Backing up iphoto with Backup 3.1

Hi Rajiv,
Your questions about Backup would be better answered in the .Mac forums under the Backup topic.
There might be a better way to back up your library though. How large is the iPhoto Library folder in the Finder?
What are you backing it up to? a DVD, CD, external drive?

The easiest way to back up the iPhoto Library folder is to just drag it to the external drive to copy it there.
If you use backup, depending on the schedule you choose, it will keep making incremental backups which eat up a lot of disk space.
What I did is copy my entire Users folder to an external and use a program to sync the users folder on my iMac with the one on the external. You can do the same with just the iPhoto Library folder.
This way the one on the external will always be the same as the one on your computer.
You can also periodically delete the library on the external and copy over a newer copy of the library (especially after you have done some big imports or organization etc.)

I've been using backup to also make incremental backups of my iPhoto 6 (whatever latest version # is) to my external drive.

What kind of 'syncing' programs are there?

I'm approaching 12,000 pics and need to do some serious looking at my backup functionality. I've been blindly going along, assuming the backup 3.1 is a safe method to backup with.

Does anyone know if it will cause problems, other than large files? Is it relatively a safe and secure method to backup the files with?

Also, would like to make some DVD's of my pics to have a manual backup. I noticed one recommendation that I copy to my desktop, then put each year onto a DVD. Any further recommendations for hard copies or does that still stand as one of the better options to span across many DVD's?

Thanks

Kraftsims

Are you sure you want to 'Sync'? While backing up is Syncing in one direction, I think it's best to clarify the terms.

Backing up is copying from a Master Folder to a Slave Folder, as in from your iPhoto Library Folder to your Back Up location. Syncing can mean making sure that the same files are in both locations and can mean copying in both directions.

So, for instance, if you delete files from iPhoto, they will still be in your back up. If you perform a Back up, the unwanted files will be removed from your Back up, if you Sync them, the unwanted files will be returned to your iPhoto Library Folder.

So, do you want to Sync or Back Up?

There are many, many back up utilities for the Mac. Search on Macupdate. Personally, I use DejaVu.

The best way to test any back up app is to do a trial restore from time to time.

As to copying to DVD. There are two options. By exporting the files to the Desktop and burning them from there you get the latest version of the pics. Choosing which pics to back up? Well yearly is as good a way as any. The advantage is that you get the pics, nothing else.

Using the Share -> Burn command, means you get a version that can be read in iPhoto, including Originals, Modifieds, Thumbnails etc. It does take up more space, but when you insert the DVD it shows up in iPhoto as files can easily be brought back to the running library.

Regards

TD