Graphic designers are known for working long and stressful hours to meet project deadlines. The reality is that there are external forces that can cause you to miss project deadlines.

You could work in a coffee shop and have your laptop stolen. About 10% of laptops are stolen every year, and 98% of them are never recovered.

Cyberattacks and computer failures are other realities you might have to face. The bottom line is that you need to know how to backup files to protect your work and your business.

Are you ready to discover how to back up your images and other important design files?

Let’s get to it!

1. External Hard Drive

An external hard drive is a separate hard drive that you plug into your computer via USB. This makes it easy to store the drive in a safe place.

External hard drives are as simple as a USB jump drive or you can use a large 1TB drive to backup your data.

2. Cloud Backup

A cloud backup means that you backup your data to servers away from your location.

Many people use a cloud backup in addition to an external hard drive. In IT terms, it’s called redundancy, but that’s a good thing for your computer files. You’ll have a backup if the cloud system or hard drive fails.

This resource details the best cloud backup tools and what to look for in a cloud solution.

3. System Restore

What if you update software and your computer suddenly stops working? You don’t need to throw the system away and lose all of your files.

You can roll back your machine using system restore. This resets your computer to a set point before your updates.

4. Website Backups

Does a lot of your design work involve websites? Then you’ll need to have a backup system in place for your work.

There are backup plugin solutions for WordPress sites. UpdraftPlus lets you backup your site to cloud systems like Google Drive and Dropbox. You can set the schedule to backup daily or weekly.

5. Always Have a Set Backup Schedule

You need to have two things set up to backup your most important files. You need to have a set backup schedule and assigned folders that get backed up.

How often you perform backups depends on how much work you produce. A daily backup schedule ensures that you don’t lose your hard work.

You’ll need to assign folders to get backed up. Be sure to always save your work in the right folders. Not doing so could cause you to lose your files.

How to Backup Files and Save Time

As a graphic designer, your clients depend on you to deliver quality work on time. You can’t do that if you have a malfunction or get hit with a cyberattack.

You can ensure that you don’t lose precious time by knowing how to backup files. You won’t lose your creative ideas or hard work by following the tips in this guide.

For more great tips for designers, check out the other articles on this site.