 Digital photographs and videos can document some of the best times in our lives. And once the photo is taken or the camcorder stops rolling, it’s important to keep those memories safe so that you can continue to share them with friends and family for years to come. There are lots of ways to back up, edit, and share your digital files with others, letting you make the most of your digital collections.
 Back It Up
You can temporarily store your images and videos on the memory card you insert into your digital imaging device. However, because memory cards have a small amount of storage space, you should only use them as a temporary storage solution and move your images to a backup service or device for preservation.
When it’s time to back up your digital content, you can do so by using either a backup device or online storage service. You can offload your digital photos and videos from a camera’s memory card to a flash drive or external hard drive, which offer more storage space. Although you may choose to preserve your photos on a backup device, they are still at risk of being physically damaged should the drive get lost, fail, or become corrupted.
However, if you choose to use an online backup service, your photo and video files won’t face device-related risks. Many Web services are designed specifically for storing digital content. For example, Geek Squad (www.geeksquad.com) offers an online data backup service that will perform automatic backups for your data, so you never have to initiate them. And because your data will be on the Web, you’ll be able to access it from any computer with an Internet connection. The service is free for one month and $49 per year for 25GB of data.
Picture Perfect
Video- and photo-editing software has become more sophisticated for the home user over the past couple of years. This software lets you edit flaws in your photos, such as blemishes and poor lighting conditions, or add appropriate music to your favorite video footage.You can also get creative and add finishing touches to your photos, such as borders, or change color photos to classic black-and-whites. Generally, digital photo-editing software will also include applications that will help you create slideshows that you can burn to DVD to play at weddings and birthday parties.
Share The Joy
There’s no reason to keep all those adorable photos of your kids to yourself. Several Web sites have services that make sharing photos and videos with others easy. Some let you set up your own photo-sharing Web page, while others let you email your family and friends Web links to your online photo albums. Additionally, many social networking sites will let you upload digital photo albums and videos to your personal page for sharing with your contacts. Whether you’re storing your collection for future generations to enjoy, creating special presentations, or sharing memories with others, these digital backup, editing, and sharing tools let you make the most of your digital photos and videos. 
by Tessa Warner Breneman
Put It All Together
To help you get more out of your photos and videos, there are desktop computers specially designed to manage multimedia, such as music, photos, and videos. These machines generally have high-end graphics cards, lots of hard drive space, monitors with advanced imaging technology, integrated memory card readers, and plenty of video inputs and outputs to help you optimize your digital collection. |
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