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nathanlake
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Re: How long will RAW files be readable?


I have to disagree with those claiming that digital storage is not permanent. It certainly can be if done correctly. No, there is no media currently available that will last hundreds of years, but the correct way to plan for very long term storage of images is not to put an image on a piece of media and let it sit there forever. Record your images on some type of media a(preferably with redundancy) and well before the life expectancy of the media is reached you copy it onto new media.The copy process ensures that the new copy is truly identical and you have extended the life of the image. If and when we see the end of support for the RAW file formats, that copy process will need to include a conversion that moves your images to whatever format we evolve to.

I am in the process of working out a plan to convert my CR2 files to Adobe\'s DNGt since they have stated continued support for that which may very well outlast CR2. Don\'t need to do this immediately, but am working on a plan.


Do you really think that Getty has their millions of images just sitting static on a drive, tape or DVD? They have a very formalized rotation plan for archiving.




Feb 19, 2012 at 11:07 PM
nathanlake
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Upload & Sell: Off
Re: How long will RAW files be readable?


I have to disagree with those claiming that digital storage is not permanent. It certainly can be if done correctly. No, there is no media currently available that will last hundreds of years, but the correct way to plan for very long term storage of images is not to put an image on a piece of media and let it sit there forever. Record your images on some type of media a(preferably with redundancy) and well before the life expectancy of the media is reached you copy it onto new media.The copy process ensures that the new copy is truly identical and you have extended the life of the image. If and when we see the end of support for the RAW file formats, that copy process will need to include a conversion that moves your images to whatever format we evolve to.

Do you really think that Getty has their millions of images just sitting static on a drive, tape or DVD? They have a very formalized rotation plan for archiving.




Feb 19, 2012 at 11:03 PM





  Previous versions of nathanlake's message #10361274 « How long will RAW files be readable? »

 




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