What should I do with this big box of unidentified photographs?

Scanning the family archive - some help for the novice.

I am a photographer. Indeed, I have been a professional photographer all my working life; with few exceptions photography is all I have ever really done. However, photography is not just about taking photographs, in fact, as a photographer, I have always spent more time processing, printing and captioning photos than I ever did at working at rugby matches or at conferences

I can’t go out and take photographs at the moment get a coffee and pull up a chair and let me share some of my knowledge with you.

When I am not photographing rugby, or conferences or events I scan and digitise old photographs. I also renovate those new digital images allowing old photographs to be seen by a new generation.

My children are not interested in photographic prints, but they love photographs. They have tablets, and iPads and telephones. I am guessing that this is pretty much the same in your household too.

My parents however are different; they haven’t really taken to the digital world. Throughout my life my mum had a photograph drawer. That is to say, a big drawer in the ‘welsh-dresser’ into which all family related photographs were put. I wonder how many of you have a similar collection.

Throughout her life, my mother resisted my attempts to explore this storehouse of family history. Indeed, it was not until (sadly) she became incapacitated that I had proper access to it and all it contained. What a wonderful treasure trove I found. When you have a collection of photos like this, it makes sense to try and organise them. 

Ideally, one needs to:

1.   Identify the people in the pictures. If one person can be identified, perhaps they can tell you who the others are

2.   Ascertain when they were taken. It is worth noting that machine prints often have the date of processing/printing stamped on the back.

3.   Identify where the snapshot was taken. Shop names, landmarks, all can help. Sometimes the name of the photo shop will be stamped on the back. If a professional photo often the shop details will be on the back.

Photographs and photographic paper can be delicate and sometime difficult to write on so it might be a good idea to obtain some sticky labels that you can write the details on and then attach to the photo – preventing further damage

Family photograph taken in the 1970s, machine printed typical of those you might have

So you have a massive pile of photographs – what do you do?

Probably the most important thing is to establish your objectives with regards to the photo collection.

Being able to access your photographs

For most people this is the overall requirement. Hundreds of photographs in a box won’t get looked at from one year to the next, however if the photos are scanned (made into digital files) the whole family have a chance to access them – even if it is simply to get their own copy of prints.

Distribution

Hard copy photographs are difficult to share, especially if they are the only one left in existence. Once you have a digital copy every family member can have a copy.

Repairing Damaged Prints

With a decent scan of a damaged or problem image it is possible to fix whatever is wrong, even issues that have been part of the original print.

Preserving Originals

Once scanned original prints can be safely stored, perhaps even indexed.

A Family History

Having a collection of accessible images can bring a family closer together and increase the interest of newer generations in those of the past. The digitised images are easy to incorporate into family trees for instance.

Books and prints

Digital images can easily be incorporated into photo books, and copy prints made

Family photograph taken in 1933, originally hand-printed.

My photographs are sorted – what do I do now?

You may well have different types of photographic media in your family photo collection, although I will assume that most of your photographs are actually prints, I think it is important to discuss the various means of scanning each type of photograph.

In principle the likelihood is most of your photos will be prints, so I will deal with these first.

There are two obvious ways of scanning prints whether they are black and white or colour.

The first is to use a flatbed scanner. This is relatively simple, and provided instructions are followed, a high enough quality of scanner is used, software used correctly and an appropriate scan size chosen the resulting files should be quite presentable.

Alternatively, prints can be copied using a digital camera. This second method can work very well, and if a good set-up is prepared can also be much quicker. However, the camera method does have its drawbacks, which for many may make it less favourable. The camera and lens have to be exactly perpendicular to the print, which needs to be kept very flat, and the print needs to be evenly lit.

In addition the file size you obtain is limited by the camera you use. Larger files sizes are very desirable for prints which require a lot of work doing to them. The camera should ideally be full frame and of a high pixel count. A Canon EOS 6D Mk II at 26.2 Megapixels will cost ￡1200 – without a lens

Flatbed scanners are much cheaper by comparison. An Epson perfection V850 Pro will cost only ￡900. Obviously there are both more expensive and less expensive pieces of kit that will do an equally good job. A used Epson V500 flatbed scanner might cost less than ￡100 and do perfectly well

For ease of use and cost, flatbed scanners will probably be a good choice for the novice

Epson's V850 Pro scanner

What do I do with all these different types of print?

