There have been a number of requests in the CarbideCreate feature / bug discussions regarding CC’s default directory/folder settings and remembering directories/folders between instances and projects. The usual “argument” is that people do things different ways and have different workflows. Some folks use network shares, some folks use the cloud, some use archive directories, some use a separate directory for design files and another for code files, etc. As an ex-software developer, for me this lights up the “we need the right set of options to be able to customize CC’s behavior to fit our needs” alert.
I’d like to build a product feature request that allows us to customize CC’s directory/folder behavior so that it has the flexibility to support as many of the file organization schemas that we use. To do that, I need to know how YOU organize your files. Please share your method in this thread - even if it’s been said before - so I can dream up a solution that will work for us all, and put it into a feature request!
How do you save your files? What is the logic of your directory/folder structure. Do you structure by project, or by file type? What are you trying to accomplish?
Everything saved on a NAS folder (so that I can load file from the PC that drives my machine), one directory per project, which has all the .c2d and various iterations of .nc files. And then one common directory where I store all my vector files (just because it’s convenient to open a file explorer in Windows with “Large Icons” view mode, and scroll through the preview of all the vectors to find a specific one)
I use Fusion for all my designs and CAM. I save gcode out to a job subfolder in a network drive on my NAS. I access everything from CM on my PC that runs my machine.
I work similar to @Julien. I use a separate folder for each project and all files go into the folder. Like some of my projects which I have a similar base for each project but a separate sub-folder for each customized part. I make cribbage boards with custom toppers. They all go into the same large oval cribbage board folder but then have a subfolder for the toppers and each custom one gets its own subfolder. These are all stored on a OneDrive folder on my system so they can be reached from any of my computers and it tracks versioning of the files. This is really helpful if I save a mistake and have trouble reverting. I can then use the OneDrive file versioning to revert.
If I have an SVG or other image that I expect to use on multiple projects then it will go into an images folder which is also on the OneDrive.
I also keep a folder of all my fonts on the OneDrive so I can import them onto each computer as needed. I also keep a folder for my changes to the tool library so they can be imported onto any of my computers.
I keep my design files and gcode output in a folder based on the project. Therefore, when I open CC, I’d like my first save to set the “project directory” and have CC default to that directory for all gets and sets of the project and gcode files. For me, it would be OK if CC remembered the last project directory I used and default to that one in a given session…but if I change it, then I’d like that project directory to “stick”
I tend to keep my SVG files in a library folder, where I deposit them on download from the web, or output from Inkscape or Lightburn. This is particularly true for “reusable” designs like shells, animals, etc. Therefore, I’d prefer the ability to set a default directory for SVG files differently than my project folders. So, for me, a separate SVG / PNG directory would be best…I’d want CC to remember that directory.