How to Organize Your Mozaik Library and Products

To organize your Mozaik library and products, build your own custom product library (a renamed copy of a stock one), save a matching construction method and settings template to it, then use the library tree's root folders, subfolders, and the Switch Source Library tool to arrange your most-used products where they're fastest to reach. Always back up Mozaik first so you can roll back, and keep the construction method's file name identical to the library name so you always know which method you're in.

This guide follows Mozaik's official walkthrough. Watch the original on Mozaik's channel:

Why organize your library at all

A messy library slows every job. The goal is the same as a well-run assembly bench: the cabinets you build most often should be one click away, and the rare or custom ones can live tucked inside subfolders. A clean library also lets you keep different construction styles cleanly separated instead of editing settings on the fly for every job.

Step 1: Back up Mozaik before you change anything

Always make a backup before an update or before reworking your libraries. There are three ways to do it.

Method 1 — Single job backup

• Open Backup and Restore from the Tools menu, set your backup location, and choose to create a current job backup.
• This saves only the one job you're working on into the folder you picked.

Method 2 — Full Mozaik backup

• In the same Backup and Restore screen, choose the full Mozaik backup option.
• This backs up your data, insert libraries, jobs, and product libraries folders. Note: this option does NOT include the images or textures folders.

Method 3 — Copy the folders by hand (the complete backup)

• Open your Mozaik folder on your C drive (or your file-share location).
• Copy all six folders: data, images, insert libraries, jobs, product libraries, and textures.
• Paste them into a dated backup folder, then move that to an external drive, flash drive, or cloud storage so it lives off your PC.

If you can't recall which folders matter, Mozaik lists them for you under File > Preferences > File Locations — the same locations used for file sharing. Get in the habit of backing up weekly or monthly. If your PC ever crashes, you reinstall Mozaik, drop these folders back in, and you're running again as of your last backup.

Tip from the webinar: if you point Mozaik at a cloud service for file sharing, many of those services include their own automatic backup, giving you an extra safety net.

Step 2: Create your own custom product library

Don't build directly on a stock library. If you ever re-download that stock library, it overwrites your changes. Instead, make your own copy:

1. Close Mozaik (the new library only registers after a restart).
2. Open your Mozaik folder and go into Product Libraries.
3. Copy a stock library folder (for example, a frameless one) and rename the copy to your own company name.
4. Reopen Mozaik. The copy now carries every parameter from the original, but it's yours to modify safely.

Step 3: Save a settings template tied to your new library

A settings template lets you load all the correct libraries and methods for a job in one move.

1. Open a job and go to the Settings tab.
2. With your current template selected, use the menu (the three-bars button) and the plus to copy it.
3. Name the new template after your library and style, and save. You can set it as the default so new jobs start from it.

Step 4: Master and save your construction method

Your construction method lives inside the library's parameters, and its name must match the library so you always know which method you're in.

1. Go to Libraries > Products and open the parameters (the top of the parameter hierarchy is the Library Parameters level).
2. Give the construction method a clear name that matches your library, then use Save As. When prompted, save it as your standard construction method — keep the method file name identical to the library name, every time.
3. Work through each parameter category, set your values, then Save As again and overwrite so the whole library is updated.
4. Back in Settings > Libraries, switch the catalog to your new library and confirm the construction method now reads your saved method.
5. Save the settings template (three-bars button) so new jobs pull in this catalog automatically.

Important — Library Parameters vs Job Parameters: When you start a new job, Mozaik copies your library parameters into the job as Job Parameters, then disconnects from the main library. That's by design — you can tweak a job without touching your master library. Editing the library parameters later affects NEW jobs only. To push updated parameters into an existing job, use the Load option in that job's parameters and overwrite when asked.

Step 5: Point an existing job's products at your new library

If a job is already using cabinets from a stock library and you want them on your custom one:

1. Open Switch Source Library from the Tools menu.
2. Mozaik asks for your OLD library (the stock one the products came from) and your NEW library (your custom one).
3. After switching, your products pull from the new catalog. Confirm under Settings > Libraries that "libraries used in current room" shows your library and method.

Step 6: Save your custom cabinets into the library

Edited a cabinet you'll reuse? Save it so you never re-edit it.

1. Select the cabinet, hit Edit, and give it a unique name (full name or an abbreviation, with a clear description).
2. Save it to the library it came from.

To get that same cabinet into a second library, you have two options.

Option A — Copy the file and import it

• In your Mozaik product libraries folder, find the saved product file in the source library and copy it.
• Paste it into the target library's products folder.
• Back in Mozaik, the product won't appear automatically. Right-click the root folder you want it in, choose Add > Product, and Import the file you just copied.