Most of us will have a number of different types of print to deal with in our collections of family photographs.

So you might be wondering how to deal with each type of photo, This is important as each might require different handling.

Albums and mounted collections

Albums are great to work with as often the photos have been stored well and away from light and physical damage and there is a good chance that they will also have been labelled and captions with names, dates and places.

However, they might prove difficult to work with. Some can be disassembled which is great but many can’t so need very careful handling when scanning (keeping pages flat etc)

Vintage Prints

I treasure working with vintage prints. Hand-made photographs sometimes 100 years or more old. Usually professionally well-taken photographs, hand processed so avoiding the difficulties encountered with machine processed work. These prints should be made a priority in your work as fewer people will be available to give you identification and other details

Modern prints.

By the end of the sixties and into the 70’s hobbyist photography changed. A new process called ‘C-41’ became a new standard for consumer processing. All of a sudden we had ‘machine-printing’ post card sized colour prints available, at a cost lower than ever before.

Sadly, over time we can see that machine printed ‘enprints’ are often poor quality, have gained colour staining and light damage, and often have lasted much less well than black and white prints twice their age.

Family Photography was transformed by the introduction of machine printing

How do I deal with these old transparencies and slides?

Transparencies and slides require different handling to prints. Whereas a print can simply be put into a flatbed scanner are easily digitised, transparency stock needs special holders, frames and mounts.

Many flatbed scanners have specialist holders for transparencies (and for strip negatives) so it is possible to do basic scans your self – might take a little practice. Because of the way they work Flatbed scanners to take time to scan even the small are presented by a 35mm slide.

There are also dedicated film scanners. These can be bought for as little as ￡70 which will produce an acceptable low resolution digital file that will be fine as an en-print. Beware though these scanners are limited, and will not give you the high resolution required for larger prints or for serious corrective work to be performed

There is a good argument for using the digital camera and traditional slide copier route, using a daylight balanced light panel. There are two recognised disadvantages of this route:

·        The final file size is limited by the camera file size

·        There is no access to dust cleaning/removal software available with some conventional scanners

Transparencies can be more difficult to scan as they require special mounts and holders for the scanner.

How do I scan Black and White Negatives?

It is very unlikely that you will have negatives to match the very oldest of your black and white (monochrome) photos, as early photography was very much the preserve of the professional or well-heeled amateur, and more often or not the negatives were on glass rather than modern (film) acetate.

If you have negatives to match your black and white prints, unless the negatives are of the 35mm format or possibly 2 ?” square formats, it is also unlikely that your scanner will have the appropriate adapters. Some more expensive professional scanners might well have a wide range of adaptive mounts capable of allowing you to scan them.

In principle it will always be better to scan from film rather from prints, however in practice prints will be easier to scan and the flatbed scanner is particularly suited to the task with built in light source and the ability to hold prints ‘flat’, essential for accurate scanning.

Most scanning software will have the appropriate setting for monochrome negatives just as they do for the corresponding prints

6x7 format negatives can be challenging for all but professional standard scanners

What do I do with my colour negatives?

The change from black and white photography to colour seemed on reflection to happen overnight, yet the reality was that it did take several years

All of a sudden though it was possible to hand your exposed film to a shop assistant and return a week or so later and collect a packet of enprints in full colour. All ready to be put into an album, or more likely looked at for a couple of weeks and then simply shoved in the photograph drawer (my parent’s house) or a box in the attic or garage.

In most cases of course the negatives soon got separated from the prints, and for most of us the negatives are long gone.

In theory at least the negatives *should* give better photos than the enprints we stored.

If you have the original negatives they will often give you a superior digital file when scanned.

For some this might be an easy process, for others it might be less so. Not all scanners can handle colour negatives well, and it will be almost impossible to easily use your phone for the work.

There is another issue that is less appreciated, and that is the problem of dust. Once the clean negative has been removed from its negative sleeves, dust will be attracted to the negatives as if they were magnetised to do so. Dust is the terror of the scanner.

