A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. (REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Files)
In November last year, Flickr's new owner SmugMug decided to implement a radical change to the image and video hosting service. The knock-on effect of that being, from Tuesday free accounts will start having images and videos deleted automatically if you're over the new limit.
SmugMug changed free accounts last year and replaced the 1TB storage limit with 1,000 photos or videos (regardless of size). On Jan. 8, any account over the new limit would be blocked from uploading anything new. However, Feb 5. is the more important date because SmugMug will start deleting your images and videos if you are over the limit.
The deletion will work backwards, removing your oldest images and videos first. If you haven't got them backed up, they will be gone forever. How many images and videos you lose simply comes down to how far over the 1,000 asset limit you are.
As an alternative to downloading your assets, you can instead choose to subscribe to a Flickr Pro account. It costs $50 a year and removes the storage limit, doesn't display any adverts, and allows you access to advanced stats regarding the performance of your images and videos. Flickr also gained support for 5K photo sizes and videos can now be up to 10 minutes long (the previous limit was three minutes).
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SmugMug did give account holders plenty of notice that this was happening, and I'm sure a few emails have been sent out as a reminder over the past few months. But if you've ignored all that and have thousands of images stored in your account still, then the $50 subscription is going to be your easiest option, even though it's the most expensive solution.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
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