Long Hours of Design

Phenomenal, gigantic projects! Itty bitty versioning system. ^{[ 1 ]}

Of course, when we think of a version control system (usually intended for source code), we think of Subversion, CVS, Adobe Version Cue, and their ilk, and generally regard such systems as multi-user entities.

However, even the solo-designer needs some kind of versioning system — even as simple as a “Version 1”, “Version 2” etc naming convention. Many design groups I’ve worked with use such a convention.

This system works fine for the solo designer and the normal design group for a few reasons:

1. The learning curve for other systems (Version Cue, etc.) is relatively high and can be a lot of time to invest.
2. While there might be multiple people working on similar projects (in a print arena), generally there is only one person working on a single file at a time.
3. Source code versioning tools such as “diff and merge” are useless for print design projects; thus, any extra overhead involved in CVS, etc is unnecessary.

So, if we are going to use some kind of simple versioning system, it should at least be A. consistent — versions are updated the same throughout the system. And should be B. relatively easy to implement and use.

I decided to solve this problem with a simple AppleScript ^{[ 2 ]}

Open this script in Script Editor

or

Download this Script

Select a file (or files) in the Finder and then run this script. This script duplicates that file(s) and adds “v2”  to the new file. Run the script on that file, and it duplicates and names “v3”. It also asks you for version comments, which are added to the file.

Easy and consistent.

Et violå! An “itty-bitty” versioning system.

Almost all design departments I’ve been in like uniform folder structures, so things are easier to find.

The is an excellent idea, and anyone who doesn’t already do this should.

There are many different systems for doing this.

Some companies simply have their employees create new folders and rename them, or copy a “template” folder from somewhere on their server.

Here’s a quick way to so this using Apple Script.

Copy and paste this script into a new Script Editor document or open in Script Editor

tell application "Finder"
make new folder in Finder window 1 with properties {name:"OLD"}
make new folder in Finder window 1 with properties {name:"ART"}
make new folder in Finder window 1 with properties {name:"COPY"}
make new folder in Finder window 1 with properties {name:"PDF"}
make new folder in Finder window 1 with properties {name:"PRINT"}
make new folder in folder "PRINT" of Finder window 1 with properties {name:"OLD PRINT"}
end tell

(The last line of this script creates a sub-folder within “PRINT”)

Change the names of each folder, and delete or copy lines as necessary to fit your folder structure.

Then, “Save As…” an application and drag this script into the toolbar of your Finder.

Anytime you need a new folder, click on the script, and violá! A new folder set.