Find out more about how to create and store archives of your images

How to back-up your image files
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Have you ever lost computer files?
66% of computer users have experienced a serious loss at some point.

Do you have an image archive?

Do you use a safe method for backing up your image files?
If your computer dies, do you have an independent store where you keep
  • your important reference photos and
  • scans of available artwork or
  • art which has been exhibited and/or sold?
I'm not a tech geek (so this won't be geekspeak).

I'm just an ordinary artist trying to protect my image files - and below are some of the things I've learned about while trying to protect my image files.

Do you want to find out how other people archive their image files? If so - read on!

Why archive?
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Basic principles for an ARCHIVE:
  • permanent or temporary - for things you don't want to lose you need permanent storage.
  • different place from your computer i.e. if your house burns down the external hard disc sitting
  • in principle you need to store in three places - on your computer, on your back-up drive, somewhere external to where you keep your computer and back-up drive (eg cloud storage)
  • you need to transfer digital files between storage mediums as technology changes and image files are updated
  • never touch the master copy - keep masters stored separately so it can't be worked on
REFERENCE:

Somewhere to store your images - not on your computer
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This comes in two parts:
  • devices you can buy
  • cloud storage - the free and the more expensive

Tangible Devices for archives
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These are real objects you can see and move about - and switch from one computer to another if you want. (Not advised unless you know the status of another computer)
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External Hard Drives - where most people who backup keep their image files

Sixty per cent (60%) of the people who responded to my poll on Making A Mark used an external hard drive to create a backup of their image files.

People vary as to what sort of drive they want to buy and which brand they prefer. Personally I started off with Western Digital MyBooks and I bought twice the size I expected I'd need - and that wasn't a bad guess at how much more you use a hard drive compared to initial expectations

I've subsequently switched to LaCie and bought a 3GB external hard drive after a quite a bit of research.
The reality is that if you are archiving image files, you've got to archive some very large files and you'll need lots of space to do this.

How much you need probably depends on how many photographs you take. The number I take has expanded at an exponential rate since the advent of digital cameras - and I expect it will continue to do so.

So - bottom line - buy the biggest external hard drive you can afford. Twice the size of the hard disc in your computer is a good place to start!

Portable USB Memory Sticks

Some people like to use memory sticks to archive their images.

Personally speaking I never ever use them, primarily because the primary purpose of these sticks is make files portable - whereas the purpose of an archive is to keep images secure and safe in a protected place.

That and the fact that my friends and family lose theirs all the time!

I use these to plug into "unknown" laptops when giving presentations. I've no idea how good people are at keeping viruses and other nasties off them - so I never reimport images from these sticks.

SDHC cards

My preferred brand of SDHC card is ScanDisk although there are a variety of brands to choose from. I usually use ScanDisk Ultra and buy bigger size cards as they work faster when using them in my camera.

I buy a new 'big' one for each new trip and then archive the folders on it as a supplementary archive when I get back home again.

What I need to do is buy a firesafe box for my SD cards so they'll survive a fire. At the moment they're all stored in an old cloth purse which means if I'm concerned I need to get out fast I can pick them up along with my wallet and phone

Cloud storage
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Cloud storage is an excellent way of backing up image and video archives which can get very big. 
You need to be confident about whether they suit you in terms of:
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The free services are:
Paid services include:

Do you understand the different types of digital image file formats?
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Do you wonder about what is the best file format for your digital images used on you website or blog? What about printing - which is the best picture file format for that?

These sites explain in simple terms the key characteristics of different digital file formats for your photos, artwork and graphics
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