Start with one small, meaningful group
Choose one album, one envelope, or photos from one side of the family. Trying to organize every box at once makes it harder to keep names and dates accurate.
Set aside damaged, moldy, or glass-mounted prints for professional advice. Do not clean fragile originals with water or household products.
Capture a clean working copy
Use soft, even light, turn off the flash, and hold the iPhone parallel to the print. Capture the front and any writing on the back before returning the original to its sleeve.
Check sharpness, glare, exposure, and resolution before processing a whole album. A good capture preserves options for restoration and printing later.
Identify people before sorting by date
Names are usually more valuable than a guessed year. Ask relatives who appears in the photo, where it was taken, what was happening, and who supplied the original.
Record uncertainty honestly. “Possibly Maria” is more useful than turning an unconfirmed identification into a permanent fact.
- Names, including maiden or previous names
- Approximate date or decade
- Place and occasion
- Source of the photo and who identified it
Use one filename pattern
For exported scans, start with the known date, then add one or two identifying names, a place or event, and a sequence number. Consistent names stay sortable outside any particular app.
Keep uncertain details in notes instead of squeezing them into the filename. Use the same spelling for a person across the collection.
Keep originals, edits, and backups distinct
Never overwrite the first clean capture. Save restored or colorized versions as separate files so future relatives can compare them with the historical source.
Keep at least two copies in different places and review a small batch before repeating the system. Then connect confirmed people and their photos in Family Tree App so the images retain family context, not just filenames.