After some time Ive come to a realization. Time and time again I keep running out of storage. Every single day you download more and more loras or checkpoints. Ive always been kind of a slob so its so surprising that the most important thing is actually.
Organization.
Sure learning composition and balance its also important but not as much organization. I started out with only having a lora and checkpoint folder. That immediatly became a problem with how fast those folders filled up. And whats more you obviously need folders with pictures of your desired product. How often I would try and get inspiration from past works for a lora only to find out a 404 error. A perfectly good lora or checkpoint and not even knowing how to use it. Its a headache.
So I have folders with pictures that I deliberately mark as "masters" for pictures with good composition and lora use. For checkpoints its a little different. In the actual folder where the program saves the checkpoint I make a subfolder with pictures I like that use the checkpoint. So I always have a good starting point or reference for the checkpoint. Its a great way to see how its meant to look. The lighting, compostion, and color distribution. I like to think of it as my type of paint brush. One checkpoint might be too dark, another too muted, realistic or cartoony. The subfolder helps as my reference and because its a subfolder I always know where to look.
Loras
For lora use I like to make a separate folder outside the actual lora folder. Titled by the date and use. This works great when you need to purge old references. Lets say the new model comes out and you no longer have any need of the super old stable diffussion. You simply move good reference material(pictures) and trash the folder. This way works out the best. Right now my folder reads 2024newlorasamples. next year obviously 2025newlorasamples. It really helps being a little bit organized since Ive had to completly move to a different version of stable diffusion. I have about 3 entire installs in my drive.
So learn from my mistakes so you don't have to go through the annoyance. This way if you ever do lose the old lora webpage on this site. You have the old artstyle references. And whats better the new pony model came out right? You can make a lora with the old references from the original stable diffusion and train it with the new pony models. genious. especially with this sites trainer.
Examples
Ill give you a good starting point. in your lora samples you should have subfolders inside it kind of like this. Artstyles, characters, concepts, embeddimgs, resources. In your folder that houses the actual loras should be something like this. Inside the lora folder should have subfolders marked as artstyles, characters, concepts, and resources. Within them the type of checkpoint usable; either sd1, pony, flux, etc. Finally in the place where your actual checkpoints go. It should be something like this. Inside the folder you should have a masters folder containing pictures that embody the heart of the checkpoint. Sort of pictures that made you want to use the checkpoint in the first place. They should show you the overall quality of the checkpoint. Like I said prior. They are like your paint brushes. Do you want anime style, realistic, horror. You catch my drift. It really does help being organized considering this hobby will eat up your storage. So learn from my mistakes.