How can i backup my sd card before formatting

can whatever put those files there still 'see' them?

Don't worry! You also could move the files to your PC as long as you take the right steps:
1. Insert your SD card to your computer via a card Reader and never format this SD card before you have got back all your files.
2. Run a third-party SD card recovery freeware to get back your files. As your SD card is asked to format, you also cannot access your files. Therefore, you need a recovery tool to regain your data before the format. Here is a SD card recovery freeware for you: http://blog4mark.blogspot.com/2013/01/unformat-memory-c...
3. Mark the wanted files to recover. Sometimes, this freeware will scan some data that you have deleted or formatted before. Therefore, you need to select your wanted ones for saving time.
4. Preview your recovered data.
5. Save your recovered data on a different drive, not the same SD card.
6. Back up you important data regularly in the future.