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Local history photo scanning and metadata entry

by MASTER

Digitize a batch of local-history prints and record consistent metadata so originals are preserved and the collection is searchable; use this when you have a stack of loose historical photos ready to process.

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What's inside

Local history photo scanning and metadata entry

Digitize a batch of local-history prints and record consistent metadata so originals are preserved and the collection is searchable; use this when you have a stack of loose historical photos ready to process.

⏱ 1h 15m ★ Medium
Target

A box of unscanned, loosely organized historical prints with handwritten notes and no digital files or searchable records.

Obstacle

Faded handwriting and missing dates make it hard to assign accurate metadata, and inconsistent naming conventions from earlier batches risk filename conflicts when adding new files.

Expectation

Each photo in the batch will have a high-resolution digital file with a consistent filename and a metadata record (date, location, people, source, tags) saved in the project folder and backed up.

Materials
  • • Sticky notes — 10 notes
Tools
  • • Flatbed scanner — 1
  • • Computer with scanning and spreadsheet software — 1
  • • External hard drive or cloud storage — 1
Steps
  1. 01
    Prepare workspace and project folder
    Clear a clean, flat work area, power on the scanner, open scanning software, and create a dated project folder with a filename prefix (e.g., 1920s_MainSt_001) and a metadata spreadsheet with header columns
    ⏱ 10 min
  2. 02
    Sort and label the photos
    Sort the prints into small groups by event/date/person as far as you can tell, attach a sticky note with the group label, and record any illegible or missing information to research later
    ⏱ 10 min
  3. 03
    Scan the photos
    Scan each photo at 300–600 DPI, crop/deskew in the scanner software if needed, save into the project folder as lossless TIFF or high-quality JPEG using the project filename prefix and a sequential number
    ⏱ 25 min
  4. 04
    Enter filenames and metadata
    For each scanned file, add a row in the spreadsheet with filename, best-estimate date (mark as estimated if unsure), location, people, source/donor, rights, and searchable tags
    ⏱ 20 min
  5. 05
    Quality check and backup
    Open several random files to verify resolution and correct cropping, fix any filename or metadata typos, then copy the project folder to the external drive or upload to cloud storage and note backup location in the spreadsheet
    ⏱ 10 min