Industry & Technology
Impartial writing about the technology your photos live on — drives, cloud
services, file formats and backup — and how the choices being made for you
have changed. No product pitch, and useful whether or not you ever use PDR.
Looking for step-by-step instructions instead? Those live in the Guides.
What Happens to Your Photos When You Die
Google, Apple, Microsoft and Meta each let you hand your photographs on, and each one only works if it was set up first. What they require otherwise, and the deletion clock behind it.
Why the Same Photo Looks Different on Every Screen
A file stores numbers, not colors. A color profile says what they mean, and a hidden gain map decides how bright they get — and neither one survives every share.
Why Photos Arrive on a New Phone With the Wrong Dates
A 2014 holiday sits at the top of this month. The capture date lives in Exif, the file date does not, and every way of moving photos treats the two differently.
What “Optimize Storage” Actually Does to Your Photos
Your phone keeps photos optimized; your PC keeps files online-only. What Apple, Google, Microsoft and Dropbox document about where the originals actually are.
What Counts Against Your Free Cloud Storage
Google’s 15 GB, Apple’s 5 GB, Microsoft’s 5 GB, Dropbox’s 2 GB: what shares each allowance, what happens when you exceed it, and six claims that are wrong.
How Long Do Burned CDs and DVDs Last?
Manufacturers say 100 years. The one NIST test on a real disc said 30. What is actually documented about the discs in your loft, and what to move them onto.
The Photo Formats Your PC Can and Cannot Open
HEIC, AVIF, WebP, JPEG XL and camera raw: what Windows opens on its own, what needs an extension, and which formats an archive should be kept in.
What Happened to Picasa, Photo Gallery and Your Albums
Picasa, Photo Gallery, iPhoto and Aperture all closed. What each company documented as surviving the move, and what quietly did not.
What Photo Exports Actually Give You
Google, Apple, Meta and Flickr each hand back something different when you ask for your photos. What their own documentation says, and what it leaves out.
What Happens When a Photo Service Shuts Down
AT&T, Google, Flickr, Canon and Amazon have all closed photo services. What each company actually announced, when, and what became of the files.
Share Family Photos Without Sending Your Master Files
Apple publishes that Shared Albums cut photos to 2048 pixels. Most other routes publish nothing at all. What sharing really does to a photo file.
Cloud Sync Is Not a Backup
Sync mirrors your mistakes, and the bin empties in about 30 days. What each service really keeps — and how to build a 3-2-1 plan around a photo library.
Want to actually do something with your own photos? The Guides take it step by step — importing from a phone, camera or cloud export, repairing dates, and arranging a library you can navigate. Or see the Version 3 feature tour, or try the free web demo before installing the Windows app.