I’m a bit of a packrat. I have cards and drawings I made and received as a kiddo (and I”m over 40), so it makes sense that I also care about archiving copies of my design and development work.
I still access files, photos, and designs I made twenty years ago. I have many long-term clients, and I occasionally rely on accessing their files from years ago, and I often find clients rely on me to dig out old materials.
Accessing old files requires organization. I find archiving projects effectively crucial when wrapping up a design project. In this context, archiving can mean saving editable files and successfully displaying/viewing project files. Below are a few tips and how-tos for archiving design projects.
How do I archive an Adobe Premiere video project?
Great question. I use the Project Manager tool. Read about my entire video archive process in the post “HOW TO SAVE AN ADOBE PREMIERE PROJECT TO A MOVABLE FOLDER.”
How do I archive or save a view-only copy of a website, especially if it exists on a CMS like Squarespace, Wix, or another builder?
That is another excellent question. I use a web scraper to grab a static copy of websites I’m just starting to work on so I can save a “before redesign” copy and an “after redesign” copy. I explain the tools I use to do this in the post, “HOW TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF A WEBSITE.”
How do I save an image for a historical record of a website or webpage?
I always grab screenshots of completed webpages or websites, or even old ones that I redesigned. I enjoy having the images as historical record. In addition to using online archive services like WayBack Machine, I also take full page screenshots. I share which plugins I use and how to use Google Chrome’s developer tools to take full page screenshots in the post, “The best website screenshot tool for designers.”
