Is backing up your digital photos important?
Just ask your neighbor who lost the last 3 years of her memories, when her house got broken into and her laptop was stolen.
Or go to your nearest Best Buy and ask their GeekSquad how many people have had system failures due to lightning hits or computer viruses in the last week, and as a result lost all their treasured stories.
Or ask the fine men and women in any community who have had a natural disaster, such as floods, fires or hurricanes.
There’s a reason people grab their pictures first, in an emergency out their house, right along with people and pets. Our memories ARE irreplaceable and priceless. We all know that!
Okay, so you hear it all the time: “Back-up your photos.” And even IF you believe it’s important, it seems so elusive and complicated. But it doesn’t have to be! True, there are lots of different ways to go about doing this. Some are indeed unnecessarily complicated. But that doesn’t have to be YOUR backup system. And remember, ANY backup system is better than no system!
So, for the well intentioned, yet busy (and possibly overwhelmed) person, this one’s for you. Pick 1, 2 or all 3 of these backup methods and you will be better off than you are now.
3 Simple and Effective Ways to Backup Your Photos:
1. OFF-SITE AUTOMATIC BACKUP: Online Cloud Service.
I use BackBlaze. For about $50/yr. It’s automatic and covers external hard drives on Mac computers at no extra cost. There are many other options, such as Carbonite, CrashPlan, Mozy, and SugarSync. You are not marrying this service. Just sign up for one and if you don’t like it, you can always change! Seriously, this is something you can do right now and in about 10 minutes have your first backup underway!
2. ON-SITE AUTOMATIC BACKUP: External Hard Drive with Backup Software.
The external hard drive I use is a Seagate Backup Plus Portable 1 TB slim Drive with Time Machine backup software on my Mac computer. It’s automatic and it’s accessible to me at all times on my desk. You can usually get an external hard drive for $100, and many of them come with the automatic backup software already included. Another option for PC users is an external hard drive using SyncBackPro software.
3. REDUNDANCY: Picture Keeper
I use a Picture Keeper (PK Pro model at www.picturekeeper.com) with a one time price of just under $200. It can hold up to 250,000 images. This is a manual process that I do once a quarter. It is SO easy! I just attach the USB cord to my computer (MAC and PC compatible) and it automatically finds all my new photos since my last backup, and saves a copy onto the PK Pro device. Then I unplug the USB cord and keep my PK Pro in a safety deposit box; but you can leave it at a nearby friend or relative’s house. Super easy and super fun! I highly recommend this product!
Ideally, you would pick all 3 backup methods so that you have the benefits from each.
Key concepts to keep in mind as you put your personal backup system in place: Automatic and Redundancy.
If you’re anything like me, you’re going hard and fast all day long and you don’t want to have to stop and remember to do a backup step. So it needs to be as automatic as possible. Preferably, no thinking involved after the initial set up!
Similarly, you want to have your system backed-up in more than one place because if one fails, you have safety nets set up already, effortlessly. I know it sounds crazy, but remember, after you set it up, it does all the work for you!
So here’s my personal simple backup system in a nutshell:
1. Off-site Automatic: www.BackBlaze.com
2. On-site Automatic: Seagate slim 1 TB external hard drive used with Time Machine.
3. Redundancy: PictureKeeper Pro quarterly in safety deposit box.
Total Cost: $350 initial set up for all 3 methods if you do on your own. Then it’s only about $50 per year for the online backup service. Totally worth it for the peace of mind I have knowing that if anything happens to my computer, all my precious life stories and those of my children and our family, are still safe!!! Plus it costs much more than that if you need to restore your computer and there are no guarantees that they will be able to even salvage your precious memories!
The main thing is, don’t complicate it! Keep it simple. Look at the 3 methods above and pick 1, 2 or all 3 and take action. Don’t over think it anymore. Just please do it!
I hope this helps you take action now, truly before it’s too late.
You can totally do this on your own. But if for any reason you decide you want more hands-on help getting your backup system set up, we can do it for you! Just fill out our contact form and we will get right back with you. Or if you have any questions, contact us the same!
Bringing Happiness to Your Photos!
Sylvia Cuillo, Certified Photo Organizer & Owner
Email: sylvia@photosorganized.com
Phone: 813-642-6745