very first Sim I ever played in the game was ported over from that folder. <3
My folders are updated almost daily since I will remove screenshots and/or tray files to put in their respective folders after every play session and also clean up cache files, etc. Once a month or so, sometimes more frequently, I will copy this giant folder of folders to my external hard drive for safe keeping.
It sounds like a lot of work to do all this, but it really isn't if it's done consistently every time you play. The pay off is a more streamlined and lag free game, at least in my case. I started doing this when I still had my old toaster of a laptop out of necessity. I probably could get away with leaving screenshots and tray files in my game now since I have a gaming desktop. But it's become a habit and I like being able to find what I want in a snap from having everything organized in folders. :)
Happy Simming! <3
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