As a professional I will always choose negatives over prints, however my cleaning and dust reduction regimen is extensive, that few hobbyists will be able to match. Working on the dining room table I suspect that scanning the original enprints may well give you more consist results and far quicker than struggling with negatives.

35mm colour negatives should be straight forward with many scanners, however beware of deadly dust.

What do I need to know about copyright?

Unless all your photographs were taken by you yourself, then the issue of copyright must be considered.

All photographs are covered by international copyright law.

This will include:

• your own photographs – you own the copyright.
• Photographs taken by other family members and friends – they own the copyright. Professional wedding and portrait photographs – the photographer there owns the copyright too.
• With commissioned wedding and portrait photography although the photographer retains copyright, the licensing is (usually) for home or personal use only.

Whether or not a photo has been published (and posting on social media or a website does count as publishing), all original photography is covered by a standard lifetime of the photographer and a further 70 years after their death!

You are the copyright holder, or control use if:

• You took the photograph
• You inherited the photograph from the photographer’s estate
• You employed the photographer and the photo was made as part of their job
• You have the paperwork proving that you have been given or purchased a license to use

Simply having a copy of a photograph, even if you paid for the print does not make you a copyright holder.

Public Domain.

Photographs in the public domain can be used by anyone. A photo is in the public domain if:

• The copyright period has expired
• The copyright holder has specifically placed it in the public domain.     

In the UK for more information see the 1988 copyright Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents

Hardware: what do I really need? How much should I spend?

What you need and what you spend on scanning equipment will depend on several factors, not least of which is how much money you have available for the task in hand.

I am assuming that you will want to get the project underway for as little outlay as possible and will want to see some photos straight away.

The easiest way to start this project is to use either your smart phone or a flatbed scanner. It is even likely that you already have a flatbed scanner of some sort as part of a 3-in-1 printer set up. Such printers are available form ￡60 (or less) and will be able to perform basic scans. They often come with simple software that allows you to make basic adjustments, which may be all you need.

A dedicated stand-alone scanner such as the Epson V39 will do prints and negatives and comes with basic adjustment software and costs around ￡100. At the other end of the scale the Epson V850 Pro costs ￡800+

The advantage of the flatbed scanner is that it should cover most of your scanning needs regardless of the medium (print, negative of slide).

You can also use your smartphone to photograph prints. This does need some care, but with practice you can get acceptable results, and for no extra outlay. If you are dealing with negatives and slides then the phone option becomes less practicable (not impossible) and if a large number of prints are involved then again the flatbed option become more attractive.

Examples of scanners

• Epson V39 from ￡100
• Epson WF-2810 all-in-one printer scanner from ￡60
• Epson Perfection 1260 less than ￡50
• hp envy 4524 from ￡70

HP Envy 4524

Epson Perfection1260

Making notes of Captions, names, dates and places

Identifying photographs is very important, and it is something that is often forgotten.

My maternal grandmother used to write meticulous details of all the photographs she put in her albums. Every photo had:

• Subject name
• Date it was taken
• Place is was taken

As a consequence I can identify people who have long left us and build up a good picture of the family between and shortly after the war.

My mother, bless her, and her photograph drawer, noted none of these things, so I have had to rely on my own memory of events and talking to other elderly relatives, who sadly are becoming fewer.

Every one of your scanned images should be easily identifiable.

In my work (as a conference photographer) I complete the meta-data inside the images file accessible by specialist software such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom etc.

As a consumer you might not have this so instead I suggest a hierarchical approach

Name a folder with the date (reversed) and the occasion - ‘740219 John and Joan Smith wedding’

Individual photo files are best identified by a date, name or identification of the people in it and an individual numerical identification, for example 740219_0001_John and Joan

Reversing the date make the images file chronologically and therefore easy to find.

Giving each file a unique number aids identification, if there are several photos of the same person and putting the names of those in the photo just makes sense

Putting the same identification on the back of each print also makes sense.

Samples of helpful file labeling ' date – number - identification'

How should I store my original photographs?

One of the best ways to store original photographs is in an album. The photographs can be put in an order, are easily identified and captioned, and provided the album is stored sensibly. the photos can be kept away from damp and sunlight.

