best way to preserve digital pix so that they last 50+ years?

Question

hi,
just wondering what's the best way to preserve digital images. right now i have everything on CDs but someone said that those images could disappear after 10-20 years. is this true? if it is, would it be better to save everything on a hard drive?
would love to hear what people have to say regarding this.
thanks!

Answer 1

Purchase specially manufactured archival cds or dvds and then put a pc in there with the rest of the time capsule:) If you use off the shelf media the lifespan might only be 2 or 3 years.The only way to preserve them will be to keep saving them in the newest format that comes out every few years. The technology is changing so quickly that keeping up will necessitates moving your images along the technology pipeline. Having them printed high resolution on archival paper might be your best bet. The website http://www.wilhelm-research.com/ has more information than you may be seeking but it addresses many of the issues

Answer 2

Well, I always save my files in several places, like my hard drive, a cd, and a jump drive. I'm not a tech junkie, so I have no clue what kind of advancements will be made in the years to come, but other than that, a good old high res. print out preserved in a plastic sleeve works for me as well.

Answer 3

The best way to preserve an image that long is to have it made into a paper photograph.www.dalelabs.com has a photo paper called endura metallic which will last 100 years.

Answer 4

Some DVD-Rs are claimed to have a 100 year life expectancy.
I save my pictures on internal and external hard drives (I have over 38,000 of digital pictures) and every so often (about every month max) I back them up with the rest of my data.
In your case, save them on DVD and keep those in a dark, cool and dry environment.

Answer 5

Well, I think Hard drives should do the job or you might save them on yahoo photos or some place else on the web.