How do graphic designers backup all tools?

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I’ve just encountered a situation where, for the first time since I started designing, I am switching from one desktop to another with a completely new OS (Win 8.1 instead of Win 7) and will be required to “start fresh”, as it were.

Do you all, as graphic designers, have specific tools or procedures that would be useful to know for porting over all of your custom fonts, brushes, presets, workspaces, palettes, and everything else? Are there any systems in place that allow for you to install and hit the ground running as fast as possible?

I’m currently using Adobe CS 5.5 (likely upgrading to CC) along with a number of fonts I’ve downloaded over the past year.

Answer

Everything you listed could be accessed or stored:

  • Workspaces: Go to ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Software/Version X.0/en_us/Workspaces to find your saved workspace
  • custom fonts: server software exists, such as Universal Type Client, that can be linked to all computers on the network and allows you to turn on and turn off fonts.
  • swatches: save them out and store them on a server or where you store the client project. I try to always save the color palette used for a project so if someone else needs to work on the project they have everything and can import it in
  • brushes: can be stored and import the brush you need for the project

Everything you talk about can be added to a NAS (Network Attached Storage) and you could simply add what you need. If you’re not implementing a NAS they are a great tool for backups (hopefully not storing files locally).

A NAS I use personally: Synology DS414 or if you’re a little computer savy and have a computer with 4gb of RAM you could try FreeNAS.

If you can’t afford a NAS solution then simply use an external HDD. Some network routers that have a USB connection will allow for an external HDD to be mounted. I would store your files such as:

Fonts
Brushes
Color_Swatches
Workspaces
Palettes

If you are looking for a file structure hierarchy you could do:

Client Name
--Fonts
--Brushes
--Swatches
-foobar.ps
-foobar.ai

Since you mentioned you want to get into scripting and going towards CC check out how to do custom scripts in InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. You can even do a few searches for custom scripts or ways to increase productivity. I enjoy writing my own scripts for InDesign and I’m using ExtendScript Toolkit that comes with CC.

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Source : Link , Question Author : armadadrive , Answer Author : DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ

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