Backup your digital pictures?

By Anoop Verma

The digital revolution is giving us what we have always wanted: spectacular, professional-looking pictures, captured via stylish and petite cameras. There’s only one problem, we are clicking too many pictures. At times we run out of storage space. Modern computers and even DVDs have ample space, but any kind of digital storage is susceptible to failure. So it is safer to rely on a secure online system for backups.

Here is a list of some of the easy to use storage options:

Backup on Flickr

Flickr is one of the most popular picture storage systems in the world. Opening an account out here is easy. If you already have an email account with Yahoo, Facebook or Gmail, you don’t even need to go through an account opening formality. Your Yahoo, Facebook or Gmail password and user ID will also work on Flickr.

Point your browser to http://www.flickr.com/.

Click on the sign up icon at the top.

A new dialog box will open in which you have the option of logging in through Yahoo ID or through

Facebook and Gmail.

There are many easy ways of for uploading pictures. The best option is to install the up-loader app in your PC. Once the app is installed, a simple right click on any picture will send it straight to Flickr.

A host of tagging and organising features make it easy for you to arrange your pictures in an orderly format.

Backup at Picasa Web Albums

Flickr is owned by Yahoo, whereas Picasa Web Albums is owned by Google. The services both provide are somewhat similar. But if you are a Google buff, you can go in for Picasa Web Albums (http://picasa.google.com/).  Your Gmail ID and password will allow you to open an account at the Picasa website.

You can start uploading pictures by using the software’s “Web Album” button, or use your normal web browser to add pictures that are high quality.

If you are using the IE browser, you can install an Active X extension that lets you drag and drop. It is also possible to upload pictures by email. This is especially useful if you are habituated to posting lot of pictures through your mobile phone.

Picasa offers many options for setting the levels of security, blogging your pictures and much else.

Backup at SkyDrive

You can access SkyDrive, which is a storage service from Microsoft, through your normal Hotmail or Live email account. Out here you get a whooping 25 GB of free space. To start using the service, you have to go through the following steps:

Point your browser to http://skydrive.live.com. Use your Hotmail, MSN email or Live email to log in.

The system for creating different folders and copying the pictures from your computer are pretty basic. The menu options are self-descriptive.

There is a limit of 50 MB per file that you can store out here. But most personal files and documents that you own don’t exceed that size. Even if you have really huge files, there is a range of other storage options that you can consider.

CD, DVD, Portable hard drive

If you would rather keep your personal pictures stored in the safety of your drawer, then also you have a range of options. The cheap and easy option to back up your pictures is pen drives, or CDs and DVDs. A pen drive has a limited shelf life; generally it lasts for about a couple of years. But with a DVD, you might be able to preserve your picture for more than five years.

For burning pictures onto CDs or DVDs, there is range of software available in the market. Many Windows based systems these days use Roxio. Nero is also popular. If the burning system was pre-installed in your computer, then it is already configured with your Windows OS.

In case the number of pictures is really large, you can go for a portable hard drive. These days you can get a good portable hard drive of up to 500 GB from a reputed company like Seagate for less Rs. 4000. The portable hard drive connects to the computer through a USB port and it comes with an easy to install software. You can also set a password to ensure the safety of your pictures.