Best tools for collecting and organizing a large amount of creative material?

First of all, thank you @Joe Apfelbaum for your incredibly helpful and generous post about tools and resources!

There’s truly a whole world of amazing options out there.

I have a question about creative structure and organization:

If someone wants to:

• Gather a large amount of existing material – documents, notes, reflections, images, and ideas – into one shared “collection space”

• Then organize and shape it into something usable — like a guide, workbook, or system framework

→ Which tools or combinations of tools would you recommend for this collecting and structuring phase, ideally in a smooth flow where large volumes don’t become a barrier?

Right now, I mainly use ChatGPT and Gemini, and I’m looking for the next step to move from “many scattered notes” to “one clear, structured body of work.”

I’ve been considering Obsidian, but I’d love to hear what’s actually working for those of you who’ve tested different setups in practice.

Would really appreciate hearing about your experiences 🙏

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