What do you archive?

mercphoto

I archive my files on DVD's and on an external FireWire hard disk. My question surrounds what you keep archived on your hard disk.

This is what I typically do. I have a main folder for each year. That has subfolders for assignment/event type (racing, sports, portraits, product, etc.). That has sub-folders even further. Eventually I get to a particular assignment or event, and that usually has two sub-folders. One is called RAW (which is either truly a RAW file, or is the original in-camera JPG). The other is called Prints (which is whatever adjustments I made to the original file).

Archiving the RAW folder is a no-brainer. Should I bother archiving the Prints folder? Do you?

colourbox

I only archive print files where additional processing was added in Photoshop over and above my batch processes, like using Shadow/Highlight or hand-retouching. For images where all the modifications are in the RAW/DNG metadata (most images fall under that category), I just keep the RAW/DNG and the metadata. I try to keep image modifications as early in the chain as possible to avoid managing variations. The more Adobe puts into Camera Raw, the happier I am.

My collection is on a 250GB external hard drive which is mirrored on two other identical drives stored separately, because my main hard drive simply isn't big enough. And now that I have an 8 megapixel camera, all of this data management is only gonna get worse. Key projects are also archived on DVD.