9 Things to Check Before Flattening Your Layout
If you’re anything like me, you’ve had that “uh oh” moment when you realize that your title is misspelled only seconds after flattening your layout. If you are lucky, you catch it that quick, and you can use the handy dandy History menu to revert back and fix the mistake. What happens if you’re not that lucky though? I’ve not noticed errors until months after, when browsing my photos in a gallery. I’ve found things I left off only after I have saved and shut down Photoshop. It’s a sinking feeling in your stomach….that thought that you want to fix it, but there’s absolutely NO WAY for you to do so. If you’ve ever been there, you know the panic that I am talking about.
After having that happen to me a number of times, I started putting together a list of things that I would personally check before flattening my layout for saving. The list has saved me on a number of occasions. If you’ve had this problem before, you are probably wondering what I have on this checklist, what things do I check for before I flatten my layout. Wonder no more, after using this list for months on my own, I decided to create a handy printable checklist that you to can check before you flatten your layout. It’s available for you to download for FREE!
9 Things to Check Before You Flatten Your Layout
This list is made up of the 9 most common mistakes I have made in the past when flattening a layout. Yours may be different, but these 9 things I check before I flatten my layouts will be a good starting point to make sure you never find yourself in that “uh oh” position again.
What would you add to the list? What would be your #10 Thing to Check? Let’s share in the comments below!
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Spring Cleaning Your Google Reader
This post is the last in the Spring Cleaning Week series, and was supposed to post yesterday. Unfortunately, I scheduled it incorrectly. So, today I am sharing the last part of the series with you!
In the past, I’ve talked about how I use Google Reader to keep up with the blogs I read. There is no way I could ever keep up with all of the, around 80, if I didn’t have Google Reader to put them all together in one spot. Like anything else, however, Google Reader can get cluttered up and needs a good Spring Cleaning. A few weeks back, I learned of a really easy and effective way to clean my Google Reader, and I wanted to share it with you today.
If you look at the left sidebar on your Google Reader homepage, you’ll see the tag “Trends.” I had never clicked on this tag before, and I had no idea what a powerful tool I was missing. When you click on the “Trends” tag, a screen comes up that details all of the trends that Google Reader has noticed in what you are reading or clicking. this is really interesting to see what blogs you are really reading, and what ones have items you are clicking on. You can click up to the Top 40 blogs you are reading, and easily see what ones you aren’t reading at all.
Also included on the Trends screen, are you Subscription Trends. This tells you which blogs are frequently updated, which blogs are recently inactive, and which blogs have the least followers. When I am Spring Cleaning my Google Reader, I usually check through the blogs that are recently inactive and see if there is any that I need to unsubscribe from. If I find one that I do want to unsubscribe from, all I have to do is click on the small trash can on the right of the blog name, and it will unsubscribe from that blog. It’s easy. I don’t often unsubscribe from a blog, but if it’s been a long time since they last posted, I usually unsubscribe – it’s part of that if you don’t need it, let it go mentality.
Do you use Google Reader? Is Spring Cleaning your Google Reader something you think you’ll need to do?
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Spring Cleaning Your Facebook Profile
Recently, the school system I work for instituted a Facebook Policy. As a teacher, I understand the seriousness of what appears about me online, so I took this as an opportunity to Spring Clean my Facebook Profile. With the number of employers and other agencies that are using Facebook as a viable source to research someone, I feel like it’s always prudent to be aware of what you are posting, and how it reflects on you. Here are some of the things I did to clean up my profile.
Know Your Friends.
Over the last year or two, I had accumulated a lot of Facebook friends. Some are genuine bona fide friends of mine: my sister and brother, my wife, my good friend Brian from work. Others, however, were people who knew me through someone else, or because I “am Sir Scrapalot.” I always felt bad turning down someone’s friend request, so I would just say yes to anyone. I know you’ve done the same before….but think about it. Isn’t this the start to a John Hughes’ movie? Joanne is going to have a small get together, but sure you can bring your brother’s friend’s sister..and before you know it, the party is out of control and everyone is pretending some dead guy is still alive while John Cusack holds a boom box outside the door. Accepting everyone as a friend is like having one of these parties. The first thing I did when I cleaned up my profile was “defriend” anyone I didn’t know. I felt awful doing it, and I am truly sorry about it, but I needed to keep my friends list to people I knew (even if it is still crazy big).
Un-Tag Photos of Yourself.
