We've all done it, accidentally overwritten original images
after we've been having fun manipulating them. If the images
you are working with are really important, make sure you have
a backup copy of the originals that can't be spoiled. Either
burn them to a CD or store an original copy on a different drive
if you have one.. then keep a copy of your pictures in a folder
specifically to play with.
I've done it many times; but luckily not with anything that
was irreplaceable, its way to easy to accidentally overwrite
files when you get distracted. External CDR / DVDR burners and
harddrives are pretty affordable nowadays and if you intend
to take a lot of pictures and experiment with manipulation;
they are a handy thing to have especially as your camera gets
better and better, the more mega-pixels it has the bigger each
file is. And if you are anything like me and don't delete any
pictures no matter how bad.. you'll be needing some space :)
The other plus side to an external drive is that you can take
it anywhere and hook it up on someon elses PC or laptop.
I recall seeing a portable drive that was totally independent
and didn't need a PC to work, which seemed like a useful tool
for people like me, if I remember the details I'll be sure to
share them later.
If you don't have a lot of spare cash there are alternatives
.. a lot of places offer free picture storage online and ISP's
often provide customers with free webspace so check your ISP
site and see what they have to offer. There are also a lot of
places that will burn pictures to CD for you for a price which
is worth considering but the cost of a CD burner nowadays makes
it worth investing in.
The key thing is, whichever method you use.. DON'T accidentally
overwrite your originals
One other big mistake people make is leaving the directory browsing
on.. this is a really bad idea if you upload stuff for storage
or just to share privately with a friend. Directory browsing
allows people to see everything that is stored in your folder..
even the stuff you don't want them to see... and trust me there
are people out there who will take advantage of that slip up..
don't be surprised to find that picture you took of you topless
in Tahiti end up on someone elses site and it might not be in
a flattering context.
The way to fix this is either disable directory browsing if
your host allows this or to make sure that every folder you
have on your webspace has an index.htm file in it... as long
as you have an index file they won't get the directory list
as that is default :)
If you want to check your own site for directory browsing all
you have to do is go to your main site URL and add one of your
folders to the end and not a page name or image name ..just
the main domain and a folder name and see what comes up. If
you see a list of all the files in the folder.... so can everyone
else.
Just remember people can see the folders you store other pages
and pictures in simply by looking at the properties on what
you gave them access to.. if they see
they know you have a folder called images so it's easy to just
take the my_pic.jpg off and see if you have anything else in
there by going
http://www.manipulative-witch.com/images/
A good host that gives you Cpanel access (Control Panel) should
have the ability to pick and choose whether directory browsing
is enabled as well as give you the chance to stop people linking
to your images directly and running up your monthly bandwidth.
People in general are nosey... if they can see it, they will
look. Some however go that one step further and will use what
they find.
