storing photos for the future

**Schraubstock** · 12-19-2011, 05:48 AM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

Make photographic prints. Real ones from a wet lab. They have proven themselves over time to be a very stable storage medium

Over the years have been using the same bookbinder for several small jobs. Got to know him well and since he is in the neighborhood I drop in from time to time for a bit of banter. He makes custom books. On one of those visits last year I noticed a huge book he made sitting on his desk. It was approx. 500 x 400mm and about 120mm thick with heavens knows how many pages. I wanted to know what is was.

It turned out a customer wanted to have one of this size replaced which got burned in the "Black Saturday Bushfire" at the outskirts of Melbourne in 2009. The man knew something that I did not know. Big books like these do not burn!

He had (still has) a collection of old black and white family history photographs that were very dear to him. To make sure, since he was living in a fire prone area, he had this big book made and interleaved the photos in the centre between the specially designed pages. When the photographs are placed the book closes tightly. When his house burned down he came back and collected his book out of the ashes. It was singed and burned around the edges (in fact he said it was still smouldering) but the pictures in the middle between the pages stayed cool and survived totally intact. How is that!

Can we do this with our digital images?

Greetings

eddie1960 · 12-19-2011, 06:12 AM

Originally posted by Schraubstock

Can we do this with our digital images?

Greetings

Sure, Print them for posterity and store the same way. I don't print everything but I do print a lot of what i have. That big book sounds like a good idea.

Ben_Edict · 12-19-2011, 02:33 PM

Originally posted by oldlens

Would these delete files in the external drive when they are deleted from the internal drive (I am not clear on this) ?

No, not if you set-up the copying application accordingly. The software does, whatever you require - that is the difference compared to Time Machine. In ChronoSync for instance you need to explicitely allow to synchronize deleted files, otherwise they are kept in the backup location. Similar presets can be choosen in any of the applications I mentioned.

Ben

oldlens · 12-19-2011, 03:42 PM

Great - thanks for the information.

magkelly · 12-19-2011, 11:52 PM

I actually put a copies of my best pics on DVD in a safety deposit box my folks keep for our important papers and such. Every year I add whatever I need to to make sure I have them current. I don't trust cloud storage very much. If you're really worried it's best to leave a copy of whatever at a bank or with someone you trust. That being said I don't go to bed without putting my purse near my bed where I can find it and there's a couple of big pet carriers right outside on the screened porch in case I or a roommate needs to shove the cats into it and run, and no, we would not just leave them to burn. Since 90% of the time they're all out there anyway it would be a fairly easy maneuver to find them on the way out but they're absolutely part of our escape plan.

There are a lot of things I'd let burn but my wallet and my pets those are important and I do believe in being prepared. We actually had a small fire in the kitchen when I was a kid. Our cat back then she was amazing. She came in and woke me. I smelled the smoke and I woke my parents. If she hadn't? The whole house could have gone up. After that that cat was Queen of the Household. Not that we didn't spoil her before but after that Dad bought her a kitty condo and she ate gourmet kitty foods like Fancy Feast and Sheba a lot more, lol...

Docrwm · 12-21-2011, 04:00 PM

After reading this thread and having to clone my boot hard drive for my desktop this week I decided that having more storage, more diversified storage, and an ability to have greater control over it was warranted. I ordered a Mediasonic 4 bay USB 3.0 enclosure and a WD Caviar Black 2TB drive (for now). Installation was a breeze as was formatting of the HD. Its having my photos copied to it as I type this and since its USB 3.0 its going to take far less time than the last time I did this ealier this week to an older 2.0 drive. I can wait a couple of months to watch HD prices because they're still around 150% of what they were pre-Thailand floods.

dsmith2012 · 02-19-2012, 11:24 AM

Check out Pixfolia Image. It's easy to use and easy on the budget.

oldlens · 02-20-2012, 10:38 AM

I thought to follow up on what I decided to do. Time Machine is on one external drive and Carbon Copy Cloner on a second external hard drive. One drive backs ups the entire Mac. The other just iPhoto, where the photos are stored. Have yet to remove the photos completely from the internal hard drive.

