You can archive digital images that you don't need to access quickly or frequently. If a photo is valuable to you on some level in the long run but you don't imagine wanting to look at or print it in the foreseeable future, just save it to disc - a CD or DVD is the best choice because Zip disks and floppy disks have a considerably shorter storage life. You have several archiving options, many of which may be on your computer right now. If they're not, you can easily acquire them.
Backing up your best shots
Once you've organized your photos, you should already have the photos categorized and know which ones are important to you. You need to back up these cherished shots and store them in some way to protect them from anything that can happen to your computer or your photo albums (printed or electronic).
Your backup options are simple:
- Store the photos on disk. You may want to avoid floppy disks because they offer very little storage space and are notoriously unreliable. Zip disks have a higher capacity and are more reliable, but they're more expensive than CD or DVD media.
- Write them to a disc by using a CD or DVD burner. This method enables you to store up to 700MB on a single CD or several gigabytes on a DVD. If your computer already has a burner in it or attached to it, all you need is a package of writable CDs, which you can use with your burner.
- Store them online. Web sharing sites also can provide you with a sort of backup for your images. It's best to use these sites as a secondary backup (sort of as a backup to your backup) because you have no way to guarantee how long these services will be around!
Using CD-R and CD-RW discs
Most new computers come with a CD burner as standard equipment. If your computer has only CD-ROM capability, you can easily add an inexpensive CD burner.
With the ability to write to a CD, you now can save up to 700MB of data on a very reliable medium. Unlike floppy and Zip disks that can be ruined by exposure to magnets, heat, cold, sunlight, water, and rough handling, CDs are quite stable if handled correctly.
Now, before you run out and buy a CD burner and CDs to burn, consider these writable-CD facts:
- Writable CDs come in two types: CD-R and CD-RW. CD-Rs can be written to (the R stands for Recordable), but only once. CD-RWs can be written to and erased, and written to again.
- You can use a CD-R or a CD-RW like a floppy or Zip disk by using a mode called Packet Writing (also called UDF). In that mode, you can copy files or groups thereof to the CD.
- CDs are virtually indestructible (unless you crack, break, or severely scratch them). Even so, you shouldn't expose CD-Rs and CD-RWs to direct sunlight or extreme heat.
Using DVDs
DVD players are a reasonable tool for saving data because DVD recorders have dropped significantly in price, and blank DVD discs are inexpensive. DVDs hold more data than a CD-R or CD-RW can - almost 5 gigabytes or more.
Like CD burners, DVD burners also come in more than one type:
- DVD-Video discs (the prerecorded kind) come with stuff prewritten to them. You can view what's on them, but you can't erase and then rewrite to them.
- DVD+R and DVD-R discs can be written to only once.
- DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs can be written to, erased, and written to again.
If your computer already has a DVD-ROM (read-only) drive in it, that doesn't mean you can write to DVD discs. It simply means you can play them. To write to a DVD disc, you need:
- A DVD+RW or DVD-RW drive that both plays and records DVDs
- DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW or DVD+RW discs
Off-site storage for maximum safety
If your photos are so precious that you'd just die if anything happened to them, or if they're important for legal, financial, or other compelling reasons, don't risk losing them to a fire or burglary. You can store your archives off-site in one of three ways:
- Use a bank safe deposit box.
- Use a safe located in a secure storage facility.
- Arrange to keep one of two archive copies with a friend or family member.
If you save your images to CD or DVD, you can make two sets and store one set off-site.
