We live in an amazing digital age. Most of us have a camera with us 24/7 in some form or another – be it on a mobile phone, or a DSLR. Instagram and Facebook upload more images every minute of the day than our grandparents ever took in a lifetime. It sure is a wonderful time to be alive and capture all the special moments in life. But are we really capturing them to keep forever? Or are we at risk of losing them all before our grandchildren get to see any of them? Digital photos can be so easily lost with the loss of a phone, a few accidental clicks of a mouse, or a hard drive failure. So – what are the best ways to back up your photos?
Step 1 – Back Up to an External Hard Drive
A great thing to do is to back up your files to external hard drives. You should do this on a regular basis with at least 2 hard drives. Preferably at least one of these should be stored at a different location (in case heaven forbid your house burns down!). Be aware that external hard drives can fail so be sure to keep tag-teamming your multiple drives to prevent loss.
Step 2 – Back Up to a Cloud Back Up System
Syncing your photos with a cloud back up system is a great way to “set and forget”. There are lots of options out there including Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive etc.
I personally use Smugmug for my online backups. I have folders set up for both my personal and client work going back to when I first started getting interested in photography.
Fancy getting a 20% discount off of the first year of your new Smugmug subscription? Visit: https://secure.smugmug.com/signup?Coupon=L6jOTHgzKS4AE
There are also lots of apps you can download which will sync your mobile phone photos whenever you’re within range of your Wi-Fi network.
Looking for a great online cloud system for your phone? Try PhotoSync. You can set it up to synchronise your phone images to your cloud backup system. You’ll find it on the App store.
Step 3 – Scan and Digitise Your Old Images
It’s easy to forget about backing up your old pre-digital images, but that box of old prints at your Mum’s place is just as important to preserve for the future. You’ll need to scan these to be able to back them up digitally. This can either be using your camera on your phone and a scanning app, or for higher quality scanning you’ll want to use a standalone scanner.
This can be an overwhelmingly huge job so just take it in short bursts. If the task is too overwhelming – you could also consider outsourcing the task to a professional scanning service.
Step 4 – Print Them Out!
Prints don’t need any software to be viewed. And if you print them on quality paper, you can be assured that they’ll be safe for your grandchildren to see in years to come. Of course, you don’t need to print out every image you take, but it’s a great idea to make a shortlist of your favourite images one or two times a year and get them printed out or made into an album.
The great news is that you can order professional quality prints online in Australia to be delivered to your door.
Wanting to get started making prints and other physical products with your beautiful photos? I can highly recommend MyProPhoto. They are the online retail branch of a well-established professional printing lab in QLD. They offer a range of products including prints, canvases, albums, desk art etc.
Just follow this link to sign up – www.myprophoto.com.au be sure to pop in my client number (31326) to ensure that you get the trade discount.
I hope this information helps you to keep your treasured images for the future generations!