Archiving Your Photos
Photographs can be some of your most precious possessions. Family snap-shots and personal memories are often irreplaceable. If you want to make sure that your photos will still be around years from now, there are a number of things that you must do.
Storage
Some storage media lasts much longer than others. However, the following media lifetime numbers are often best-case scenarios. Longevity also depends a lot on how the medium is stored. Optical media (CDs and DVDs) are not magnetic and as a result are less vulnerable to temperature and humidity and also to glitches due to magnets or electrical magnetic fields.
CD-R: The best storage medium by far is a CD-R. Under the right conditions, it might last 100 years, although to be certain, you should probably replace or add a new copy more frequently. Some photographers say you should make a new copy every ten years. A CD-R will hold about 650 megabytes or perhaps 200 to 300 large images.
DVD-R: This is projected to have the same life as a CD-R and it holds much more data, as much as 4.5 gigabytes. However, currently there is not a standard for writable DVD-Rs. If you save a DVD-R in a format that becomes obsolete, you will not be able to read it years from now (remember Beta video tape?).
CD-RW and DVD-RW (rewritable optical disks): These disks have a shorter life span than a CD-R or a DVD-R, but they should last considerably longer than the magnetic media listed next. These will hold about the same as the R versions.
Magnetic media: For long-term storage, magnetic media is projected to only last about 10 years. For example, media such as hard drives and removable disks, such as the Iomega Zip disks, are projected to last only about that long. Also, magnetic media can be damaged by magnets and magnetic fields. Clearly these are not a good choice for long-term storage. External hard drives are available in hundreds of gigabytes.
You May Be Able to Use Magnetic Media
However, all is not lost with magnetic media. If you add an external hard drive (which is recommended for backups), keep duplicate copies of your images on a couple of hard drives, and replace or upgrade your hard drive every five to seven years, you can copy your most important photographs every so often to your newest drive. While this might seem like a lot of work, most people upgrade their computer periodically so that copying old pictures to a new drive is simply part of that process.
Storage Conditions
A major manufacturer of optical media states that CDs and DVDs should be stored under the following conditions and limitations to last a long time:
Where can you find the perfect place for long-term storage?
While optimal storage conditions might seem daunting, a safety deposit box at a bank should work just fine. If you rent the smallest one, the cost should be minimal and it would hold dozens of CDs.
Temperature: The ideal temperature is about 77° Fahrenheit (25° Celsius).
Humidity: The ideal humidity is about 55 percent.
UV light: The optical media should not be exposed to UV light or sunlight.
Handling: The optical disk should not have any scratches or fingerprints.
Storage: The optical disk should be stored in a jewel case.
Recording: The optical disk should be recorded normally and not at a high speed.
Labeling: Do not write on the CD itself; however, you can write on the outside of the jewel case.
