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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Saving/backing up your files
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 12/30/2009 10:44:46 AM · #1
I think I may be saving too much and not enough at the same time. So I'm going back and evaluating the number and type of files I save my photos as.

Currently my workflow process is as follows.

Download and save raw files
Edit raw files and save as TIFF
Detailed edits on TIFFS and save as edited TIFFs
Save Edited TIFFs as JPEG
And mark and save as Copyright JPEGS
Resized and save.

So that means that I have these categories all saved

Raw
TIFF
Edited TIFF
JPEG
Copyright JPEGS
Resized JPEGs

That's alot of the same photos. So what files are you saving? Anyone see something that i could possibly eliminate from saving?

Edited to add: I sell (or attempt to sell) work for stock, I work with models, families, portraits, etc who would get copies of photos. I post here and other websites. I think that sums up about what I do with the photos.

Also I had previously been saving on DVD's...and when i switched computers the previous DVD's shows up as blank on the new computer. So now I realize that i need to save on DVD and back up hard drive. Anyone else saving on both medias or are you saving on another media?

Thanks.

Message edited by author 2009-12-30 10:53:49.
 12/30/2009 10:47:19 AM · #2
I'm saving my files on Carbonite. It's funny though, they say the initial backup will take a few days, HA. It's been ongoing for several weeks now.
 12/30/2009 10:48:00 AM · #3
You probably need to clarify how you use your pictures. I'm a hobbyist - I print pictures for friends, I share stuff on the internet. I save the RAW files, and the small edited jpegs I post here and places like flickr or Facebook. I rarely save full edits because I rarely DO full edits. I often wish I would do full edits as later on I want printable files, or larger files, and I have to start from scratch.

But at least it's better than when I first started in digital. All I have from the first year are web-sized jpegs - I didn't keep anything else. :-(

So are you a pro? Do you sell your work? That might help others share experiences that relate to yours.
 12/30/2009 11:13:27 AM · #4
I, too, would be curious as to how everyone saves their files. Beyond what I've uploaded here, I've never made a larger print of anything but would like to start. What format is everyone saving their edited files as, assuming you then (after the first save) save for the DPC site. My filing/saving system has GOT to change.
 12/30/2009 11:14:29 AM · #5
I save the RAW file, the full-res version of the edit in either PSD or JPG format (depending upon how important it is), and the final result. I figure anything else can be obtained from those.

It's probably worth noting that so far all of my DPC-era photos have either been for online viewing or posting to a service like SmugMug for prints. I have exactly ONE photo I've taken since 2004 hanging in my house... and that's only because someone bought a print and framed it to give back to me! However, a Canon PixmaPro 9000 with my name on it, in transit somewhere between CA and CT, will likely change that situation in the near future. ;-)

Message edited by author 2009-12-30 11:19:33.
 12/30/2009 11:15:11 AM · #6
It sounds to me like you are eating up a tremendous amount of room by saving multiple lossless formats. Here's my suggestion for what to save:
- Save your RAW files, always. They are your original data.
- Save an edited TIFF, if the shot has commercial value, and you feel that you may need or want to re-edit, and you feel that the editing was substantial and that it would be difficult or impossible to re-create. Otherwise, you lose little if you have to re-process from RAW.
- Only if you have not saved an edited TIFF, save a full-size edited JPEG at high quality.
- Save a web-sized JPEG (perhaps even watermarked and unwatermarked versions), for convenience. They take up almost no space.

For backup, make sure that your files are in at least two places within your home/office and ideally in one other place physically removed from the premises as well, to avoid data destruction by disaster such as fire, flood, etc.
 12/30/2009 01:52:36 PM · #7
Kirbic, I think you may be on to something there. I normally save the copyright Jpeg's because that's what i pass out to people (clients, models, etc)...but I can save only the uncopywritten images they want. Which means I can delete the uncopywritten High Res JPEGs. I don't save the edits i do to the raw files those are normally the ones i convert to TIFF. But those edits can be redone easily. So I guess I can delete the unedited TIFFs. That will leave me with following.

Original Raw
Edited TIFF
Copywritten JPEGS
Resized JPEGS (both with copyright and without)

Thanks I was losing so much space...especially when you throw in the files you save because you enlarged them for Alamy and such.
 12/30/2009 03:42:18 PM · #8
By "copyrighted JPEGS" do you actually mean "watermarked with a copyright notice"? Because all your images are copyrighted whether you mark them or not ... your terminology is a bit confusing.
 12/30/2009 06:03:12 PM · #9
Sorry..I mean images with my name on them.
 12/30/2009 06:47:52 PM · #10
]
Originally posted by scalvert:
I save the RAW file, the full-res version of the edit in either PSD or JPG format (depending upon how important it is), and the final result. I figure anything else can be obtained from those.

It's probably worth noting that so far all of my DPC-era photos have either been for online viewing or posting to a service like SmugMug for prints. I have exactly ONE photo I've taken since 2004 hanging in my house... and that's only because someone bought a print and framed it to give back to me! However, a Canon PixmaPro 9000 with my name on it, in transit somewhere between CA and CT, will likely change that situation in the near future. ;-)


I can't believe you!! You mean to say you haven't even got a print of


Some of these are real art works - they need to be printed and hung..

Message edited by author 2009-12-30 18:49:28.
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