It is vital to backup your photos
While most technology is fun, there are some aspects that quickly induce a yawn. One of these is making backups.
But it’s not until you lose some photos that you realise that the boring parts of tech can save some heartache. Often when you take a photo you don’t realise its value. That one snap could be the only image you have of a shared moment or a special friend.
Losing photos can happen in an instant – a stolen phone, a virus or misplacing it on a night out – and once photos are gone, there’s often no getting them back. That’s why you need a backup plan for your photos and videos.
Here’s where to start.
First step
While ‘‘the cloud’’ is another of those boring tech words that make your eyes glaze over, it’s actually the easiest way of making backups.
Cloud storage (where your data is stored on remote servers accessed from the internet) allows you to ensure there’s another easily accessible copy of your image available should you lose the original.
There are several services available but the best ones are setand-forget-services that make automatic backups.
If you’ve got a smartphone (either Android or Apple) then your best choice is Google Photos as it provides free, unlimited photo storage. However, it saves photos at a reduced file size which isn’t great but will work for most people.
If you have an iPhone then you may want to consider using Apple’s iCloud service. While it works seamlessly it does cost. The first 5 gigabit (GB) is free and then it costs $1.49 a month for 50GB or $4.49 a month for 200GB. The upside is that you can save photos at their original file size.
This is possible with Google Photos but you have to pay similar prices to iCloud.
These two are the best for the average user but if you are a keen photographer then you may want to look at Dropbox.
This is a popular back-up service and is easy to use but you only get 2GB of free storage. It then costs US$99 (NZ$144 a year).
Hard drive
While Google and Apple’s services are secure, you should still have a copy of your photos on a hard drive.
The easiest way to do this is to plug your phone into a computer. If you’ve got an Android phone then it’s pretty easy using Windows as it’ll prompt you with options as soon as it’s connected.
If you’re using a Mac then you can try using a program called Android File Transfer.
If you own an iPhone and a Mac then your images should automatically sync wirelessly over to your Photos app on your computer. You have to plug in your phone to move your videos.
iPhone owners who use a Windows computer can use the Windows Photos app.
Android users can also plug a microUSB card into their photo to transfer photos, and they load it to a computer as a back-up or store it somewhere safe.
Another useful option is a portable flash drive that is designed to connect directly to a phone via the USB port.
Just making one copy of your photos on a hard drive is great but best practice is to make two, and then store one version at a different location.
Prints
Printing out photos may seem oldschool but it’s still a great a way of ensuring you always have a copy.
Luckily there are lots of easy-touse, affordable apps available.
The best one is Printicular (free for Android and Apple devices) which was developed by Kiwi Company MEA Mobile. You can load your photos directly from your phone, or from your social networks or from Google Photos.
You can choose from a range of sizes from standard 6x4 inches or Instagram-friendly 4x4, and they can either be delivered or you can collect them from Warehouse Stationery stores.
Another option is Print Studio (free for Android and Apple devices) which is a bit more expensive and takes longer to be delivered but you can get prints on card-like paper which is really nice.
Other tips
When you’re backing up your images on a hard drive, try to organise them in folders to make them easier to find later. At the very least sort them by year but the more detail you add, the easier it will be to find a specific photo.
Pay special attention to your favourite photos. Consider putting special images in a second cloud storage service as well as printing them out and making a second back-up on a hard drive.
Don’t be afraid to delete photos that are out of focus or are duplicates. This will save storage space and time when you search through images later on.