If you aren’t storing photograph in an album, then they can be stored in purpose made photo pages, perhaps made of paper or plastic. These can then be stored in a file or box and kept away from sunlight and damp. There are purpose made archive storage boxes and it is these I prefer. Do not then store the box in damp, humid or in conditions where the temperature fluctuates between extreme. Inside the house is better than a garage, attic or cellar (unless these places have been suitably converted

Keep the photographs safe, dry, away from sunlight and in an ordered fashion. Photographs are a legacy for future generations.

A similar strategy should be planned for your digital photographs.

We have already looked at file and folder naming which makes each photograph easier to access on your computer or phone. Are there any other storage points that you should consider?

Well yes. As computers and phones can get damaged, fail or get lost, it makes sense to have a back-up (well several back-ups) of your precious family photographs.

All of my files are stored on a separate hard drive connected to my computer. This hard drive is backed up to a second drive also attached to the computer. I have a third hard drive kept at a friend’s house. These are rotated monthly.

Other storage media which need to be considered are removable storage such as USB flash drives and DVDs. DVDs are going out of fashion now so may not be a good long term solution, however for the moment Flash drives are a reasonable option. They also useful for sending those newly scanned images to relatives for them to enjoy

More recently most of us now have access to cloud storage. Whilst I do not recommend on relying on Cloud storage as the only means of storing your precious family photos, it should certainly be considered as an inexpensive back-up. There is the added advantage that several devices can access the same collection easily

  Storing photographs in an album is an excellent way to curate, and keeping digital files on multiple back-ups makes sense.

Should I scan every Photograph?

My mum bless her wanted to keep every precious photograph of her family. It did not matter whether she had cut their heads off when taking the photo, whether they were out of focus, under-exposed, none of this mattered to her. These were precious memories of her family. 

These were all relegated to the Photograph drawer, until liberated decades later.

I have learned as a professional photographer that a photograph is equal to or better than a thousand words

I have also learned that one good photograph is better and more useful than ten not as good photographs. Nobody is interested in the out-of-focus photo if there is a really good photograph there to be seen.

My recommendation to you then when you are creating this wonderful family archive is that if you have ten snapshots taken of someone at the same time at the same place and one is really good and the others are not as good, that you only scan the good one. This will save you time, effort and storage space and will have the added advantage of making your final collection of photographs that much more enjoyable for those viewing it.

More recently most of us now have access to cloud storage. Whilst I do not recommend on relying on Cloud storage as the only means of storing your precious family photos, it should certainly be considered as an inexpensive back-up. There is the added advantage that several devices can access the same collection easily

Choosing the best photo out of a group of similars has far more impact than simply scanning lots of snaps that are similar, just not as good.

What do I do with my new digital files?

Not only will you need to keep your new digital family photo archive safe, you will also want to be able to have easy access to it, for both your own personal use, and so that other members of your family can access and gain from all your hard work.

I my own case I want those photographs to be available to my kids and eventually their kids and so on.

You should have a master folder which contains all the scanned, prepared, labelled and edited photo files.

Inside that main folder you will need to organise and keep all your photos. You cannot expect all your family to have sophisticated data asset management (DAM) software so from the beginning you must keep things simple and easy access.

One way is to treat your collection like a series of albums; each album can be a year or period of time (for example)

With each individual image dated and named it should be possible to easily find any image in the collection by either a visual search or by searching for names

Having a simple hierarchical storage system will make it easy to find your photos both in albums and as digital files.

Should I save everything as a JPEG

There are a number of options that you can contemplate when saving the files of your scanned family photographs, but I suggest that you only consider the most important three

DNG

Digital Negative is an archival image format designed to enable your scanned photo file the best chance of being accessible long into the future. There is a good argument for having one set of your photographs stored as DNG format. The only difficulty is that some scanner software does not offer this as an option and that you may need to use aftermarket software in order to get the DNG Format.

TIFF

Tagged Imaged File Format is the choice of many professional photographers to stored ‘finished’ photographic files.. Compatible with many kinds of software and is a frequently chosen archival file format. Indeed for long term storage it is the file of choice for me.

