The short answer
Work through them in order. Sort the photos roughly by person, decade or family branch. Ask your oldest relatives who, where and when. Label the sleeve, or write lightly on the back near the edge with a soft pencil. Scan prints at 300 dpi, or use a phone app such as PhotoScan. Keep the originals in photo-safe sleeves somewhere cool and dry, not the attic or basement. Then write down the story behind each one.
On this page
Work through a box of old family photos one step at a time: sort them, find out who is in them, label them, scan them, store the originals properly, share copies and write down the stories. Most of it needs no special equipment, and you can stop after any step.
The last step matters most. Names and dates alone don't tell anyone what was happening that day, who was behind the camera or why the family kept the picture.
Sort them roughly first
Start with a few rough piles, not a perfect system. Sort by whatever is easiest to spot: one pile per person or couple, per decade, or per side of the family. Put photos nobody recognizes in a pile of their own.
Use envelopes, shoeboxes or folders, and write the name of each pile on the outside. Handle prints by the edges with clean hands, keep food and drinks off the table, and take off paper clips and rubber bands as you go. The Library of Congress advises against using either on photographs.
Find out who, where and when
Ask your oldest relatives first. They may be the only people who can name the faces in the earliest pictures.
Bring 10 or 20 photos at a time rather than the whole box. Write the answers down right away, or record the conversation on your phone so you can listen again later. Note how sure the person is: "probably Aunt Ida" is still worth writing down. These questions to ask your parents and grandparents can keep the conversation going.
When nobody knows, look for clues in the photo itself:
- Writing on the back, or a studio name printed on the front or back
- Cars, shop signs, street names and house numbers
- Clothes, hairstyles and uniforms
- The same face in another photo that is already labeled
If relatives live far away, put scans in a shared online album and ask them to fill in names. People you invite to a Shared Album in Apple's Photos app can add comments, so you can post a photo and ask who is in it (Apple's Shared Albums help). Google Photos has shared albums too.
Label them without damaging them
Label the sleeve or envelope when you can, and write on the photo itself only when you have to. The Library of Congress recommends avoiding marks on photographs where possible. If you must, limit what you write and put it on the back, near the edge, in soft graphite pencil (Library of Congress photo care). The same guidance says not to use sticky notes, tape or glue on photographs.
Write enough that a stranger could follow it:
- Full names, including maiden names, not "Grandma" or "Uncle Bud"
- The place, as exactly as you know it
- The year, or "about 1950" if you're not sure
- Who wrote the label, and when
Ruth Miller (later Ruth Carver) and her brother Tom on the porch at 412 Elm Street, Dayton, Ohio, about 1952. Labeled by Ruth's daughter Karen, 2026.
If the photos are in sleeves or an album, give each one a number and keep the details in a notebook or document under the same numbers.
Scan or photograph them
Scanning gives you copies to share and a backup if an original is lost or damaged. You have three choices.
A flatbed scanner. The Library of Congress suggests scanning ordinary prints, such as 4 by 6 and 5 by 7 inches, at 300 dpi, at 400 or 600 dpi if you might enlarge them to 8 by 10 or bigger, and slides at around 1900 dpi (Library of Congress scanning guide). Clean the glass first, scan the back too if it has writing on it, and start each file name with the date, such as 1952-elm-street-porch.jpg, so the files sort in order.
A phone app. PhotoScan by Google Photos is free on the iPhone App Store and also on Google Play for Android. It takes several pictures of each print and stitches them together to remove glare. Google's tips: lay the photo flat on a contrasting background, keep the phone level, take photos out of sleeves and albums, and turn on the flash (Google's PhotoScan help).
A scanning service. For hundreds of photos, you can pay a service to do the scanning. Ask what resolution they scan at, whether they scan the backs, how they name the files and how your originals travel. Keep a list of everything you send.
