PRINT OUT YOUR IMPORTANT PHOTOS

Post by Judy@Gallery21

Backing up photographs with the sophisticated media available today ensures their preservation forever.  Right?  Wrong!

With the proliferation of digital cameras, taking large numbers of photographs has never been easier.  However, the downside of this is that many of these images only ever reside on computer hard drives, or on media such as CDs and DVDs or in the “virtual world” on internet sites and are never printed out.  What happens if that technology fails or becomes obsolete and those precious memories are no longer available to you? 

Remember the days of the 5.25in and 3.5in floppy disk?  These are just two examples of data storage which have now joined the ranks of obsolete media!  You need to check frequently (at least once a year is recommended by some commentators), to ensure you can still read the data and transfer it to new media as old ones become obsolete.

For permanent accessibility, printed copies are by far the best solution.   You don’t need to print out every single image, but you do need to select the important ones for printing and placing in albums.

In the past, photographs have recorded important family events and milestones, allowed future generations to trace the family tree or recorded historical events.  All of that could be in jeopardy for our future generations if we don’t pay enough attention to this crucial aspect of image making.