Not as versatile as JPEGS and files size is much larger, and a bit bigger in size than a DNG, so probably not the way you make images available to the family

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group is a compressed file format that is hugely versatile, and is very well suited for sending (by e-mail for example), web use, social media, printing, etc. Saved at the highest resolution the quality is comparable to a TIFF, but with medium compression files size is reduced considerably making the format very versatile. Do not over compress or file quality will start to fall off

For ease of use, ease of transfer, and accessibility I recommend that the pics you make available to the family should be in a JPEG file format saved at compression 5-7 (medium). 

 Save your photographs as TIFFS for long term storage and as JPEGS for distribution to the family and using online.

What is the best way to name my files?

 Conventionally when one is looking at prints one is making ones choice and assessment of family photographs with one’s eyes.

With digital files, more often or not the choice is made by looking at files names, and or searching on those names, so it is important to put as much information into a file name as possible.

• Ensure that individual files are identifiable from each other
• Each file needs a specific identity
• Good to know when the photo was taken
• Essential to know who is in each photo

In order to achieve all these things and also to ensure that each photo is stored and is accessible in order I have come up with the following file naming protocol that you might like to borrow and maybe improve upon.

Each of my photo files has a date it was taken: Year–month-day:19700423

Identify of photographer: PJ (Pete Jenkins)  Not everyone is going to need or want this info.

A unique number – this might be the number allocated by the scanning software (for example.): 01234

Identity of those in the picture: John_Smith_Jane_Smith

So a photo of John and Jane Smith taken on 23rd April 1970 would be given the unique identity/name

19700423_PJ_01234_John_Smith_Jane_Smith

If they are stored in the folder 19700423_Pamela_John Smith Wedding, inside the folder 1970, then the photos can easily be found by doing a physical search, or equally can be found by search on the date, the occasion or the individuals names.

You may well be able to come up with an even more efficient method yourself.

 Careful naming of your photographs will make them easy to identify and easy to search for.

What is the best way to title, caption and keyword?

With conventional prints quite often the important information about the photo can be written on the back of the physical photo.

With photograph albums the relevant details are often written alongside each photograph.

With a slide or transparency the information is often written in tiny writing on the slide mount.

So what about our scanned digital photographs.

We have already seen how information can be put into the file’s title, 19700423PJ01234_John_Smith_Jane_Smith and that the folders the photo-files are stored in can be similarly identified.

Did you know that reams of information can also be stored digital inside the file itself?

It is done using an application such as Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is relatively expensive so may not be an investment you want to make instead you can try something like ‘GIMP’ The Free & Open Source Image Editor https://www.gimp.org

If you are able to access the caption fields etc of your digital photograph there is room to put in all kinds of details, typically you can add the ‘who, what, why, when, where, and how’.

• Title Field: You can put a more friendly title then the fil id, say John and Jane Smith rather than 19700423PJ01234_John_Smith_Jane_Smith. The title filed is often used by web media
• Caption/description field: This is where you can put a description of the photo. Do this as a sentence or a paragraph.
• Keywords: These will be descriptive words or phrases that can be used in ‘searches’

Careful captioning and key-wording will help your family photographs to be found easily in the future.

A good way to digitise your prints from preparation to file.

Prepare the prints by first of all grouping them as you want to shoot them. All the photos should be scanned in the order you will use them.

Before you start scanning clean everything, wipe each photograph. Dust is the enemy of the scanner, and dust gets everywhere especially with old photographs and albums

As each print is scanned, note the individual identification number and write it on the back of the print. That way you can easily match each photo to digital file very easily.

Scanning framed prints. Wherever possible remove from the glass. If you have to keep the glass (say the print is stuck to it), remove the frame and you may well be ok. (If in any doubt this might be one occasion when getting help from a professional makes sense)

Scanning albums. If the pages can be removed from the album this is ideal. If the pages cannot be removed then you have to keep the pages as flat as possible. Sometime the scanner lid is flexible sometime sit is simply hinged. If hinged try using some kind of spacer to keep even pressure on the pages.

Once you have your scans, you will want to rename, and add captions etc.

Most scanning software will have basic colour correction etc use this if you need to. If you are using editing software like Photoshop, GIMP, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements then adjustments are always better through the software not the scanner.

Most simple editing software will allow you to crop, frame, adjust lightness to get the best possible results, and don’t forget to include caption details

 A soft brush kept for the purpose is vital for keeping the scanner glass dust free.

