Photo Backup Tips and Tricks
Your photos are precious--don't lose any more to technical glitches.Dave Johnson
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Feature: Protect Your Pictures With Backups
Professional photographers are a paranoid bunch. For instance, I know one pro who goes to extremes to ensure that he never loses any work. After a day's shoot with a digital camera, he immediately uses his notebook to make not one, but two distinct copies of his original images on a pair of CD-Rs--just in case one of the discs gets damaged. Once back in the office, he copies the images from the media in the camera onto his hard disk, edits them, and then makes three CDs with the final images: one for the client, plus two backup archives to guard against catastrophes like theft, a scratched disc, or, say, attack from space aliens. Needless to say, he stores one pair of CDs (one with the original images, the other with the final edited versions) in a physically remote location from the other pair of CDs. Whew.
I'm not suggesting that you use such a rigorous backup scheme. Heck, my own backup system can charitably be referred to as "somewhat relaxed." But this much is true: You absolutely need to back up your digital images somehow. Anything from a user error, to a power surge, to a virus attack can (and will) wipe out your files. And when that happens, you don't want to lose years of precious photos in one fell swoop.
Different Backup Strokes for Different Folks
So we've agreed that you have to back up your image files. But exactly how you do this is up to you. There are a lot of options out there, but they boil down to two typical methods:
Do You Need Backup Software?
There was a time, some years back, when backup software was the most common way to save copies of your data. You needed one of these dedicated programs if you used a tape backup drive--and they offered handy automation and space-saving compression tricks to those of us who used high-capacity removable storage devices such as Zip or LS-120 drives. Unfortunately, most of these programs couldn't handle recordable CD drives, so your options were somewhat limited.
Today, the prime backup programs, Stomp's Backup MyPC ($70 to $80) and Dantz's Retrospect Professional ($90) are capable of handling a wider range of devices, including most CD-RW and rewritable DVD drives. That makes them a nice choice for folks who use them for business purposes.
But most home users don't really need these high-powered packages. There are more practical ways to keep photos and other important files backed up. I've found the backup software in Ahead Software's Nero 6 Ultra Edition CD/DVD burning package (about $80) to be superb, making a nice compromise between the traditional full and incremental dedicated backup software and the less formal drag-and-drop backup approach that suffices for most of us. (For the latest prices, check the PC World Product Finder.)
The high capacity of CDs and DVDs has made backing up photos a snap for most of us. Personally, if I want to back up a bunch of digital images, I find that it's a heck of a lot easier to just drag and drop a folder onto a CD-R or CD-RW, wait a few minutes for it to complete its burn, and then file the CD for safekeeping.
And that's exactly the advice I'm offering here: In general, there's no reason not to back up your digital images by manually copying the files onto a disc using the CD/DVD copying features in Microsoft Windows XP, Nero 6, or Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator 6. (For the latest prices on Easy CD & DVD Creator 6, check our Product Finder.) If you have a really large collection of photos, you'll welcome the added capacity of a rewritable DVD.
A good rule of thumb: Never erase the media in your camera until you have not only copied your photos onto your hard drive but also made another redundant copies on removable media. Taking the extra steps to protect against accidental erasure or loss means you never have to say you're sorry you lost your precious photos.
Dave's Favorites: Digital Photo of the Day at Steve's DigiCams
Looking at other people's photos--especially if they're good--is not only fun, but it can also be inspiring. That's one of the reasons that we publish a Hot Pic of the Week in this newsletter.
If you want a daily photo fix, give Steve's DigiCams a shot. Go to his Digital Photo of the Day page to see some very cool photography. You can also browse the Digital Photo of the Day Archives to see previous winning photos. There's even a set of links to other photo-of-the-day sites.
Q&A: Pasting Picture Elements Into Different Images
I am a new subscriber. I would like to learn how to remove someone or something from one picture and place it in another picture using a program like Jasc Paint Shop or Adobe Photoshop. Thanks!
--Jim Darnell, Blaine, Minnesota
Welcome aboard, Jim. The technique you're looking for is very similar to one you probably already know how to do in other applications, like Microsoft Word: cut and paste.
There's an art to realistically and convincingly moving someone or something from one image into another, but the basic idea is very simple. Just select the subject using whatever selection tool you like best and choose Edit, Copy from the image editor's menu. Then open the second image and paste it in.
How you paste it is up to you--you can paste it as a "selection," which lets you manipulate the element but, as soon as it is no longer selected, it becomes a permanent part of the photo. Or you can paste it in a new layer, which allows you to move, resize, and otherwise play with the element separately from the underlying image at any point. This technique is a common and powerful method of image editing, and one that you should spend some time experimenting with. I discussed it in more detail in a previous newsletter, "Professional-Grade Special Effects."
Hot Pic of the Week
Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.
Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.
This week's Hot Pic: "Water Drops," Kurt Braun, Salina, Kansas
Some photos are so cleverly conceived that they're simply amazing. I'm willing to bet that you can't guess how Kurt got this shot, so be sure to check out the photo before you read Kurt's explanation.
"I had an idea to use a mirror and water drops to capture a unique image in my backyard," he writes. "I dribbled water drops from my finger tips onto a mirror and positioned it on a table so the image of a tree would be reflected in the mirror. I discovered that I had the added bonus of the image being reflected in each water drop. I used my Fuji S602Z to take the picture. I shot it in super macro mode from about an inch away."