songsparrow Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 What is your storage solution? Do you upload everything to an online service? (If so, which one do you like?). Store on external hard drives? How do you backup? We have kept our photos on our computer's hard drive, with a back up copy on an external hard drive in our safe deposit box, and some photos uploaded online. But this has been unwieldy. I'm looking for better ideas ... ETA: I've tried Picasa and have not been very happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I'm just about to save ours to non-rewritable archive quality DVDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extendedforecast Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I'm subscribing to this thread because I am about to start organizing the thousands of digital pictures I have. I haven't done it yet because I don't have a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 External hard drives. I back up the photos on my computer once a month on two separate hard drives. Dh keeps one at work - just in case. They are organized by month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 External hard drives, and DVD. I want to find an online solution to replace the DVDs, because they are starting to take up too much room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azucena Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I put a lot of photos on Shutterfly, grouped by month taken (or by major event, such as a vacation). Then I make a yearly album of them which I send out as Christmas gifts. I also back up to an external hard drive, but I take some comfort from having photos in "the cloud" as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 External hard drives, and DVD. I want to find an online solution to replace the DVDs, because they are starting to take up too much room. We switched from DVDs to external hard drives. Space was one factor, but I was also worried that in a few years there won't be machines easily available that can READ the DVDs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Dup. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I load them directly onto Lightroom, go through them and edit them however I want. Then every 3 months or so I will upload the ones I have edited and want to keep to Costco's website so they are there for safekeeping. That is where we get them printed, so if our computer crashes I will at least be able to get as many prints as I want of each picture. I used to make CDs but hardly ever access old CDs, so this system works for me. I am also fairly well up to date on our family scrapbooks, and those I make through Shutterfly. So basically, online sites are my 'safeguard' instead of investing in an external hard drive. Not sure if that is smart or stupid but it's worked for many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 External hard drives (I've had friends whose hard drives crashed, so I make sure they're backed up on at least two) and smugmug.com I've had the rug pulled out from under me with some free photo sites, so now I would rather pay for a quality service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbotoast Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 We just put all our photos on Flickr. It has a nice organization system, and we can share easily with family. We also back up on an external hard drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Well, we lost the hard drive with the pictures..... lost as in it quit working. Too much $$ to get the pictures off. What brand is "archive quality" DVD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 We back up to an external hard drive. I'd like to get another to keep off-site in case the house burns down or something. I haven't found suitable online storage, if I truly needed to restore my pics most of them are not storing the original file size. Without paying $$ anyway. But if I was truly in a situation where I'd lost all my pictures I probably wouldn't care about file size, I'd just be happy to have anything! I used to burn dvds but not my favourite solution, I like the external hard drive much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Uploaded, cataloged, and edited through Lightroom and saved onto an external hard drive. The best "keeper" photos are periodically uploaded to Shutterfly for future printing/albums. I'd put more online except for our slow internet connection, uploading takes forever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 So which of these solutions is a cloud service for photos? We have the photos currently on three forms, at least=DVDs. External hard drive, and regular computer hard drive. BUt these are all here and I want to get them also on a cloud server or somewhere else in case we have a tornado or a fire. I am totally fine with paying for the service but want some service that doesn't distort pictures or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 So which of these solutions is a cloud service for photos? We have the photos currently on three forms, at least=DVDs. External hard drive, and regular computer hard drive. BUt these are all here and I want to get them also on a cloud server or somewhere else in case we have a tornado or a fire. I am totally fine with paying for the service but want some service that doesn't distort pictures or something like that. smugmug.com does not distort or compress files, and there's no limit on how many pictures you can upload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 On my computer I use Creative Memoires Memory manager program. It was 40.00 on sale. It lets you organize, edit, etc.. It's a fabulous program. We keep a shadow copy on an external hardrive. Memory Manager saves them automatically when you close the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 smugmug.com does not distort or compress files, and there's no limit on how many pictures you can upload. I just had a look at their site...and had a quick google. Sounds like it is truly unlimited. I've come across many before that say that but in reality do limit once you reach certain amounts (that most users wouldn't come near). Sounds like smugmug would be great for backup! I'm torn, though, between using something like this and just keeping a second external hard drive off site. I'm just afraid that when I really need it the hard drive will crash or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMommy Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 We lost all of our pictures recently, even though we had them stored in two places. I'm just glad for the ones I had uploaded to Shutterfly in the past...it was nowhere near our whole library, but at least I still have access to some of them... 10 years worth of photos of five children... :crying: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 External drives kept at other locactions and Carbonite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I keep them all in my hard drive, an external hard drive, saved to 2 different DVDs (one is kept here and one is kept in a safe deposit box) and my dad also has a copy on his computer and external hard drive. I have 7.5 years of my twins' pictures that I haven't printed for myself yet. I would be devasted... I am going to be saving my favorites to some internet site, but have to research those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Upload them right away to Walgreens (they keep an unlimited amount, as long as you make one photo purchase per year). Eventually store them on CD's and file away. After reading this thread though, I will probably start using an external drive. I also have a Mozy subscription which backs up my computer several times a day; if something happens to the computer, they will send you all your data (documents, video, photos, emails, etc.) to be restored again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOchristie Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 My dh is a photographer, so we have over 20,000 pictures of our kids. We have external hard drives and DVD's, but he has started using thumb drives within the last year. I think they hold quite a few more images than the DVD's. He further backs up his client images online, but I don't know where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 mrsmommy, I am so sorry. That is my worst nightmare. I have mine on hard drive and automatic external drive...but I need to do a cloud solution, too. I am so sorry you lost all those photos :crying: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have a Pro Photobucket account, back my hard drive up with an external drive, and back the photos up at the end of the year on to disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljenn Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have Carbonite. I like that I don't have to worry about backing eveything up myself because it is done automatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deannajo Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have an external drive and an online backup that backs things up automatically - I'm currently using Crashplan - I looked at Carbonite, but crashplan better fit my needs. It backs things up every 15 minutes. I'll never loose another file (again, sigh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I still get prints from Shutterfly for all the best photos, and each kid has an album to someday take (ok, several albums).. I have about a dozen Mom albums with every decent photos of r the last 21 years! I also have hard drive and disc backups - not sure how to search them - and just got the $10/month Dropbox to move stuff onto, also. Plus Shutterfly has copies of all my edited stuff I have gotten prints of (they absorbed my Kodak photos, too, when Kodak folded so I still have those, too). I am using Dropbox for other stuff, too, not just photos. But figured why not? And - I still have every photo and negative from when I got my first 35mm Minolta as a high school grad. gift. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Back up hard drive and Shutterfly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have a Pro Photobucket account, back my hard drive up with an external drive, and back the photos up at the end of the year on to disc. Pro Photobucket? I was wondering if they offered an upgrade, which I would gladly do, but could never find the option on their website. Off to check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lattedrinker Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I use smugmug--unlimited photos, and it makes it easy to share pictures of dc with family members. We have the plan a level up from the basic that also lets you upload/share unlimited video. i find it worth the money, but i can see how others would prefer something free or cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Great post! I've been needing to unload pictures off the laptop, too. I have 10,087 to save (we currently just use one external hard drive) and/or print out. Which place offers the best way to print out your pictures? I'm thinking of just making a lot of photo books. I really don't want to put 10,000 pictures in photo albums myself! Which place has a photo book that allows for a lot of pictures? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeschoolMamaOfTwo Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 How much is Smug Mug? I can't find anything on their site that says what the plans are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 How much is Smug Mug? I can't find anything on their site that says what the plans are. Here's the link to smugmug's prices and features for the different levels: http://www.smugmug.com/photos/photo-sharing-features/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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