Lets talk Digital Photo Storage and Preservation

[fluffer]

So gone are the days of negatives and getting a copy of prints every time something is developed. My parents have multiple boxes of old photos that are really fun to look through and I will hopefully digitize them in due time.

My biggest concern is what happens to all of my digital photos after I am gone...Since they won't be printed and you cannot pick up a physical copy of them, I am afraid that they will almost vanish into thin air. I have a 3 yo son and would like him to be able to enjoy them along with his kids someday....

What are you guys doing to preserve your digital photos for future generations? Are you making photo books, are you printing pictures? I am not really concerned about storage on hard drives and such, it is mainly the preservation and other people being able to someday go through and look at photos, and I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the best solution...

I assume there are tons of others in the same boat, especially just with pictures on their iPhones. Seems to me that there will be an enormous amount of digital photos lost though the years as people pass and others dont know where they stored them or what passwords they used on certain sites, etc.

Any thoughts are truly appreciated.

[sir shovelhands]

All my photos I care about are stored on an external harddrive, and a copy of all of them on the cloud. Not much else you can do unless you want physical copies.

[Casey]

If you really want them to be around in 20, 30 years...print them. Nothing stands the test of time like ink on paper. However, you can't print them all so pick some keepers and shoebox them or whatever. For the sake of just archiving, I think print and store over printing books, etc.

Then, worry about digital copies and archiving. I have 2 hard drives on my home PC and 2 externals. I don't back up and remove from my home as often as I should, but that's my plan.

[Jtrage]

I use amazon for my photos. Free with prime but there is a limit on videos. I also have 2 external HDDs as well as the one on my pc.

[fluffer]

Thanks guys. I guess printing the better ones is probably the best way to go, along with good digital backups.

Something about being able to physically hold a picture in your hand and show it to other people...Just not quite the same as a digital file in my mind.

[yaqui]

Thanks guys. I guess printing the better ones is probably the best way to go, along with good digital backups.

Something about being able to physically hold a picture in your hand and show it to other people...Just not quite the same as a digital file in my mind.

I have two external drives, both are solid state. One is a copy of the other kept in different locations. There is something special about holding physical prints, BUT, it is also nice to be able to send and share a file in seconds too.

I use dropbox for my client's images, and they are now asking for smaller files. 1TB is about $100 a year I believe. All my personal stuff is marked personal on my laptop, and then categorized by date with folder description.