Backing up photos

I am sitting at my computer trying to back up photos (1999 to 2006) off an old external hard drive.

It is a messy process.

If you want to keep memories alive, it is extremely important to back up photos.

Here is my current system (I wish I had done it all along!)


First - every time you are ready to empty a digital camera card first BURN A COPY OF THE FILES! This is just like those old packets of negatives we (meaning older folks like me who remember negatives) used to keep in drawers. It will give you a pristine copy of each photo file just in case you do something terrible to mess up the copy on your computer. DVDs are not that expensive and this is worth the effort. It is what professional photographers do. My 4 GB card works perfectly since it fits on one DVD. If I have a smaller card, I burn on a CD or stockpile the files in a carefully labeled folder on my computer until there are enough to justify burning on a DVD.

Second - I assume you transfer all of your photos and store them somewhere on your computer for editing and sharing. This can be done in various programs (Picasa, iPhoto, Adobe bridge). Since you have a nice back up copy of every photo burned on DVD, you don't need to keep all 12 shots of grandma body surfing. Just pick the best and delete the rest (remember, you have them safely backed up). This slims down the folders of photos stored on your computer.

Third - Occasionally back up the photo files stored on your computer. Hopefully they will be the best of the best nicely labeled, dated, and organized. You can burn them unto a DVD or copy to an external hard drive. Yes I know - you already burned the photos right off the memory card. But the ones on your computer are organized and edited. It is worth making this second copy. There are huge capacity affordable USB hard drives available now that are tiny and portable. I actually do both - burn to DVD and transfer to an external hard drive (I love my photos so much). After this is done, you can delete the files off your computer when it fills up.

Of course, you need to carefully label and safely store those DVDs so you can access them when needed.

Working with photos in Word - easyish

It ought to be very simple to drop a photo in a Word document and move it around wherever you want. Right? But it is not. In fact it can be a terribly frustrating task. Here is one little trick that makes the process somewhat simpler.

Insert
When you add a photo to Word through the 'insert' menu or by dragging and dropping, it defaults to an 'inline layout'. That means that the picture is stuck in place on the document just like the text you type. It moves as you press return and/or type text above it but you can't drag it around on the page. You can resize it (remember to only use the corners or hold down 'shift' so you won't change the proportions).

Unstick
Here is what you do to fix the 'stuck photo' problem. You need to open up the 'format pictures' menu. You can do this either by double clicking on the picture or highlighting the picture and going to the 'format' (top of the screen) and 'picture' commands. That opens up a menu that varies according to the version of Word you are using. You need to find the 'layout' window (the little blue doggie) and then select 'tight'. This command magically frees up your photo and allows you to drag it all around.

Watch out!
However, Word still has its quirks and sometimes you think you have everything set and then pictures start sliding around all by themselves. I don't know how to deal with this and that is why I use a Mac!

Get a Mac
Here is the best suggestion I can give - buy a Mac, install iWork, and use Pages. It is a FABULOUS program for page layout. I love its simplicity and style. It is almost worth buying a Mac just to use Pages if you want to work with text and photos and don't want the expense or steep learning curve of Photoshop and InDesign.

If you are using a mac and want some help, I have started a new blog with a mac friend called Granny Macs. It is in process but will be fun as we add more. Take a look!