What's the best way to archive my pics?

[ErikJan]

"you would probably also love the ability to tag each of your photos with keywords".
I know this is possible in Lightroom. Two problems however: (1) I already did that and want that exported over to Light room somehow. I did scan the Internet and there are some ways but most are 'buggy' (admittedly: due to problems on the Picasa side of things. (2) In Picasa, I have also marked WHERE the faces are (that's standard there). In Lightroom I can only add/import keywords (in this case: who is or are in the picture) but now WHERE they are... Imagine an old school photo with 30+ kids... In Picasa I named all the 'heads', in Lightroom I guess that's not possible, right?
Now if Lightroom is a program focused mainly on 'managing' photo collections, wouldn't this be at least an 'important' need-to-have feature???

[ErikJan]

"I would be afraid to digitize my slides for fear of finding out how bad they really were.

3) 128 MB TIFF files might be a bit of a stretch. My 21 MP 36mm x 24mm sensor will likely have better quality, and a typical RAW file from a sensor like this is in the order of 25 to 30 MB.

Back to the question: How to handle all these images:

(a) After doing all that work, I would not convert them to JPEG. Unless you are an expert post processor (I'm not), you will gain in skill, and once converted to JPEG, they can't be re-processed many times without loss of image quality. Use the TIFF files."

On the quality thing: I know and I realize but these are often slides that are 40+ years old: wouldn't you want to prefer to capture more than maybe needed vs. less than? My Nikon LS50 allows these resolutions (4000dpi) and color depths (I believe 42 or 48 bits), I'd like my starting point there and then reduce rather than possibily missing information when I process.
The 128Mb are tge consequence (and of course I agree that thsi might be overkill). However, slides are know to have a large dynamic range in colors so if I need to correct white balances and bring dark, originally 'bad' shadow parts and bring them 'back to life' wouldn't if help then if I'd had the range to start with??
When all is done, as said, I'd like to create JPGs, and here's where I might not have been clear: the JPGs would of course be the 'files to view', I'd leave the TIFF originals as they are. However I might choose to decrease color depths (factor 3 less) to normal levels and reduce resolution maybe by 50%. That will reduce my pictures by a factor 3 * (2 * 2) = 12 which will give me maybe 10Mb TIFF files (with LZW or ZIP compression they might reduce further).... Makes sense???

I guess it will become Lightroom after all. Still don't know how to archive... HD is fine but I'd like another technology as well (optical = CD/DVD/BD)?

[Manfred M]

ErikJan - the archiving technique that you choose has got to meet your needs. If you are looking at long-term storage, I suggest that optical disk (other than the aforementioned M-disk) is very risky. I've had "high quality" and properly stored optical disks become unreadable. Unfortunately, unlike commercial optical disks that are moulded and then have a thin layer of aluminum vaccuum deposited on it, disks that we burn on our computers use a chemical process that breaks down over time. The problem with the M-disk is that the storage capacity is so low, it is not really a viable technique for image and video files.

I use external network connected reduntant disk to back up my files (primary storage is on the computer). The redundant disk is isolated from the electrical circuit and the storage units are in two opposite parts of the house. and I have the "best of the best" using "cloud based" storage (I have far too many files and too low a bandwidth speed / limit) to use that for most of my files. Cloud based storage companies can and do go out of business, so these are not necessarily safe either.

Then of course there are the digital "rot" issues. So far I store both RAW + jpeg, but may have to change my technique at some point down the road, should these formats not be supported.

I manually back up my files and do not use any specific backup software. It is just as easy for me to do things this way.

[ErikJan]

All, I do apologize for my (very) delayed response. Just wanted to say that I really appreciated the input and responses. With respect to archiving, I guess HD is still the best (and of course I then make backups, and backups of backups [which I store elsewhere]). Scary but the only way I guess.
For software, I guess LR will be the one. Another question then as I'm still 'playing around'... many of my older slides and pictures have long scratches on them. I can't find a good way to 'heal' these in LR, is that right or am I missing something? Seems to me that this would be quite an important feature for a program like LR (NEXT to it's spot removal possibilities). A plu-in then maybe?

[Manfred M]

I can't find a good way to 'heal' these in LR, is that right or am I missing something? Seems to me that this would be quite an important feature for a program like LR (NEXT to it's spot removal possibilities). A plu-in then maybe?

Try using Lightroom's healing brush in the Develop module. I personally don't use Lightroom for this, but do this in Photoshop where I find the tools are a bit more flexible.

[ErikJan]

Tried that... for some spots it's great. For more it's cumbersome. For scratches it's virtually impossible (unless - again - I'm missing something)