Storage space may not appear to be a concern initially, but with ten or twenty years of photos, it can become a problem. Most importantly, be sure to have backups of all files. You can easily lose years of memories in an instant with a crash of the hard drive.

All photos should be stored by date and description. Because digital photography is relatively new, it is not known for sure yet what media is best for long-term archiving. For now, three copies should suffice: one on the hard drive, one on an external backup and a final one on some type of removable media, as in CD ROM.

Online digital archive storage is a recent development that may be useful. At this time, most are free or low-cost. They provide online albums, electronic greeting cards, and even merchandise from your photos. While this may become the storage of the future, do not rely on it exclusively.