Don't leave your cherished memories to rot

Right paper, right ink, right conditions

2008-06-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

by Business Architect" Daniel Roberts BlackStar on 27-Jun-08 5:55pm
on Ecademy

Prints can last pretty well indefinitely (My tech advisers reckon at least 100-150 years in good condition).

- if a good pigmented ink is used (Epson recommended)
- if proper acid-free fourdrinier archival paper is used. e.g. Innova Art Fibaprint or smooth cotton
- if the prints are stored in normal ambient temperature, fairly dry and not exposed to sunlight

In short in an album (hopefully an OPUS Photo Art one) a normal dark ventilated cupboard in a typical English home.

Of course you could put it in climatic controlled safe at the bank - beware the prints will last longer than the bank.

If you are concerned about theft or fire - than print in duplicate.

Happy printing
Daniel

Prints fade, don't they?

2008-06-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

by Barry CooperPowerNetworker - Ecademy

Prints fade, don't they? smile

Barry Cooper

Hypnotherapist
Associate of The Inner Magic Circle
www.magicofthemind.co.uk

If Microsoft cannot be sure you'll be able to read your files ...

2008-06-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last year we asked Microsoft "Can you guarantee that in 2020 computers would be able to read .jpg files.

- 2020 is just 12 years away
- 97% of people we surveyed said that they wanted to keep their photos for 'life' or 'generations'
- JPEG is the most common picture file format.

Microsoft's answer

Microsoft has always spent a huge amount of time and resources in providing backward compatibility wherever possible in its products. We will continue to take this approach. However, it is impossible for any technology company to see as far into the future as 2020 with the degree of certainty suggested

Can you afford to leave your cherished photos in formats (let alone media) that will not be able to be read?

For more background go to "A dire warning" - by OPUSalbums.com

Don't let your memories rot - make them accessible

2008-01-19T01:18:00.000-08:00

Are you going to leave your most cherished memories to rot?

By Daniel Roberts,
OPUSalbums

We spend our lives building up a file of memories – some good – some bad – some to be relished – some to be learned from. In photography we have found a technique for recording them so that we can go back over them ten, twenty, forty years later. In retirement, when one may have more time to reminisce and less strength to go on adventure, what better pastime can there be than going back over our photos and thinking “That was when …” – “I’d forgotten about him – I wonder what’s he doing now..”, or “Wasn’t she anamazing lady”.

That presupposes one thing. - That those photos are readily available and capable of being read.

Go back 40years. Chances are that you have some regular photo albums, a few shoe boxes full of uncatalogued photos, several dozen canisters of transparencies (for that projector that has long since gone) and a few hundred little plastic boxes full of the transparencies that they came back from Kodak in. I am not going to talk about those unreadable super-8 films and a pile of VHS video tapes. May I suggest that there is only one of the above media that you are going to look at regularly – the photo album. Why – because they are visible and accessible. The shoeboxes of prints probably come next – a poor second.

Is history repeating itself? The number of photos taken has risen exponentially. Indeed we spend some of our most cherished moments viewing that unforgettable moment through a viewfinder or LCD. Then what? View the thumbnails – select the good ones – and what next?

Leave them on the computer. Sort of visible for a time – but awaiting a hard disk failure.

Transfer them to CD/DVD – invisible (therefore as inaccessible as the old trannies) – and who knows when your computer will no longer be able to read a CD. (In my loft I have a box full of 5¼” floppy disks full of valuable information).

Upload them to Flikr or another on-line service. . These services come and go with monotonous regularity. Do you really think they will be round in 40 years time? Those memories &ndash not only inaccessible – but LOST!

So – what’s the answer? Back to the old photo album. And using your computer it’s so much easier.

Take your photos, select the best and assemble into a story.

Edit the photos if necessary – and lay them out into pages (we recommend Fotoslate4) – and add text.

Print them at home on your own inkjet printer (quicker and more flexible than an outside photo book service).

You have a neat, accessible permanent book, which you can label and file to look at whenever you like. Quick – easy and effective.

URL: Keep your photos visible and accessible

A thought - Only God knows your future and mine.