Check Photo Archive Size Before the Drive Fills — Free
Two copies of a shoot double the space you need, and the drive you bought last year is already partly full. Add the written volume in order and see where a rotation is due.
The proof surface
Photo contact-sheet tools count pages of prints. This totals gigabytes written across a shoot list, including duplicate copies, and flags the point where the running total passes the drive capacity.
Why the flat version breaks
Counting one copy
Storage needs double when the rule is two copies.
Entering card capacity
The finished archive is what occupies the drive.
Trusting a drive forever
Drives wear out, so rotation and verification matter more than total space.
How to work the backup rotation strip
Enter the total gigabytes after culling, including raw files, sidecars and exported versions. Camera card sizes describe capture, which is almost always smaller than the finished archive folder.
Two copies means two writes: one to the working drive and one to the off-site or archive copy. The wedding shoot writes 600 gigabytes across those copies, not 300.
The running total passing the drive capacity is flagged, because that is the point where the next shoot needs a second drive or a bigger rotation. The sample writes 680 gigabytes in total against a 500-gigabyte drive.
Move a full drive to its off-site home and start a fresh one, then verify that files open from both copies. Check the drive maker’s guidance and replace ageing drives before they fail, not after.
What the backup rotation strip replaces
| Question | Before | Visible working |
|---|---|---|
| Counting one copy | Storage needs double when the rule is two copies. | Count every copy you actually make |
| Entering card capacity | The finished archive is what occupies the drive. | Read the crossing point |
| Trusting a drive forever | Drives wear out, so rotation and verification matter more than total space. | Rotate and verify |
A local arithmetic aid replaces hand calculation, not expert review. No paid AI service is needed.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Research prototype — checkout unavailable. Input is processed locally and a draft is saved automatically in this browser profile when storage is available. Reset to sample clears that draft; Pro history has its own clear button. A state link encodes your inputs in its URL: share only non-sensitive rows. Browser history, clipboard and anyone receiving the link may retain it. Optional AI use below leaves this device; it is not required.
This is storage arithmetic from sizes you supply and is not a backup guarantee. Verify every copy by opening files from it, keep at least one copy off-site, and replace drives according to the manufacturer’s guidance.
Data note: Everything runs in this browser tab on the backup rotation strip: your shoot | shoot size gigabytes | copies required stays on this device, nothing is uploaded, and the reading is rebuilt only when you press run.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a paper ticker strip
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the backup rotation strip reading, and holds your drafts on this device — one complete free run; the proposed $4 one-time filing layer is not currently for sale.
The backup rotation strip reading is complete for free. The optional $4 layer adds print, row CSV and the last five local reading summaries; it does not add hidden answers. Checkout is not configured yet; the article demo remains unlimited.
Open the check photo archive size before the drive fills companionBoundary
This is storage arithmetic from sizes you supply and is not a backup guarantee. Verify every copy by opening files from it, keep at least one copy off-site, and replace drives according to the manufacturer’s guidance.
What this is built on
- Method: The running total passing the drive capacity is flagged, because that is the point where the next shoot needs a second drive or a bigger rotation. The sample writes 680 gigabytes in total against a 500-gigabyte drive.
- All sample records are invented examples. The app does not fetch measurements, policies, files or personal records.
- Google’s official pricing page, fetched 2026-09-29, lists free-tier access including AI Studio. Optional formatting only; limits and availability can change. Free-tier content may be used to improve products. Never paste private records there.
Before: Storage needs double when the rule is two copies. After: the backup rotation strip shows the working beside each named row so the reader can change the assumption and inspect the consequence.
Optional AI formatting, not calculation
For this backup rotation strip, use the free AI Studio interface only if available to you, with no paid API key. Manual entry completes the same workflow for free. Supply only fictional or non-sensitive notes. Review its output against the source; never paste unresolved questions into the numeric rows.
Format my non-sensitive notes for a backup rotation strip. Return plain rows only: shoot | shoot size gigabytes | copies required. Preserve supplied quantities exactly. Do not guess missing values; list questions separately. Do not calculate or add advice. I will check every row before pasting into the local tool.
Accepted schema: shoot | shoot size gigabytes | copies required. No AI response is executed as code.