[JimSkellington]

New to the list so I hope this is the right forum. I keep all of my Zombie Pumpkins patterns printed out in sheet protectors in a notebook and have always just kept my Pumpkin Masters ones in their books, copying the ones I wanted to use. This works OK but was curious what everyone else did with their patterns. Cut them out of the books or leave the books whole? Also, if you do cut them out how do you sort them, by year, theme, etc.? I've scanned all of mine for backup purposes with moderate success, does anyone else have any tips on scanning?

Thanks

[keithk83]

I started scanning my patterns so I can print out the ones I want. I keep my patterns on cd or a jump drive in addition to my computer incase of a crash. I haven't begun sorting the pm patterns but i would probably do them by the books and maybe alphabetically in another forlder or something because I am ocd when I start.

[sodajazz]

Think the OCD bug gets to everyone, when it comes to Patterns and stencils. Paper copies, cd copies, pen drive copies, although I'm not anal enough to alphabetise yet

Any books are left as is and scanned when needed

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

I don't collect enough patterns by others to really have a system for sorting them. But as for my own designs, I sort them by year on my computer for organizational purposes. But I also keep a printed copy of every pattern in a couple 3-ring binders:



When I add a new pattern to this site, I always print it out (through the printing interface of the site) to ensure that it works correctly. Then I put that pattern into a plastic sheet protector page in the front of the binder. So I guess you could say my patterns are sorted in chronological order.

By the way.... welcome, JimSkellington. Hope to see more posts from ya.

[Euri]

Yep, same here- sheet protectors and binders. In addition to that, I have self adhesive index tabs to indicate different sections. For the most part I have stuck to the categories that Ryan has on the site, but I have a good chunk of Star Wars patterns so they get their own section.

PM books I keep all together and just copy off the ones that I want. I have an orange folder in the front of my binder that I keep extra copies for carving in. But honestly, I'm not sure if I'll get many more pumpkin masters book. I usually only get them for the tools, but I modify the tools anyway.

[GUS]

bIG OLD paper folder, nish mash of stencils, probably 250 sheets deep (no order) held closed by a couple of elastic bands.

..edges of folder still sucked by the dog.

[500cdn]

I Just Print Them Off This Site When I Need One

[JimSkellington]

Thanks for all the replys. You're right sodajazz, I have OCD really bad when it comes to Halloween!:D Guess I'll just leave the PM books whole. I hadn't ever thought about cutting them up but after printing out all of my Zombie ones I really like being able to flip through one book to pick out my patterns.

[matspud]

I always print out all the ZP patterns, scan them and store them in a ring binder as well. Remember ,you never know when a pattern is going to be retired

[amandap80]

I print them as a PDF, store the PDF on my computer in the categories shown on the site. I also print them and store them in a binder.

[Chewy]

Im a little OCD too when it comes to the patterns I've collected over the years - especially because Ive lost a few I wish i still had. I have a (full) 3" ring binder with a page protector for each pattern & depending on how much I like the pattern when I print it, i might have one copy - or up to three if it's one I'm sure im going to carve. Two sections: ZP in alphabetical order & everything else in whatever order made sense at the time. The PM (et al) books slip into the Cover.

Ryan

[Artex76]

I do the same. I started a few years ago since my older PM books were getting old starting to turn yellow and what not. I scanned them all and have a cd-r with all of them by book with a scan of the front of the book also and ZP organized by year.

[Tkaraoke]

I just upgraded to a 3 inch ring binder yesterday and when I put all of my ZP patterns in there, it looks like there's only room for this year's patterns and then it will be full!!! I didn't want to have to spend the $18 for a 4 inch one but I might have to do that! Keep those patterns coming!

[nosferatu]

I'm afraid I like order - not quite "Sleeping With The Enemy" but not far off it. I used to keep the patterns loosely like GUS all over the place but they became tatty really quickly. Bought a folder, kept the patterns in there and started to cut a few patterns out of black card. For Halloween 2006, I put the card in windows at home but they were then useless thanks to condensation. Ever since then, I've cut 2 or 3 a week and laminated them. Yes, very anal I know. But this year I will be able to cover every window in the house, the entire conservatory etc. I only use this website for patterns - undoubtedly there are some great patterns around but ZP has it's own unique style and a quality that surpasses everyone else.

Anyway, as you can see, yes I do alphabetize them but at least I know that Karen Cooper is between Kang and King Leonidas.....

[GUS]

NOTHING ANAL ABOUT LAMINATORS! ...how many watts does yours pull???

I LOVE laminators me!