How do you store your files?

[MrMacMini]

Just wondering what format everyone stores their files in.

I shoot RAW, use Aperture to store, organize and do some editing (use Photoshop for any heavy editing) and just leave my files in RAW format.

But this is taking a lot of space on my external HDD. Just wondering if I should be editing my RAW files and then saving in .jpeg format to save space.

 

[Edge100]

Just wondering what format everyone stores their files in.

I shoot RAW, use Aperture to store, organize and do some editing (use Photoshop for any heavy editing) and just leave my files in RAW format.

But this is taking a lot of space on my external HDD. Just wondering if I should be editing my RAW files and then saving in .jpeg format to save space.

Back in the film days, did you burn the negatives and just keep the prints?

Didn't think so.

Hard drive space is cheap. There's no reason to discard the RAW files (which seems to be what you're implying you'd do).

 

[Zmmin3]

Hard drive space is cheap.

Not as cheap as it used to be. With the flooding in Thailand, prices of hard drives shot up almost double on some brands. A 320GB hard drive that I bought for $49.99 on sale earlier in the year is now about $99.99 at most places.

I do agree with you though about not discarding the RAW files just to save space.

You never know when you will to come back to it and do some more tweaking on it.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I'm on the road 6 days a week and don't have a reliable 110v outlet nearby most of the time so my options are a little more limited than most.

That said, what I've done is setup a Drobo FS and older headless MacMini on my home network. I have a MacBook Pro that stays with me most of the time that I do my editing on. I limit my Aperture library on the MBP to 1 month to keep the size down. At the end of the month I export everything rated at 3 stars or more as a 640x640 thumbnail then send the Aperture library to the Drobo for storage.

The thumbnails I exported get imported into iPhoto and I tag them, add locations faces, etc,.. I am basically using iPhoto as a database so I know where I can find the original images.

I also have a separate folder structure on the Drobo for the RAW files. I know it doubles the amount of space I take up, but when I'm on the road I can VNC into the Mini and root around on the Drobo and pluck out any individual file I need and transfer it to the laptop.

If I weren't on the road I'd just have an iMac and USB/Firewire Drobo for editing.

Also, I put the iPhoto auto import folder from the Mini in my DropBox folder, so before my monthly 'cleaning of the laptop' I export full size JPG's and send them to DropBox. Once uploaded I move them to the auto import folder and iPhoto on the Mini automatically imports them and they automagically get added to the screen savers on the various AppleTV's scattered throughout my house.