How to manage your files quickly and easily

Take the stress out of file management by letting DropIt organise and process selected files and folders speedily, simply and automatically.

DropIt is a tiny free tool that’s designed to speed up common file and folder operations such as copying, moving, renaming and encrypting. You can set it up to monitor selected folders automatically, or manually drag files and folders on to the DropIt icon, which floats above all other windows on the desktop.
DropIt uses a series of ‘associations’ to select files, filtering them by name, type or even properties. It then performs a specific action on the selected files, which you can customise to suit your personal needs. You can set up multiple associations covering a wide range of files and types, and even organise your associations into profiles for specific tasks. If you regularly find yourself performing the same file-based tasks over and over again, you’re going to love DropIt.

 
1. Set up DropIt

Install DropIt from the cover disc, or download and run the portable version from www.dropitproject.com. If installing, tick ‘Launch DropIt’ at the end of the setup before clicking ‘Finish’. You’ll see an arrow appear on-screen – this is the DropIt tool, which floats on-screen above other windows. Click on it and drag it somewhere less distracting – a right-hand corner, for example.

2. Your first association

DropIt works by creating ‘associations’ that process files based on a set of rules. For our first example we’re going to create a simple association that moves any JPG file dragged on to the DropIt icon to your Pictures folder. First, locate a JPG file and drag it on to the DropIt icon. Click ‘Yes’ when prompted, then give it a suitably descriptive name to help you identify it.

3. Verify rules and action

You will notice that the Rules box is already pre-filled with *.JPG, indicating that the association will only apply to files whose names end in .JPG. Click the ‘Action’ drop-down menu to see a list of all 18 actions you can perform using the program. As this rule is designed to simply move all JPG files that are dragged on to the DropIt icon to your Pictures folder, leave ‘Move’ selected for now.

4. Complete action

Click the folder button next to Destination Folder to select your Pictures folder (if you try to select your Pictures library, DropIt will simply create a Pictures folder on the desktop for your files), then click ‘Save’. You’ll notice that the association isn’t performed immediately – instead, click the ‘Play’ button and the file will be magically moved. Test it with another JPG file.

5. Create second association

Right-click the DropIt icon and select ‘Associations’ to manage existing associations and create new ones from scratch. You’ll also see a Default drop-down menu. Clicking this reveals that DropIt supports profiles, allowing you to organise and switch available associations depending on specific circumstances. We’ll cover those later – for now, click ‘+’ to create another association.

6. Apply more complex rules

Each rule uses a set of filters to determine which files or folders to process. Click the ‘i’ button next to the box to see examples of filters you can create based on the file or folder name. Use the * character as a wildcard for files, and ** characters for folders. Use the / character to exclude items. To apply multiple filters, separate each one with either a semi-colon or | character.

7. More filter options

You can also apply filters based on file properties, attributes and even file content. Click the funnel button next to the ‘i’ button to choose these. Tick a filter to enable it, then click the ‘>’ dropdown menu to make the filter apply when the file is greater than (>), equal to (=) or less than (<) the given attribute. File content lets you match based on words or text strings.

8. Actions: compress

Click the ‘Action’ box to reveal different actions you can perform on a file – one action can be performed per association. Use ‘Compress’ to pack together all the files selected by the filter into a single archive file, for example. Note how the final box changes depending on what option you select – for compressed files, click ‘Configure’ to choose an archive type, for example.

9. Actions: rename

The Rename option is good for quickly renaming digital camera photos that have unhelpful filenames, such as GEDC0500.jpg. After selecting ‘Rename’, click the book icon next to the file name to reveal a list of options that can be inserted into the renamed filename. Select ‘Images’ to see a list of naming options including file dimensions and the date when the photo was taken.

10. More actions

Other handy actions include creating image galleries, music playlists and shortcuts, changing a file’s properties, or even ignoring it altogether. The latter option is best used for creating exclusion filters, so files matching the rule are immune to any other associations you’ve set up. To make this work, click the star button next to its name to prioritise it over other associations.

11. Use profiles

DropIt supports profiles – collections of related associations that can be applied for specific purposes. The program includes a number of profiles with pre-built associations for a variety of uses, including creating music playlists and compiling text lists of files. To switch profiles, right-click the DropIt icon and select your  profile from the Profiles drop-down menu.

12. View profile associations

You’ll see the DropIt icon change to the profile icon that’s been selected to help identify which one you’re using. To see what associations this profile performs, right-click the icon and choose ‘Associations’. You can transfer any of these to another profile: right-click one and select ‘Copy to’ to do so. Select another profile from the drop-down menu to view its associations.

13. Manage profiles

To set up and manage profiles, right-click the DropIt icon choose ‘Profiles > Customize’. Click ‘+’ to create a new one. Give it a suitable name, then click the ‘Search’ button to pick the icon DropIt will use when the profile is selected. Alter its dimensions to change its size and use the Opacity slider to adjust transparency, if required. Click ‘Save’ when you’re done.

14. Monitor folders

To have DropIt monitor folders automatically, right-click the DropIt icon and choose ‘Options > Monitoring’. Tick ‘Enable scan of monitored folders’, then click ‘Add’ to choose a folder using the folder button. Select the profile whose associations you want to process on any files in the selected folder and click ‘Save’. Repeat for any additional folders you wish to monitor.