Albums can be awkward to scan sometimes as the pages do need to be kept flat.

The best way to digitise your slides from prep to file.

If your scanner allows you to scan slides/transparencies then the most important things to remember is to clean everything, as transparencies attract dust, and because they are so small, dust on a slide is far more invasive than it is on a print.

Be very careful handling transparencies as they are delicate. They should only be handled via the mount, and be very careful not to bend or break the slide mounts too.

Cleaning the glass of the scanner should be done with a soft cloth. Do not use polish or domestic cleaners on the glass, as these often have unnecessary additives that can leave a layer on the glass. If the glass does pick up a mark or stain, then only use and anti-static cleaning fluid in small amounts.

 Slides should only be cleaned with a very soft anti-static brush. It is possible that if your slides have been stored poorly that there will be dirt or mold, mildew and/or fungus on them. The soft emulsion layer is susceptible to this in damp conditions. DO NOT wash the slides, this will not remove the growth and will soften the emulsion probably causing more problems.

 I also do not recommend using ‘film cleaner’ as this is very unlikely to help, and more likely to cause further problems.

Scan id should be written carefully in the mount, and the slides should then be returned to slide sleeves for safe keeping.

Unlike prints and negatives the scanning software for transparencies may have some anti dust software such as ‘Silverfast’ that may assist in removing the worst of the dust n the film. Try a scan with and without to see whether you are happy with results.

Digital files can then be dealt with as for prints scans.

Some people cut negatives and just keep the ones scanned. These can be mounted in slide mounts for added protection. Specialist cleaning cloths and brushes kept solely for the use on the scanner are the best way to keep the scanner glass clean

The best way to digitise your negatives from prep to file.

Scanning negatives is different to scanning either prints or transparencies.

Clearly the biggest difference is that one is looking at a reversed image which makes them difficult to identify and examine compared to a print or slide. For this reason, as the scanner will make the scans into positives there is an advantage to scanning all of them and doing your ‘cull’ after the scan process is finished.

Negatives should be kept in a strip for scanning, and should be stored in purpose made negative storage sheets to keep them clean and damage free.

Negatives attract dust. The only safe way to clean them is using a soft anti-static brush and maybe some compressed air.

I do not recommend liquid cleaners, or washing the negatives. The likelihood is that you will create more damage than you already have with the dust.

As with slides, mold, mildew and/or fungus can grow on the soft emulsion layer which is susceptible to this in damp conditions. DO NOT wash the negatives, this will not remove the growth and will most likely cause more problems.

I also do not recommend using ‘film cleaner’ as this is very unlikely to help, and more likely to cause further issues.

If you really must clean negatives more aggressively then copy them first.

Unlike with transparencies there are no anti-dust software that work on negatives, keeping them clean is your best option

Digital files can then be dealt with as for prints scans.

Negatives are notoriously difficult to keep dust free, so do need careful handling

What is the best way to show the new family archive?

Now that you have completed your family archive there are many ways in which you can use your newly scanned images or share them with the rest of the family.

Traditional prints

Now that you have new digital files it is possible to create new prints. If the original quality was good and you have scanned large enough files you may well be able to produce larger prints than the original

Slide shows and videos

Slideshows and videos are always popular, and can be distributed by DVD, CD, and USB flash drives and your family can usually see them on their televisions and computers

Social media, Facebook Instagram, etc

Younger generations, and even some of the older family members are very taken with social media, and your new JPEG files will allow uploading to the family’s social media pages

Internet website

The more adventurous might even have a family website where photographs can be both shared and displayed

Photobook

Photobooks are amongst my favourites and I have made many for family members, and for clients. There is no better way of showing of a photograph collection than in a well curated photobook. Text is (relatively) easily added as required

This is the end of my 'scanning the family archive for beginners', and I hope you have enjoyed it and that it has help give you the impetus to tackle your own collection of precious family photographs.

New clean enlarged prints make superb gifts and a photobook can become a family heirloom.

If you have questions about any part of the process, please by all means get in touch and I will help you if I can, and I f I can't I probably know someone who can, and I will be happy to put you in touch.

I am scanning images, renovating old photographs and assembling digital archives all the time, so if I can help you with any of these then please get in touch soon.