Not for a long time. There are 2-3 copies of your images on separate drives/machines while we are processing them. If something malfunctions before the delivery, we'll restore and start over.
In accordance with the industry-standard file retention policy — and due to the costs and technical limitations of long-term storage — we cannot guarantee that we will retain copies of your completed files indefinitely. Once your order is delivered, all files may be deleted from both the cloud and my local drives at any time and without prior notice.
Your responsibility: It is essential that you download and create multiple backups of your delivered files within a few weeks of receiving them. Once deleted from my systems, the files cannot be recovered, and we are not liable for any loss or damage on your end.
Possible backups: While we no longer store the original RAW files (these are converted to JPEGs before final delivery), there may be occasions when the JPEG versions remain temporarily in my cloud storage before they are permanently deleted. This is not a guaranteed service, and no promises are made that these backups will exist at any given time.
If files are still available: If you request a copy and we happen to still have them, we can restore and re-deliver the files for a fee comprising of:
- Administrative fee: $20 — covers my time to locate, restore, and prepare your files for re-delivery.
- Backup fee: $5/month — reflects the ongoing third-party storage costs we incur for retaining your files beyond the delivery date. This fee applies even if the files were not intentionally kept for your benefit.
For example, a job restored one year after the delivery will incur an $80 fee.
These fees are in place to help offset both the labor and the real, recurring storage expenses associated with temporarily holding large media files after a project is considered complete.