Vectric Customer

This might become more obvious to me once I actually start cutting some projects but I am currently in the process of assembling my Shapeoko3. I am also trying to learn Vcarve using the free trial.

When you set up a project do you create a folder for it and then place in that folder, the CAM and CAD files along with maybe photos of the project and perhaps a pdf outlining the project. If you create a tracing of a picture for a project would you file it in this file and in the clipart folder?

I am fairly computer literate and don’t have any issues with normal Word/Excel files but I am not sure if a different approach is required to keep CNC project files tidy.

I thought I might as well get things set up at the outset rather than try and sort out a jumble of files later.

I would appreciate some sharing of how others do it.

I put everything associated with a project into it's own folder.

A folder per project is the most common.

If you are doing this as a business then each client gets a folder, and each project for that client is in a sub-folder.

If you have a lot of repetitive work then you could put all V-carved plaques in a single folder (Plaques) and just be very consistent about naming the CRV file and the related files with a common prefix, i.e.
TableGrace.CRV
TableGrace_Preview.jpg
TableGrace_125V90.tap
TableaGrace_EM025cutout.tap

I used to do everything within folders based on customer ID's and dates but over time I realised the only thing I ever actually needed was the original design itself and a record of everything that was cut during the day regardless of the customer.

These days I keep the original designs in their own folders based on the type of design. Various folders for different toolpaths templates based on the type of material and types of cuts etc as I never create a toolpath from scratch these days.

When I set sheets up for customer work rather than using the standard Save commands I use a custom gadget that creates a folder for each day and then puts each file I produce in that folder with a timestamp. That way I can refer back if a customer says something is wrong.

I don't keep actual gcode files at all. Again I have a custom gadget that doesn't bring up the save dialog when I save a toolpath. It automatically saves the toolpaths to a dropbox location which is then automatically loaded onto the machine in the workshop so there's no chance of loading the wrong file or picking up an old one manually.

Great question...
Folders!
We also group folders by year.

I have a main "projects" folder, with sub folders for each job.

And at the machine, a main g-code folder, again with sub folders for each job.

Thanks guys. Pretty much along the lines I would have expected with a couple of minor tweaks.

Now to grab my downloaded projects and set up a start point.

Assembly is going very slow at the moment as I am in to the 3rd month of a post viral cough. Its really energy sapping and I finish up with monstrous headaches so only do a short time on assembly. I usually spend a bit of time hunting out future projects so can't wait to get on to the real thing.