How to label old photos,
and what to write.

If there is room, add one line about why the photo was kept. The founder’s caption on one of his own family photos does it all in a single line: who is in it, why it matters and when it was taken.

A soft graphite pencil. That is the Library of Congress’s advice, and the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) and The National Archives (UK) both name an HB, used lightly. Ink is the problem: CCI warns that ink inscriptions are liable to fade on display and will bleed and become illegible if they get wet, and the Library of Virginia advises avoiding standard pens, permanent markers and highlighters.

The Library of Congress says to keep self-adhesive tape, sticky notes and glue off photographs, and CCI says not to attach other documents to photographs with paper clips or staples.

On the back, as close to the edge as you can, and only what you need. The Library of Congress says to avoid marking photographs where possible and, when you must, to write on the back near the edge; CCI gives the same advice.

With a pencil, the risk is pressure, which can transfer through to the image side. The Library of Virginia suggests working on a clean, hard surface and writing lightly, or writing on folders, envelopes or sleeve cards if you are worried about pressure marks.

Labelling the housing is better still. The Library of Congress says marking the housing is preferable to marking the photograph, and CCI suggests writing everything on the envelope before the print goes in, so you never press on the photo at all. Then keep the labelled prints somewhere safe: see how to store old photos.

Resin-coated (RC) paper arrived in the late 1960s, according to CCI, and the Library of Virginia notes that colour prints can be on either fibre-based or resin-coated paper. You can tell by feel: fibre-based paper feels like ordinary paper, while resin-coated prints feel slick and glossy.

The Library of Virginia suggests a different pencil for each:

If even that won’t mark the back without pressing, stop and write on the sleeve or envelope instead.

With the same details, somewhere a computer can read them. The Library of Congress recommends giving each photo a descriptive file name, tagging it with the names of the people in it and descriptive subjects, and writing a brief description of your folders and photos. A name that starts with the date sorts itself: 1962-07_Blackpool_Nan-and-Grandad.jpg says far more than IMG_0412.jpg.

Photo apps can help with faces. Apple says that when you name a person in Photos on an iPhone, they are added to the People & Pets collection and named in your other photos and videos automatically. Google Photos groups similar faces and lets you add a name you can search by, but Google says face labels are visible only to you by default and aren’t shared when you share photos. A label only you can see helps you find pictures; it doesn’t tell the rest of the family who is who.

Pencil on the back helps whoever holds the print. In an Ancestorii family album, every photo can carry a name, a date written the way people remember it, such as “Summer 1994”, a thread called The Story where relatives add what they know, and voice notes. Tag a loved one on the album and it appears on their profile.

That turns “who’s this?” into a question the whole family can answer together, on the website or in the free iPhone and Android app, and only the family members you invite can see it. Albums are unlimited on both the Free and Premium plans. To sort the rest of the collection, see how to organise family photos, and for why the story matters more than the scan, what to do with old family photos.