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12-19-2011, 05:48 AM	#76
Schraubstock Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,386	Originally posted by Wheatfield Make photographic prints. Real ones from a wet lab. They have proven themselves over time to be a very stable storage medium Over the years have been using the same bookbinder for several small jobs. Got to know him well and since he is in the neighborhood I drop in from time to time for a bit of banter. He makes custom books. On one of those visits last year I noticed a huge book he made sitting on his desk. It was approx. 500 x 400mm and about 120mm thick with heavens knows how many pages. I wanted to know what is was. It turned out a customer wanted to have one of this size replaced which got burned in the "Black Saturday Bushfire" at the outskirts of Melbourne in 2009. The man knew something that I did not know. Big books like these do not burn! He had (still has) a collection of old black and white family history photographs that were very dear to him. To make sure, since he was living in a fire prone area, he had this big book made and interleaved the photos in the centre between the specially designed pages. When the photographs are placed the book closes tightly. When his house burned down he came back and collected his book out of the ashes. It was singed and burned around the edges (in fact he said it was still smouldering) but the pictures in the middle between the pages stayed cool and survived totally intact. How is that! Can we do this with our digital images? Greetings

12-19-2011, 06:12 AM	#77
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,667	Originally posted by Schraubstock Can we do this with our digital images? Greetings Sure, Print them for posterity and store the same way. I don't print everything but I do print a lot of what i have. That big book sounds like a good idea.

12-19-2011, 02:33 PM	#78
Ben_Edict Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SouthWest "Regio" Photos: Albums Posts: 3,309	Originally posted by oldlens Would these delete files in the external drive when they are deleted from the internal drive (I am not clear on this) ? No, not if you set-up the copying application accordingly. The software does, whatever you require - that is the difference compared to Time Machine. In ChronoSync for instance you need to explicitely allow to synchronize deleted files, otherwise they are kept in the backup location. Similar presets can be choosen in any of the applications I mentioned. Ben

12-19-2011, 03:42 PM	#79
oldlens Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Northeastern Ohio, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 46	Great - thanks for the information.

12-19-2011, 11:52 PM	#80
magkelly Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,901	I actually put a copies of my best pics on DVD in a safety deposit box my folks keep for our important papers and such. Every year I add whatever I need to to make sure I have them current. I don't trust cloud storage very much. If you're really worried it's best to leave a copy of whatever at a bank or with someone you trust. That being said I don't go to bed without putting my purse near my bed where I can find it and there's a couple of big pet carriers right outside on the screened porch in case I or a roommate needs to shove the cats into it and run, and no, we would not just leave them to burn. Since 90% of the time they're all out there anyway it would be a fairly easy maneuver to find them on the way out but they're absolutely part of our escape plan. There are a lot of things I'd let burn but my wallet and my pets those are important and I do believe in being prepared. We actually had a small fire in the kitchen when I was a kid. Our cat back then she was amazing. She came in and woke me. I smelled the smoke and I woke my parents. If she hadn't? The whole house could have gone up. After that that cat was Queen of the Household. Not that we didn't spoil her before but after that Dad bought her a kitty condo and she ate gourmet kitty foods like Fancy Feast and Sheba a lot more, lol...

12-21-2011, 04:00 PM	#81
Docrwm Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,285	After reading this thread and having to clone my boot hard drive for my desktop this week I decided that having more storage, more diversified storage, and an ability to have greater control over it was warranted. I ordered a Mediasonic 4 bay USB 3.0 enclosure and a WD Caviar Black 2TB drive (for now). Installation was a breeze as was formatting of the HD. Its having my photos copied to it as I type this and since its USB 3.0 its going to take far less time than the last time I did this ealier this week to an older 2.0 drive. I can wait a couple of months to watch HD prices because they're still around 150% of what they were pre-Thailand floods.

02-19-2012, 11:24 AM	#82
dsmith2012 New Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1	Check out Pixfolia Image. It's easy to use and easy on the budget.

02-20-2012, 10:38 AM	#83
oldlens Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Northeastern Ohio, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 46	I thought to follow up on what I decided to do. Time Machine is on one external drive and Carbon Copy Cloner on a second external hard drive. One drive backs ups the entire Mac. The other just iPhoto, where the photos are stored. Have yet to remove the photos completely from the internal hard drive.