'Hooked on Photos'

OAKDALE, Minn., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Admit it. Like most Americans, we've got shelves piled high with dusty shoeboxes of old photos and empty scrapbooks. And now, with the growth of digital cameras, we have CDs, DVDs, computer hard drives and e-mail boxes that are overflowing with digital photos and videos as well. It's true, according to a national consumer survey of 2,000 American adults, sponsored by Imation Corp , Americans are embracing digital technologies to capture and share their memories. Even so, many Americans have yet to fully master the more complex digital application skills, such as editing or digital scrapbooking.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050824/CGW015 )

In a year when the number of digital images captured worldwide is estimated at 100 billion(1), more than half of Americans surveyed (54 percent) are using digital technologies to capture and preserve their photos. In fact, the majority of Americans (71 percent) feel comfortable with the basics of storing, organizing and sharing their digital photos and videos and they are slowly tackling the more complex and creative tasks:

-- Thirty-two percent are editing photos and -- Twenty-four percent are creating digital photo albums.

"Americans, like the rest of the world, are indeed 'hooked on photos.' And, increasingly, they are taking, saving and sharing digital photos with family and friends," said Carla Pihowich, marketing operations manager, Consumer and Office Products, Imation. "Americans wish they could do more and be more creative with the images and videos that fill their hard drives and stacks of CDs and DVDs, but many don't know just how easy it can be to turn memories into keepsakes."

Analyst firm Understanding and Solutions confirms the continued growth of CD and DVD sales with an expected 12 percent growth in 2006 over 2005. In addition, the market is shifting to higher capacity DVDs, showing a predicted 52 percent growth in 2006 over 2005.

"Digital technologies allow consumers to be creative with digital images in ways that weren't possible with printed photos -- like photo editing, making DVD movies and creating digital photo albums," continued Pihowich. "And Imation has created some helpful tip sheets, available at http://www.imation.com/ , to help consumers get the most out of their photos and videos and preserve them on Imation CDs and DVDs."

Below are just some of the findings of the survey conducted this spring on Americans' attitudes, activities and concerns regarding capturing, editing, sharing and preserving digital memories.

Gone Digital: Americans Are Embracing the Digital Lifestyle

Eighty-nine percent of Americans surveyed say that sharing personal photos and videos is easy to do. And the majority of those surveyed (54 percent) say they are storing photos digitally.

-- Nearly half (47 percent) of Americans keep both digital and hard copies of their personal pictures and -- Seven percent of respondents have gone completely digital, keeping only digital copies of their personal pictures on CDs, DVDs or other digital storage devices.

According to the survey, being young and/or part of a family increases the likelihood that an American will have "gone digital." The Generation X cohort (ages 25-34) is about four times more likely than their grandparents, (ages 65+) to:

-- Edit digital photos (46 percent versus 12 percent), -- Create digital photo albums (35 percent versus 9 percent) and -- Edit and record home movies to DVD (18 percent compared to 4 percent).

The survey also confirmed that families with children are more likely than couples or singles to preserve their memories digitally by creating digital photo albums (32 percent compared to 19 percent) or editing digital photos (41 percent versus 26 percent).

Overall, those using digital photography, compared to those who still use analog cameras, are far more active in sharing their photo memories (94 percent and 59 percent, respectively). In fact, most respondents (61 percent) agree that keeping their pictures and movies digitally changes the way they share them with family and friends.

-- Fifty percent report using e-mail as their photo and video distribution method, -- Twenty-two percent store digital files on CD, -- Sixteen percent share their memories on DVDs and -- Fifteen percent post movies and photos directly to their personal Web site. Beyond Basics

The survey found that Americans are moving beyond basic digital photo and video tasks and are beginning to embrace more complex and creative applications.

-- The percentage of respondents who find creating digital photo albums, movies, slide shows or scrapbooks to be easy is 62 percent. -- And nearly half of Americans (47 percent), find it easy to edit digital photos and videos.

Yet, even though approximately half of American adults find these creative tasks easy to do, less than one-third of Americans are actually doing them.

Case in point: Women are more likely than men (77 percent and 67 percent, respectively) to take photos of family and friends, but men are more likely to preserve those memories.

-- Men are more likely than women to create digital photo albums on CDs or DVDs (26 percent versus 22 percent) and -- Men are more likely to edit, record or burn home movies on DVDs (14 percent compared to 11 percent).

Whether an analog camera, a complex task or lack of time stands in the way, Imation's simple tip sheets on how to quickly and easily create, share, store and edit digital photos and videos can help consumers further embrace digital applications and turn their images into precious memories. For more information, go to http://www.imation.com/digital-lifestyle .

About the Imation Consumer Survey

The consumer survey, sponsored by Imation Corp, polled 2,000 American adults via telephone in May 2005, allowing for a margin of error of no more than plus-or-minus two percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. A complete report on the survey's findings, including the questions and top line results as well as ways to save, store and share digital memories can be found online at http://www.imation.com/digital-lifestyle .

About Imation

Imation Corp is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of magnetic and optical removable data storage media. Additional information about Imation is available on the company's website at http://www.imation.com/ , or by calling 1-888-466-3456.

Imation and the Imation logo are trademarks of Imation Corp. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

(1) The photo industry: a changing landscape. (2005, May 4). Associated

Press. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7737607/