Why should we store images? From most of the posts it seems to aid in software development. If that is the case, there should be a Failed Protein Databank (FPDB) where people could upload datasets which they cannot solve. This would aid software development and allow someone else to have ago at solving the structure.
If it is for historical reasons, how can someone decide whether their structure is historical? I would propose that images should be uploaded for a protein or protein-complex that has never be solved before. That way the images are there if that structure does become historical. The question is not whether or not images should be uploaded but who would use the images that were uploaded. For example, people who use crystallography as a tool to aid in characterization of their protein, would probably not look at images for 99.5% of other protein datasets, and they probably would not look at images for a protein that is related to their own protein. They are more interested in the final structure. I too would probably not be interested in reprocessing and solving a structure again when I can easily access the final product already.
