If you have a photo in card form scan it in as a PDF.
When scanning select "portrait" A4 and make sure the photo is the right way up (not at 90 degrees).
Before scanning in, have a look at the reverse side of the photo and see if there is any relevant information there. Typically when a non-digital photo was printed on card, information would have been printed on the back to help the processing lab reproduce an identical print if the customer came back and asked for another copy. So coded information on the back will typically represent lightness/darkness corrections and colour corrections applied when the film was printed so that the lab could use the same corrections if a further print was requested. There may also be codes indicating the particular machine used for the print and the manufacturer and speed (ISO number) of the film. Occasionally you may find that one of the codes printed on the back is the month and year - e.g. APR96. If there is a month and year like this it is, it indicates the month and year that the print was made, not necessarily when the photo was actually taken. However it is still of some value in dating the photo because, for example, it tells you that the photo cannot have been taken later that the month/year shown.
If the back of the photo print does contain the month/year or some other relevant information you should scan both sides as a two-page PDF. If the back is blank or only contains colour/brightness correction codes and other irrelevant technical information about the printing process then there is no need to scan both sides - scan the face only. If in doubt scan both sides.
You probably will not know the exact date the photo was taken but you may at least know the year or be able to work out the approximate year. When saving the scan as a PDF, use a filename commencing with the tilde character (~) indicating approximation followed by as much of the date as you are reasonably certain of (e.g. Jun 1995 or perhaps just 1995) and end the filename with an exact date for sorting purposes, e.g:-
~ 1995 Photo of garden 01 Jul 1995
In the above example all you know for certain about that date of the photo is that it is sometime in 1995. for sorting purposes you have chosen a date approximately half way through 1995.
Don't use the form about 30 years ago because if you do someone reading that will not know exactly when you entered it and therefore be unclear what year to count back 30 years from.
If you have no idea at all when a photo was taken you can simply omit the date but if possible it is useful if you can give at least some idea of probable decade - e.g.
~ circa 1990 Photo of garden 01 Jul 1995
After you have scanned in the card photo as a PDF, load it by tapping the Add Documents button. The date should then be recorded in the document management system like this:
Document date for sorting purposes Document Description field
01-07-1995 circa 1990 Photo of garden
but you may need to edit it to ensure it is correct.
At the stage when a statement is being prepared which will refer to the photo with an exhibit mark (e.g. a statement confirming where and when you took the photo or how it has come into the witness' possession) you should add the exhibit mark to the the beginning of the Document Description like this:-
Document Date Document Description
The file can then be downloaded as a PDF and an exhibit mark label applied to the downloaded PDF which can then be printed and verified by the witness.
For photos which do not have an exhibit mark it is helpful if you add a photo number for reference. It is best not to just start numbering photos starting at 1 because someone else might have also done that with other photos. You can use Advanced Renamer with a tag of PHOTO<CreateDate:mmss><DateTimeDigitized:nnss> to add what should be a unique four digit number before loading the PDF.
This information page is designed to be used only by clients of John Antell who have entered into an agreement for the provision of legal services. The information in it is necessarily of a general nature and will not be applicable to every case: it is intended to be used only in conjunction with more specific advice to the individual client about the individual case. This information page should not be used by, or relied on, by anyone else.
The information on this page about specific computer techniques is provided for information purposes only. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date at the time it was written but no responsibility for its accuracy, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by me. You should satisfy yourself, before using any of the techniques, software or services described, that the techniques are appropriate for your purposes and that the software or service is reliable.
This page was lasted updated in July 2025. Disclaimer