Gadget of the Week: Software on a photo rescue mission

What is it?

Photo recovery software exists almost entirely because of user error, from accidental deletes to storage cards being formatted before the images were copied.

Storage media deserves some of the blame, but the real culprit is usually the error code “ID 10 T” or, as computer professionals say, the “IdioT” in the chair. In other words, people who assume their images are always backed up in the cloud, or it had happened when it had only been scheduled, or similar errors. And we are all idiots in this regard. But you can save yourself from yourself. Or. At least, software can.

Stellar Data Recovery has been building tools in this category long enough to know where things go wrong for photographers. The Photo Recovery software handles a wide spread of file formats: the major RAW formats from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm among them, alongside the standard JPEGs and TIFFs, and video formats including MP4 and MOV.

It scans the selected media or storage, attempts to reconstruct what was lost, and shows you previews before recovery happens. That last part is more valuable than it sounds. You should be able to see what you are getting back before you pay for the privilege, and many cheaper tools skip this step entirely.

Testing covered the scenarios most likely to send a photographer into a cold sweat:

• Photos deleted from an SD card;
• A card that had been quick-formatted and then used briefly for new images.
• A mirrorless camera card with a mix of RAW and JPEG files shot on the same outing.
• A deep scan of a 64GB card to test how far down the software would go before giving up.

The deleted file test was the most immediately encouraging. Files removed in the ordinary way came back with names and folder structure intact where the file system still held that information. Where it did not, Stellar organised the recovered files by type and capture date:  a sensible fallback that makes sorting through the results manageable. The previews were accurate. Files opened cleanly in Google Photos and on the desktop.

The formatted card was a harder test, and the results split accordingly. Files written before the format and left undisturbed on the card came back well. Areas of the card that had been written over with new images were a sad story. Those files were gone, and the software was honest about it.

This is how storage works: formatting clears the card’s table of contents but leaves the underlying data in place, at least until something new is written on top of it. Stellar’s previews showed the difference clearly, so there was no false hope about files that had been terminally overwritten.

The RAW test turned out to be the most revealing. Cheaper recovery tools tend to come apart in this context, perhaps showing a plausible thumbnail, and then handing over something that Google Photos refuses to open. Stellar brought the RAW formats back complete, with metadata intact and previews that matched the recovered files. However, it refused to provide previews for files larger than 100MB in size – and that is not unusual in video phoptography, even on a phone.

The deep scan on the 64GB card took most of an afternoon. That is the cost of the thoroughness, and it is worth knowing in advance if a deadline is involved. The results came back organised by file type, with the original folder structure gone. That is standard for a deep scan, but something to factor in if you shot a three-day event across carefully named folders and formatted the card on the way home.

The interface is simple enough. Scan options are clearly laid out, and the distinction between a quick scan and a deep scan is explained in plain language. The preview pane is large enough to assess image quality and shows file condition before any decision has to made. A filter system lets you narrow results by file type, which becomes important when a deep scan finds thousands of files and you are hunting for a specific afternoon’s shoot.

The file types listed are revealing: it runs from four different Adobe formats, AutoCAD and three Canion options all the way to multiple Windows options and even the WordPerfect Graphic format – which those of a certain vintage may remember.

The software flags files that are too damaged to recover usefully. This is the correct approach, but a less careful user could easily recover a folder of broken JPEGs, find they will not open, and conclude the software has failed. The tool can only work with what the media holds. Data that has been physically overwritten is beyond recovery, and no software will change that.

The pricing structure raises a question that follows every subscription-model software product around: is it worth paying annually for something you may use twice a decade? The free option only covers the first 10 files, which will be used up instantly if one is not sure what to recover.

Stellar offers a per-month and per-year licence. Buyer beware the Standard version, though. It only recovers, and does not repair corrupted or damaged photos and videos. For that, you need the Premium version.

What does it cost?

Stellar Photo Recovery is sold in US dollars, so the rand price moves with the exchange rate. The Standard version is $49.99 a year, the Professional $59.99, and the Premium $69.99. The software runs on both Windows and Mac.

Does it make a difference?

Free recovery tools exist, but they tend to reward technical patience over results, and they rarely handle RAW formats with any reliability. Stellar Photo Recovery fills that gap with better format coverage and previews that give you necessary information before committing to a recovery. It makes sense for photographers who cannot afford to lose a shoot.

What are the biggest negatives?

• Deep scans on larger cards run to several hours.
• Deep scans do not preserve original folder structures.

What are the biggest positives?

• Broad RAW format support, with previews that accurately reflect what will be recovered.
• Preview-before-recovery is informative, showing file condition so you know what you are getting.
• An interface that manages a technically complex process without requiring the user to understand what is happening underneath.

*Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.