What should you do with your digital images – part 2

The danger of just having digital versions of your images

In part 1 we talked about how to enjoy your images by putting them up on the walls of your home in the form of some beautiful wall art. There is no better feeling than coming home to the gorgeous images of your loved ones decorating your abode. It gives you a feeling of peace and joy coming home from a hard days work.

If you missed part 1 you can find it here.

But I am afraid people are making a very big mistake by just having digital versions of their important photographs. Will you still have your photos 10, 20, or 30 years from now?

From time to time we get to reminisce with our parents by pulling out old photo albums and even shoe boxes full of old photographs. We will sit around the dining room table and go through each one, laughing and crying, and telling the “remember when” stories of yesterdays gone by. It’s beautiful. It’s good for the soul. It reminds you of what is really important in one’s life. Our kids get to learn more of their ancestors from whence they came.

The great thing about these prints and albums, is that they will last virtually forever. They will always be there right where you left them when you need them. Now granted, the old photographs and albums from way back when may not have the archival quality of prints today. And they may yellow over time. But even so, the memories are still there.

But what about digital images? Won’t they be around forever? Well… who knows?

Technology changes so fast. Remember record players, 8 tracks, cassette tapes, VCR’s? Can you still listen to your old albums? Watch your home videos? Maybe some of you still have some of these old devices that still work. But will it continue to work forever?

All of these things have been replaced with newer technology and as new tech comes on the scene it becomes harder and harder to keep your media in a fashion that you can view them or listen to them.

And what do we know about some of this newer technology. We know… Hard drives fail. Memory cards fail. Flash drives fail. It takes just a few years now for many things to become obsolete.

Did you download your wedding images to your home computer? What happens when the hard drive in your computer crashes? What if you lost the flash drive your images came on? What if your images were accidentally erased or got wet.

We’ve heard horror story after horror story of these things happening. My sister’s daughter somehow erased all of the hundreds of photos on her phone. Friends have gotten their devices wet and fried them. We’ve had clients lose their discs or accidentally erase them and we would provide them another copy.

So how should you keep your important digital images safe?

First of all, make some backups. Take your flash drive of images, download them to your computer, and then save the them all to a second flash drive. That gives you three copies of your images. Take one of the flash drives “offsite” to someone else’s house or put it in a safety deposit box. That way if a disaster happens to your home, your precious images are still protected.

And secondly, make sure you print the images. Get some wall art for your home. Get a wedding album like these printed. You’ll be so glad you did.

Because, will that flash drive in the safety deposit box hold your data for 30 years? Nobody knows. They haven’t been around that long. We do know that after many years, 3.5 floppy drives became corrupted and lost their data. Hard drives don’t last forever. And optical medial like CD’s and DVD’s get scratched and ruined.

So make you some backups and have your images printed and you’ll have peace of mind and your precious photographs will last many lifetimes!