Archiving photos of paintings

[Michele Rushworth]

How do you archive images of paintings you've created?

For a long time I took slides, then I switched to digital. Now I hear that CD's that we burn on our computers may degrade in as little as five years (something about the aluminum getting pitted).

I'd like to find some way to record high quality images of my portraits and other paintings so that I can count on them lasting many decades. Any ideas?

[Chuck Yokota]

Michele,

Every digital storage medium so far (and the hardware to read it) has become obsolete after a few years, and there isn't any prospect that will change anytime soon. So you can expect to have to migrate your files to newer technologies from time to time. There isn't currently any once-and-for-all solution.

For the current CD-R discs, use high-quality discs for your archives. There are some recommendations at www.silverace.com/dottyspotty/issue12.html

Make at least two copies for your archives, stored in different locations. Do a 100% file verification check of each copy after it has been made. Store your archive files in raw, uncompressed TIFF format for lossless storage, rather than in compressed formats such as JPEG, and especially not in a proprietary format that may not be supported in the future. Protect your discs from sunlight and heat, which can destroy your discs quickly. Keep your archive discs in individual hard-shelled jewel cases to protect them from mechanical damage. Do not put adhesive labels on your archive discs, as the adhesive will deteriorate over time. Migrate your files to the next generation technology in a timely fashion.

[Michele Rushworth]

Thanks, Chuck. Do you have any sense on how long I could assume these disks would hold up, following your recommendations? 5, 10, 20 years?

[Chuck Yokota]

The technology hasn't been around long enough to really know. Manufacturer's claims of lifetimes of up to 100 years are based on "accelerated aging" testing that may or may not reflect what will really happen. On the other hand, I've seen mention of a Dutch test that found a number of discs were unreadable after 20 months, even some from well-known manufacturers. The safest alternative is to make multiple copies, with discs from various manufacturers, in various formats.

If you make even one copy and keep an eye out for technological obsolescence, you will eliminate most of your risk. Having another copy at a separate location will eliminate almost all of the remaining risk. Everything else is aimed at eliminating the tiny residual of happenstance. Most people that lose data hadn't taken the first step.

[Michele Rushworth]

a number of discs were unreadable after 20 months, even some from well-known manufacturers.

Sounds like I should still shoot slides of my paintings, in addition to digital files.