Store the originals somewhere cool, dry and dark
Keep the originals after you scan them, in the main part of the house. The Library of Congress and the National Archives both say to avoid attics and basements, and the National Archives adds garages. The Library of Congress also warns against spots near vents, fireplaces and radiators or along outside walls, and recommends a cool place, 70°F or below, with little light.
Put boxes on a shelf rather than the floor, away from pipes and windows. Then choose what the photos go in:
- Photo-safe sleeves and boxes. Look for products that say they pass the Photographic Activity Test (PAT). Clear sleeves should be uncoated polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene, and the National Archives says to avoid PVC.
- Albums with plain pages and photo corners. Avoid "magnetic" albums with sticky pages under clear film. The Library of Congress and the National Archives both warn against them.
- Nothing that sticks or clips. No tape, glue, rubber bands or paper clips.
If a photo is stuck fast to a magnetic album page, don't pull at it. Scan or photograph the whole page first. For a stuck or damaged photo that matters a lot, the Library of Congress page points to a directory of photograph conservators.
Color prints, slides and negatives can fade within decades at room temperature, according to the National Archives, so scan those early.
Share copies with the family
Share the scans and keep the originals together in one safe place. Put copies in a shared online album, copy them onto a USB drive for relatives who prefer that, or order prints for anyone who likes paper. Your best photos can also go into a printed book next to the stories behind them.
Keep at least two copies of your scans in different places, such as your computer and an external drive or online storage. The Library of Congress also suggests moving your scans to newer storage every five to seven years.
Decide early who will keep the originals. One careful relative can hold them all, or each branch of the family can take the photos of its own people.
Write down the story behind each photo
For each photo that matters, write a few sentences about what was happening, not just who is in it. Compare a label with a story:
Dad and his new Ford, 1956.
Dad bought the Ford in May 1956 with money he saved working at the feed store. Mom took this picture the day he brought it home, which is why she isn't in it. That afternoon he drove all four of us to Lake Hope and got a flat tire on the way back.
These questions pull a story out of a photo. Ask them of yourself, or of the relative holding it:
- Who took the picture, and why that day?
- What happened just before or just after it was taken?
- What's outside the frame? Who else was there?
- Why was this moment worth a photo?
- Who kept this photo all these years, and where?
- What happened to the people in it later?
- What does the photo leave out?
Write the answers in a notebook or document, numbered to match the photos, or record yourself talking about each one. A short paragraph per photo is enough to start. Later, those paragraphs can grow into a family history.
If writing is the hard part, you can add photos to Biographer from your phone or computer and talk about one. That conversation can become part of a story, and the photo goes into your book next to your stories. See how it works.
Common questions
Is it safe to write on the back of old photos?
It's best to avoid it. The Library of Congress recommends labeling the sleeve or envelope instead. If you must write on the photo, use a soft graphite pencil, write as little as you can, and keep to the back near the edge. Don't use sticky notes, tape or glue on photographs.
What resolution should I scan old photos at?
The Library of Congress suggests 300 dpi for ordinary prints such as 4 by 6 and 5 by 7 inches, and 400 or 600 dpi if you might enlarge them to 8 by 10 inches or more. Slides are much smaller than prints, so scan them at around 1900 dpi.
Should I throw away old photos after scanning them?
No. Keep the originals, stored in photo-safe sleeves or boxes somewhere cool and dry. Scans need looking after too: the Library of Congress suggests keeping at least two copies in different places and moving them to newer storage every five to seven years.
Where is the best place to store old photographs at home?
Store them on a shelf in the main living area of the house, away from outside walls, vents, radiators, pipes and windows. The Library of Congress and the National Archives both say to avoid attics and basements, and the National Archives adds garages. Keep the photos in photo-safe sleeves or boxes, out of the light.
What should I do with photos when no one knows who is in them?
Keep them together and scan them. Look for clues such as writing on the back, a studio name, cars, signs and clothes, and compare faces with photos that are already labeled. Show them to older relatives on every side of the family, including distant cousins. Then label what you do know, such as "From Grandma Ruth's album, about 1940."
