Tag: data-backup

I finally tackled the shoebox of family photos that's been living under my bed since I moved in. I spent a few weekends with a flatbed scanner, a mug of tea, and my laptop fans sounding like they were auditioning for a small jet. The scans look good, but now I have hundreds of files named things like IMG_20230914-001, and my future self is already disappointed in me. Some of the pictures are easy to date (grandparents' wedding, my lopsided kindergarten graduation cap), but others are mystery summers at a lake that may or may not be the same lake. I've been adding notes from my parents while they still remember who's who, which turns every labeling session into a cozy detective story. I'm aiming for something I can maintain, not a system that collapses the first time I get busy. Right now I'm thinking of a simple folder system by decade, then event or family branch, with filenames like 1978-08-Lake-Trip-001 and basic tags for people. I can add dates to metadata where I know them and use "circa" for the question marks. I pay for a cloud plan, but I'm not sure if I should also keep a local copy on an external drive or two, and where to store them so they don't become the world's fanciest paperweight. If you've done this and still like your setup a year later, how did you name, tag, and back up your collection? Any tricks for getting accurate dates, sharing albums with family, and making sure this doesn't disappear the next time I reorganize my closets?