Comments on: 10 Ways to Make Your Digital Photos Last Forever

By: osxholunman

osxholunman — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:45:57 +0000

digital just don't last, after 50 more years are you sure there are computers around? even there is computers, do you think it will have usb ports? or dvd drive? I don't think so.

the best is still make hardcopies

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:13:26 +0000

"Stop wasting your money on film. IT is the medium that is going to be obsolete. Soon there will no reason to shoot film, other than ignorance or hobby."

You have not traveled very far in the world. More people on Earth have no computer than those who do, likewise for cameras of any kind. Travel across central Africa or Asia. The average citizen could never afford a digital camera - let alone a computer to view photos. Film will be around, although most likely in a very sub-professional way for a very long time.

However, that said, digital media is the best way to store files. They can be reproduced over and over with no loss of data. Film ages, faded and can become damaged quite easily.

As far as not being able to read files.. how many of you can read paper keypunch cards or 1" Magnetic tape that I used when I was in high school? That was only 35 years ago. I am not saying we stored JPEGS on keypunch cards, but that was how we stored data back then, and that had been the main method of data storage for the 30 years before. The point is you never know where technology will take us, and CDROMS, camera memory cards, and thumb drives can be just as obsolete in 50 to 100 years.

There are negatives lying around since the late 1800's. They can still be used to reproduce the image. Will CDD/DVD be readable in 2130? Who knows. The point here is you not know what will be readable and not in 100 years. 200 years.

Today I would store on DVD's and store them in HARD cases and label them well. At some point in the future, when a better storage system become available then someone will have to make copies onto the newer medium. That will be the only way to preserve our treasures for generations to come.

By: Will

Will — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:18:48 +0000

In support of Sasha, and really, I don't know what I'm going to do with all of my photo's...

I think she was conveying obsolescence of technology. Anybody have a 5 1/4" floppy disk drive any more?? What's after USB drives?? Remember Apple Desktop Bus?? Nobody knows what is going to happen.

By: Shirley

Shirley — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:44:38 +0000

I appreciate your advice, as our Photoshop teacher said much the same; however, I NEVER keep pictures that are useless or blurred. Always delete carefully. When I take the card out of my digital camera I load then on my PC in a temporary album. Then with Photoshop I do the cropping, enhancing, or deleting. I had been deleting the files from the camera disk with my PC, but was told it is better to go through the format section on the camera, so that works great, and I can reuse the disk over and over. I do back up to an external hard drive that is made for my multi-media PC. I also have a 5 Gg Seagate hard drive. On either of those I can go to someone elses computer and bring them up or whatever.

By: Racquel

Racquel — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:38:40 +0000

I’m trying to move digital photos off my PC to DVD-R but it’s not working. I guess the drive is not recognizing the DVD. I can save music & videos to CD & DVD-RW. Is there something I need to do in order to save my photos to the DVD-R. I really need help…. I have TOO MANY photos on my PC, my virtual memory is too low and I’m afraid it will crash one of these days then I loose all my precious photos. Please also advise on WD Passports, It’s been recomended to me to get one but I don’t have the money right now. I do have DVD-R disc though Thank You!

By: jburrtucaz

jburrtucaz — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:15:24 +0000

How can someone possibly think that analog will last longer than digital? That's ridiculous if you ask me.

By: Phyllis Montgomery

Phyllis Montgomery — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:16:29 +0000

What is wrong with putting pictures on a flash drive???

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:53:07 +0000

Thanks for your ideas, I have been trying to figure out how to organize and store my images. First I thought a flash drive would be the way to go, but CD-R or DVD-R will be the way I go. Also, thanks for the suggestions on labeling the images, always a little daunting, so I just label the ones I print, and save the others in a folder within a folder.

By: Linda Gewater

Linda Gewater — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:20:19 +0000

@ Sasha “… i am highly skeptical that the digital file is going to last longer than an analog photograph. I believe that the technology to view / open / read / archive will become outdated and not a supported format and basically forgotten. I donâ€™t think that we will we know what a .png or .jpg or a raw file is in 10+ years let alone 50 or 100.” Dude (or Dudette), JPEG has been around for over a decade. It’s not going anywhere either. File formats change, but big ones, like JPEG will ALWAYS be readable. Consider this: 10 Years from now, heck 50 years from now, insert a number… If you wrote a program to convert old popular file formats to “new”, “better”, and not yet invented formats, you’d be filthy rich. There are WAY too many people using JPEG for it to be forgotten. What you should worry about is the future cost of converting film to digital. Don’t worry about not being able to read your image files in the future. Can you name a file format that is no longer readable? I’d be astonished if you could name one format for ANY medium that there is NO possible way to read or convert anymore. Stop wasting your money on film. IT is the medium that is going to be obsolete. Soon there will no reason to shoot film, other than ignorance or hobby. … sorry for the rude tone … I’m really a nice person.

By: Patrick Duggan

Patrick Duggan — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:21:16 +0000

Hi, while doing a search I came across your pages and they are just brilliant especially this one on making your digital photos last forever,

thank you and kind regards from the emerald isle

Patrick Duggan