If you have a photo in card form scan it in as a PDF with the photo the right way up within an A4 portrait page.
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 including as much of the date as you are reasonably certain of (e.g. Jul 1995 or perhaps just 1995) between @ characters.
@ Jul 1995 @ Photo of garden
Then load the PDF by tapping the Add Documents button and do not enter a date in the document management system.
Document date Document Name field
@ Jul 1995 @ Photo of garden
If you do not even know the month or even the year, enter what you do know about the approximate date:
Document date Document Name field
@ circa 1998 @ Photo of garden
@ 1990s @ Photo of garden
Don't use the form about 10 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 10 years from.
If you have no knowledge at all of when a photo was taken, not even the likely decade, use @ date nk @
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 name like this:-
Document Date Document Name
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.
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 December 2025. Disclaimer