Digital Camera Master

What type of storage should you choose for your photo library? It’s the most important question facing you when you set up your backup routine. This section covers the pros and cons for some digital media that are good for backups. See the table below for a summary and cost comparison.

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Note: The storage capacity estimates in this chapter are based on digital photos about 5 MB in size, which is typical for a 5- or 6-megapixel camera. If you have an older digital camera, your photos may be smaller (and you can store more photos in less space). If you have pro equipment that exceeds 6 megapixels, your photos may take up more space.

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Table 1. For example, CDs and DVDs offer a low cost-per-photo, but burning them is time-consuming, and they’re fragile.

	Number of 5 MB Photos	Media Cost	Cost per 1,000 photos
CD-R (50 pack)	7,000 (per 50 pack)	$10.00	$1.43
DVD, single-sided (50 pack)	47,000 (per 50 pack)	$30.00	$0.64
External drive 60 gigabyte	12,000	$150.00	$12.50
External drive 120 gigabyte	24,000	$160.00	$6.67
External drive 250 gigabyte	50,000	$225.00	$4.50
External drive 500 gigabyte	100,000	$375.00	$3.75

1. CDs (CD-R)

A single disc is 700 megabytes and holds about 140 photos. CD-R discs are a better choice than CD-RW discs because they’re cheaper and you can’t accidentally erase your photos once they’re saved on the disc. “RW” stands for “rewriteable,” which is a geeky way of saying you can always change the contents of a CD-RW disc. In contrast, saving photos to a CD-R (”recordable”) disc is a one time only deal (that’s why some people call them “write-once”). Once the photos are on the disc you can’t delete them, which is just what you want with a backup.

Pro: CDs are inexpensive and you can buy them at office supply or computer stores. You can copy your photos to CDs in Windows, so you won’t need any special software.

Con: CDs don’t hold a lot of photos, which means you have to burn more discs and need more room to store them.

2. Single Layer DVDs (DVD-R, DVD+R)

A single layer DVD is 4.7 gigabytes and holds about 940 photos. Use DVDs that can’t be erased after you’ve written to them (that is, don’t use any DVD whose name ends in “RW”). DVDs come in two formats: DVD-R and DVD+R. Use the type that’s compatible with your PC’s DVD drive.

Pro: Write-once DVDs have all the advantages of CDs and then some. They hold almost seven times as many photos as CDs and the overall cost per photo is less than CDs.

Con: Windows Explorer doesn’t have an option for saving files to a DVD, so you need another program like Roxio’s Easy Media Creator (www.roxio.com; $80) or Nero Ultra (www.nero.com; $80).

3. Dual Layer DVDs

If your PC is of a relatively recent vintage you may have a dual-layer DVD burner, which crams data into, you guessed it, two slices of the DVD.

Pro: A dual layer DVD can hold up to 8.5 GB of storage (about 1,700 photos).

Con: You’ll need special dual-layer DVDs, which are the most expensive kind.

4. External Hard Drives

External hard drives, which plug into your PC via a USB or FireWire port, hold anywhere from 40 to 500 gigabytes. A 200 GB drive, which is fairly common, holds about 40,000 photos. Copying your photos to a hard drive is the easiest way to back up your photos.

Pro: External drives work best for several reasons. You can disconnect the drive from your computer to protect your photos. You can use the drive to move photos to another computer. You can keep the drive’s power turned off, which increases its life expectancy.

Con: Hard drives have moving parts and are more fragile than other types of media. A hard drive can fail at any time. A pessimistic life expectancy for hard drives is two to five years. Hard drives are a significant expense, since they cost anywhere from around $100 for an 80 GB model to over $400 for a beefy 500 GB unit. You don’t need the fastest or the biggest hard drive to back up your photos, but you do want one that’s reliable.

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Tip: Unlike write-once CDs or DVDs, the files on a hard drive can be erased or changed. To add an extra level of protection to your hard drive’s backup photo files, change the file properties to read only so that the files can’t be erased or written over. In Windows, select your photos and then choose FileProperties. In the Properties box, turn on the Read Only checkbox. You can protect multiple files or entire folders at a time; just make your selection before you open the Properties box.

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UP TO SPEED Care and Handling for Your Backup CDs and DVDs

If you’ve ever worried about how long your backup CDs or DVDs will last, it’s comforting to know that professional librarians and archivists use them to store their information. The pros have also researched how to take care of optical media. Here are some tips from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). If you’re dying to learn more about disc preservation strategies, check out Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists, by Fred R. Byers (NIST Special Publication 500-252), from which most of this information is drawn: Do: Handle discs by the outer edge or the center hole. Use a non-solvent-based felt-tip permanent marker to mark the label side of the disc. Store discs upright (book style) in plastic cases specified for CDs and DVDs. Return discs to storage cases immediately after use. Leave discs in their packaging (or cases) to minimize the effects of environmental changes. Open a recordable disc package only when you’re ready to record data on that disc. Remove dirt, foreign material, fingerprints, smudges, and liquids by wiping with a clean cotton fabric in a straight line from the center of the disc toward the outer edge. Store discs in a cool, dry, dark environment in which the air is clean. Use CD/DVD-cleaning detergent, isopropyl alcohol, or methanol to remove stubborn dirt or material. Don’t: Touch the surface of the disc. Bend the disc. Use adhesive labels. Store discs horizontally for a long time (years). Expose discs to extreme heat or high humidity. Expose discs to extremely rapid temperature or humidity changes. Expose recordable discs to prolonged sunlight or other sources of ultraviolet light. Clean by wiping in a direction going around the disc. And for CDs only, here’s some special advice. Don’t: Scratch the label side of the disc. Use a pen, pencil, or fine-tip marker to write on the disc. Write on the disc with markers that contain solvents. Try to peel off or reposition a label.

5. Internal Hard Drives

If your computer has two hard drives, it’s good practice to keep a backup of your photos on each drive. A popular size these days is 200 GB, which holds about 40,000 photos (if you don’t keep anything else on the drive).

Pro: You can simply drag and drop photos to copy them to your second drive, which jibes with the “best backup routine is the one you’ll stick with” maxim. And the photos are equally easy to retrieve.

Con: Anything that happens to your PC can affect anything and everything inside it, so your second drive is in many ways no safer than your first. It’s just a duplicate. For example, if your PC is stolen, you’ve lost both drives. A virus that infects your PC could spread to all internal drives. Also, internal drives are running any time your computer is on, so they get more wear and tear, which means they’re more likely to go kaput.