True_ False_

Digital data must be archived. Otherwise, the files will decay or become inaccessible due to changes in the software or hardware needed to access them. The need is more urgent than with books, because digital documents, left unattended, may last for only a few years.

— Harrison Eiteljorg II
Director, Center for the Study of Architecture and Archaeological Data Archive Project,
from The Fading Memory of the State, MIT Technology Review

For print service providers, the biggest caution is to store more than just the source image, but also the job settings and color corrections used to print the job. Without backing up that information, they risk not being able to reproduce the image exactly as before — which is what the print buyer wants.

— Dean Derhak
OEM and Product Director
|2169|

David Talbot, a Technology Review writer, reports that the United States National Archives (College Park, MD) is struggling to save its endangered electronic records. He says an allied organization, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for saving many, but not all, of the federal government s retired records, including the National Archives. Onyx Graphics Corp.

Improperly stored electronic records, Talbot says, fade faster than paper ones. He claims that the 230-year-old U.S. Declaration of Independence, inscribed on calfskin-based parchment, will outlast many of the electronic documents we re generating now.

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Disks are money

A modern sign and digital-print-shop business premium is that, because of computer-based systems, it can easily repeat — print or cut — a customer s sign or image. A designer simply pulls the job disk, downloads the image, makes necessary changes and sends the file to a cutter or printer. Right?

Not if you ve mishandled the disk — or no longer own the disk-appropriate system.

Truth is, there s time and money invested in your design and print files, and, because of this investment, archiving — safeguarding — these files is important. But, digital-file storage requires time, attention and certain investments. It requires firm management directives.

The first step is to educate your staff on proper disk handling. After this, you ll want to establish a storage and systems-upgrade policy. Experts say upgrading is the most critical issue because outdated data-storage systems are useless.

Remember the early floppy-disk systems? They quickly progressed to 31?2-in. disks that transmogrified into CDs and then DVDs. Now, we re beginning to see computers delivered with high-capacity blue-laser systems &endash; the Blu-ray or HD-DVD data-storage disk systems.

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Proper archiving

Improperly stored disks, including CD-ROMs, could deteriorate in five to 10 years, and improperly handled ones in even less time. But, as National Media Labs (St. Paul) Dr. John Van Bogart has said (in a published e-mail letter) to Businessweek writer Marcia Stephanek, There is little chance of information loss using digital media as long as one follows proper storage and handling procedures. In that document, he said the testing of CD-ROM media indicates lifespans of 100 years and longer.

Oppositely, some critics say many disks will lose information within 10 years, or sooner.

Eiteljorg says archiving can be done two ways: printing the documents on acid-free paper, with all the necessary (archival) precautions, or using computer processes to keep the digital files fresh and accessible. He also examines microfilming, but, more so, strongly suggests copying the files onto new digital media on a regular basis.

He says printing the files is the easiest process, because properly stored, acid-free paper can last eons. He adds, however, that printing has no value with digital-only data, meaning inherently digital files that can t be reduced to paper form: databases, CAD models and GIS datasets, for example.

Likewise, a print of a digitally prepared photograph or graphic image offers no production-data retrieval. In many instances, the only archival solution is to maintain the files in digital form, so you can access them with common future systems.

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All experts agree there s little chance of information loss in digital media as long as the saver follows proper storage and handling procedures — but, as with archival photography, the most effective systems aren t easy to implement. True archival disk storage calls for the use of high-quality, gold-layered reflector disks stored in sealed containers at a relative humidity of 20 to 50%. If the storage-area temperature is kept at 68° F, the disk data may be retrievable for approximately 100 years.

Everyday choices

An everyday, damage-prevention choice is to control temperature and humidity changes and return the disks to their cases immediately after use. Also, handle disks by the outer edge or center hole; mark them with non-solvent, felt-based markers (if possible, write on the inner circle); and always store them in the cases, on end, like books.

Don t touch the disk s surface, nor bend it or apply an adhesive label. If it has a label, don t try to remove it (this may imbalance the disk during operation). If you can t avoid extreme temperature or humidity changes, give the disk time to acclimate to its new environment before using it.

Because they re read by lasers, CD and DVD disks are untouched in actual use. Playback may be hindered, however, if any surface obstruction, damage, scratching or deterioration exists. When necessary, clean your disks with a soft cotton fabric (an old cotton T-shirt), stroking from center to edge; if needed, use a specifically manufactured CD/DVD-cleaning detergent.

When will systems change?

Because industrial electronics innovations often follow retail market developments (for example, large-format, electronic digital signage [EDS] evolved from large-screen, home-television systems), it s smart to observe what s new at your local Best Buy or Circuit City store for a glimpse of upcoming transformations. Or, at least, peruse your newspaper and website technology sections for clues.

For example, CNN Headline News anchor Renay San Miguel, writing (on his blogsite) from the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, said, … 2005 saw the rise of iPod culture, movies and TV shows over the Internet [legally… and on your iPod], cell-phone cameras, blogging, podcasting, Wi-Fi, video games in your back pocket [and on your cell phone] … all contributing billions of dollars to America s economy and all sending shock waves through traditional media.

Saying he was resisting the temptation to call the show the mother of all geekfests, he offered that the January 2006 event, in terms of attendance and company announcements, will be the biggest yet.

He also warned of the coming battle between high-definition DVD and Blu-ray DVD. Your next DVD player, he wrote, will support one of these two new formats, but the conflict of designs will also force movie studios, makers of DVD players and consumers to make a VHS vs. Betamax-style choice.

About Blu-ray

Developed by the Blu-ray Disc Assn., a joint group of leading consumer electronics and PC companies, the Blu-ray disk is a next generation optical disk format meant for high-definition video (HD) and high-density data storage.

Unfortunately, a similar system, HD-DVD, was developed almost simultaneously, and, expectedly, backers of the two systems have begun to spar. Sony cheers Blu-ray, and Toshiba backs HD-DVD. Neither, so far, intends to lose, although you could, should you choose the defeated system.

In November 2004, Hewlett-Packard announced it would begin selling Blu-ray-equipped desktop PCs in late 2005, and laptops in early 2006; a later release said it would also support HD-DVD.

Blu-ray uses a shorter wavelength (405nm) blue laser that allows it to store much more data than a CD or DVD, on a same-sized disk. HD-DVD operates similarly. Engineers can more narrowly tune blue laser beams, compared to the present-use red lasers, and this allows narrower tracks, meaning more data can be implanted on a disk.

These new disks also have encoding improvements that apportion more information space. One single-layer Blu-ray disk (BD) can hold roughly 25GB (approximately two hours) of HD video plus audio; the dual-layer BD disk can store approximately 50GB.

The more practical news is that TDK recently announced a hard-coating technology that permits bare disk handling. TDK s hard coating not only provides scratch resistance to disks, but, the company says, you can easily remove fingerprint smudges with a tissue.

A photo that should gladden any signmaker s heart – it shows a full-color, large-format, flatbed-digital printer imaging on a 4 x 8-ft. sheet of painted, 1?2-in. plywood. Shot at the recent United States Sign Council show in Atlantic City, the photo shows |1137| 60-in. wide, GERBER SOLARA UV2 roll-to-roll/flatbed printer in operation.Gerber Scientific Products

Other manufacturers displayed similar print operations at the Specialty Graphic Imaging Assn. s December 2005 show in Phoenix, including |2248| s Arizona T220 flatbed series that utilizes either solvent- or UV-based inks. The T220 prints up to 62 in. wide x 120 in. long directly onto many flexible or rigid materials up to 2 in. thick.Océ