Backup

Computers are incredibly reliable, and it’s relatively rare for a hard drive to fail—but when it does, you’ll want to have backed up your images redundantly to ensure those images are safe. With hard drive capacities constantly increasing and prices constantly decreasing, we tend to replace hard drives (or the computer containing them) long before they get anywhere near the end of their useful life. The fact that our image files continue to accumulate only accelerates the upgrade cycle.

Because of the high reliability of our computers and storage media, it is easy to become complacent and ignore the need to back up. Don’t! Backing up is a critical aspect of working with your images in the digital darkroom. Every time you add new images or perform significant work with your images (such as adjustments or keywording), you should perform a backup of your important image files. Also, make a plan to back up your data on a regular basis regardless of how much work you’ve performed in the meantime. Most backup software even allows you to schedule automatic backups so you don’t have to remember to initiate them. This is a convenient feature, but if you implement an automatic system, be sure to confirm on a regular basis that the backups are being performed successfully as scheduled.