Option B — Switch Source Library (no manual import)

• Select the cabinet, open Switch Source Library from the Tools menu, choose the source library and push it to the target library.
• Then Edit the cabinet and save it to that library. It now appears there with no separate import step.

Step 7: Understand root folders vs subfolders

• Root folders are the top-level sections of your tree. They show expanded by default — you see their contents right away.
• Subfolders sit inside those and are collapsed by default — an extra click to open.

Because every extra click costs time, put your five or six most-used cabinets (your standard sink base, popular drawer banks, and so on) right in the root folders. Push custom and uncommon products down into subfolders. Be careful nesting folders inside folders: a split-drawer-bank subfolder inside your drawer-banks folder means two clicks to reach it. Saving clicks is always worth it.

Step 8: Build, arrange, and rename folders in the tree

Create a new folder

• Right-click a root folder and Add a normal folder for a subfolder, or use "add folder to root" for a new top-level section. Name it (for example, a wall-stacked-cabinets folder).

Move products into folders

• Right-click a product and Cut, then navigate to the destination folder, right-click, and Paste. (Cut removes it from the old spot when you paste.)
• You can also Copy a product and Paste a variant, then quick-edit it (for example, a left-hinge version and a right-hinge version of a wall-stacked cabinet).

Reorder anything in the tree

• Right-click a folder and choose the move-up option, or highlight it and use the keyboard arrow keys to nudge it up or down until it sits where you want.
• The same arrow-key reordering works on root folders, subfolders, AND individual products inside a folder.

Name products consistently

• Carry a clear naming or abbreviation scheme across similar cabinets (your sink bases, standard bases, full-height-door bases) so the tree stays readable.

Step 9: Handle products that carry their own model or parameters

Some products need extra care when you move them between libraries.

Products with a SketchUp model

• After you Switch Source Library and save the product into the new library, the preview may break and textures may not show, because the product runs on a SketchUp model.
• Fix it by copying the matching SketchUp model file from the original library's products folder into your new library's products folder. Back in Mozaik, the preview returns.

Products with library-specific parameters (for example, miter fold shelves)

• A specialty library can carry its own parameters that control how the product builds. The miter fold library uses three: the skin thickness (MFSkin), the material left under the tool path; the front return (MFReturn) for a J-channel or C-channel; and the back return (MFReturnBack) for those channels.
• If you move such products into your library, manually add those same parameters under Libraries > Products > Parameters > Other, write yourself a description for each, enter your values, and save to the library. Otherwise the product won't function correctly.

A common question: why move miter folds out of their dedicated library at all? The only real benefit is fewer clicks. Many builders prefer to leave specialty libraries (miter folds, and other custom-parameter-driven libraries) separate so the main library stays lean and fast.

Should you use separate libraries or just separate construction methods?

For multiple construction styles, the webinar's clear recommendation is separate libraries — not juggling construction methods inside one library.

• For a face-frame shop tackling overlay vs. inset vs. beaded inset: build a separate library for each style. Dial in one face-frame library's parameters (dados, boring, joinery), then copy those parameters and change just a few values to create the inset version, then again for beaded inset.
• Separate libraries also let you mix and match styles within the same room of a job.
• Remember the naming rule: each modified library needs its own construction method saved with a matching name.
• Don't overdo it. You don't want hundreds of libraries — just one well-tuned library per construction style you actually run.

Get it done-for-you

You can set this up yourself using the steps above. If you'd rather skip the setup, PAC's Mozaik training and done-for-you services can help — phillanton.com.

Full disclosure: this guide is published by Phill Anton Consulting.

FAQ

I built several jobs with a construction method, then changed the method. What happens to the old jobs?

Nothing — changing your library parameters does not affect jobs that already exist. New jobs pick up the change; existing jobs keep their own job parameters. If you do want an old job updated, open it and Load the parameters from the library, overwriting when prompted.

I'm only doing butt joints. How should I set up my parameters?

In your library's parameters, set all your dado values to zero so no dados get added, and set up your backs the way your assembly method needs (this affects how the back attaches). Then Save As and update. If a job is already started, also update its job parameters so the change takes effect there.

Where can I find Mozaik's own training videos on this?

Inside Mozaik under Help > Training Videos. There's a Products section with a Product Libraries area covering the library overview, developing a library, the library menu tree, and moving products between libraries.

How do I move a folder or product up or down in the tree?

Right-click it and use the move-up option, or highlight it and press the keyboard arrow keys to shift it one position at a time. This works on root folders, subfolders, and products alike.