Digital BW, The Print

Bob,

I have been avoiding the issue by stuffing a total of 115GB of hard 
disk space in my computer. I am down to about 40GB free and will need 
to deal with the issue in the not to distant future. Lots of trash in 
there.

You are correct that I am not working as a professional photographer 
but as a part timer in a "fine art" print mode. I don't produce a lot 
of prints and I am not working with very many images. I tend to spend 
way too much time working on each one.

Ultimately I am not inclined to archive my raw scans. Since I have my 
own scanner the scans did not cost me anything and can be redone. 
Also the future will hopefully provide me with even better equipment 
and I would want to rescan anyway. If you are paying to have your 
negatives scanned this is a very different story, since you need to 
protect your investment.

I guess I still consider the original negatives the ultimate archive 
of the image. I am more interested in backing up some of the working 
Photoshop files where I have spent a great deal of time creating 
multiple adjustment layers and complicated masks. In RGB for use with 
MIS VM these files are running up to 350MB.

Considering the low volume of images I would want to archive I think 
that I can do this with a CD-ROM burner and then graduate to a DVD 
burner when the pricing is better.

If you are using a digital camera, as my wife is, a good back up is 
critical. However, the file sizes from her Canon G1 are in the 1MB to 
1,5MB range and a single CD-ROM can easily hold hundreds of images. 
Even with most of the higher end digital cameras the file sizes still 
makes CD reasonable for storage. These CD's or DVD's become your 
digital negatives.

As digital cameras improve in quality and pixel count (currently up 
to 1GB with some scanning backs), cheap digital storage will also 
advance to keep pace. If you are working professionally, then the 
cost of storage drives, software and media has to be factored into 
the fee for the jobs.

It should also be kept in mind that any images stored on CD, DVD, or 
magnetic media need to be recopied to fresh media at least every 10 
years. These storage media do not have the permanence of silver 
negatives. 100 years from now someone is not going to find your CD of 
scans in the attic and be able to print them. There is currently no 
form of digital storage that can be considered archival.

Martin Wesley


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., rbollini@n... wrote:
> Martin,
> These monster files are very intimidating to me as I start to 
reckon 
> up storage needs for a new system. Carol Steele, familiar to many as
> a PShop guru, and active on the Adobe forums, was jubilant last 
week 
> as she began assembling a system with two new 60G drives plus her 
old 
> 20G. She also will include a DVD writer, with its 4G platters.
> Judging from your experiences, she won't need a new system for at 
> least a couple of weeks. But she's a pro, and as I remember, you
> don't draw an income from your photography, as is the case with 
many 
> of us on the list. I suppose amateurs have a certain advantage in
> that they can simply throw away files rather than archiving them 
after
> printing; however, digital photography promises a flood of new 
> visualizations. The problem of storing even a fraction of them is 
> enough to make your head swim. How do you handle it now, and can 
you 
> comment on yourplans over time?
> Bob Bollini
> 
(snip)