As a teacher, this one is really important to me. I can only control the pictures I post online, and I am always very careful of what I post. I can’t control when someone posts a picture of me. Once they “tag” me in the photo, anyone can see it. I urge you to click on your photos link, and scroll down to the “Photos and Videos of You” section. Here you can see what pictures people are tagging you in. If there are any pictures you would rather not be associated with, find your name in the list of people in the photo, and click “remove tag.” It won’t take the picture down, but it will at least remove your association with it.
Go Over What You’ve “Liked.”
This is another way that people can learn more about you, so make sure that the information you are providing is what you want out there. Sometimes we click “Like” just to get access to other features or because we are interested, but we don’t want to forever be associated with “Stamp Lovers of Massachusetts.” Look through what you “Like” if there’s something there that isn’t “you” anymore, then get rid of it.
The bottom line is this: everything you post online is online forever. No security measures are foolproof, and you can never know who is in possession of what information. Make sure that what you are posting and sharing is what you want out there about you. In the long run, you’ll thank yourself for it.
How do you keep your Facebook Profile clean and up to date?
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Spring Cleaning Your Email Subscriptions
I am a stickler for keeping my email inbox clean. I’ve written many times about how I keep my inbox empty, and how I organize my email. Recently, I updated how I was organizing my email and keeping them tagged, but that’s for another post. Today I want to talk about something that I am always fighting with in my inbox – email subscriptions. I’m not going to lie…I subscribe to a lot of email lists. Whether it’s emails with coupons, or designer newsletters, or marketing newsletters…there’s a ton of them that work their way through my inbox each day. It can get overwhelming. Here are a few tips I have for cleaning up your email subscriptions.
- If you are consistently just deleting it, do yourself a favor and unsubscribe from the newsletter. If you’re not reading it, it’s just extra noise that clutters up your inbox.
- Set up a folder for them, and filter them directly to the folder. In gmail, you can set up filters that will automatically label the emails and send them right to the appropriate folder. By doing this, the emails are bypassing the inbox and you can go in and read them when you have a few minutes.
- See if you can change your subscription options. There was one newsletter that I was getting everyday, and it was just overwhelming. I took a minute, and went in and changed it to a weekly email, and I really haven’t lost anything.
- If they do make it to your inbox, read them immediately, and take any actions that you need to. I try to do this every time, I quickly read the email and decide what action I need to take. If I can do it in less than two minutes, it gets done then and there. If I can’t I add it to my task list, and move on from the email.
Email subscriptions are great ways to stay in touch and find deals and information about the things you like. What’s key is making sure you keep them from overpowering your email inbox and making you crazy!
Do you subscribe to email newsletters? How do you keep the clutter down? Are you subscribed to the Sir Scrapalot Designs Newsletter?
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Spring Cleaning Your Folders and Files
Your supplies folder isn’t the only folder that can use a little cleaning up during Spring Cleaning. Taking a few minutes to look through the other folders on your computer and getting them cleaned up and organized can save you room on your hard drive, and help keep everything in working order. I commonly look in folders that I access often: Documents and Pictures on my computer, and from my hard drive I check out my Work in Progress folder, my To Be Unzipped folder, my Layouts folder, and my School folders. Here are some of the things I look for and try to take care of when I am cleaning out those folders.
- Any files I don’t need any longer go to the recycle bin. This goes along with the ideas from yesterday’s post, but if I don’t need it any longer, adios! Last time I did a clean up, I found lesson plans from three years ago, when I was teaching a whole different grade.
- Move files to where they belong. I am famous for leaving files in my To Be Unzipped folder because I am too lazy to figure out where they really should go. This is the time to do that. Once you have cleaned out what you don’t need, put what you do need in it’s right place.
- Consolidate folders where you can. I do this in my Pictures folder. Each time I upload it creates a folder with the date. At the end of the year, I put them all together in one folder for the year. It helps me keep everything together, and easy to navigate if I need to find something.
- Make sure files are named so you’ll know what they are. I can’t tell you how many “Untitled” files I have. They are absolutely useless when I am trying to find something I need. When I am going through cleaning up my files and folders, I take the time to rename anything that needs to be renamed.
- Make a list of any larger tasks you come along while you are working. Often times, when I am cleaning up my files and folders, I find something that I had been meaning to work on. When that happens, I add the task right to my Google Tasks list so that I won’t forget it again. I can’t tell you how many tasks I have “remembered” like this.
- Remember, it’s all about making it work for you. Whatever organizational system you find to be the most productive is the best for you, whatever rules you have for keeping files is best, as long as it works for you. I always try to remember how good it feels when everything is all clean and organized, that usually prompts me to do these types of tasks again.
Do you go through and clean up your folders and files? What strategies do you use to keep your folders and files clean and organized? Let us know in the comments below.
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