Caring for your Digital Files
How to properly back up your digital wedding images
Wedding couples are expecting their wedding photos on a disc or USB drive more and more. As a past Groom, I was in the same boat - it's a great archival medium. However life happens and you need to protect those precious memories. Here are a few easy-to-take measures to ensure long lasting enjoying of what I hope will become priceless family heirlooms for you and yours....1. Copy Cat.Storage is cheap! Make a copy of your digital files as soon as you receive them, in fact make two copies and store them in a safe location at room temperature. It’s a good idea to save one copy at a location other than your home in case of fire or other tragedy. I know the pain of losing them first hand - as a teenager our family lost many precious possessions in a fire including nearly all of our photos and albums.2. Print. Print. Print.Having the disc of USB drive is a good thing, leaving them in digital form is a sad thing. It's fun to share your images on places like Facebook, but there is nothing as beautiful or as emotionally compelling as a photograph in your hand. Tell me, how much fun is it to find an old shoebox of photos and to sit and hold each individually in your hand?! It's awesome ain't it! When company comes over, nobody runs to grab a disc to shove in their computer - but they'll proudly pull out a beautifully crafted wedding album to show off their killer wedding photos!3. Not all labs are created equal.My monitor is calibrated for print and the images I provide are saved with the print-standard sRGB colour profile. If, sorry WHEN you choose to print those images, I highly recommend using a good lab. This will ensure that your images are printed properly, taking advantage of the best ink, paper and process. Not all print labs are created equal - the same image printed at several labs will most often produce different results. Choose wisely. As a wise man said, if you're going to do it... do it right dammit!Caring for you digital files begins as soon as you receive them right through to how you display and enjoy them in future. Take the time and energy to properly care for them.