Creating an index system for a photo collection is a perfect way to keep your precious family photographs neatly organized and also searchable by subject.
These steps are designed for making either a hard copy or a digital version of an index system (we suggest using MS Excel or Access). Feel free to choose the system that best suits you and your collection.
Want to know more? See: Resources[accordion clicktoclose=true tag=h2][accordion-item title=”Step One: What do you have?” state=closed]Bring out all your photos, whether they are in albums, boxes, or in scrapbooks. It is important if you have old photographs to wear cotton or latex gloves and handle them carefully to protect them from further deterioration. It is advisable to transfer your historic photos to albums with acid-free paper or enclose them in mylar sleeves to protect them from dirt and bright light. (For further preservation tips, see the article, How to Preserve and Care for Your Historical Collection.)
Give your photo collection a name: The Smith’s Photo Collection.
The benefits are:
Part One:
Take clear snapshots of your old photographs, or scan them into your computer, and label each digital print with a number. Also (carefully!) write the identical number in pencil on the back of the photograph, or on the envelope label. Be sure to use the highest resolution possible, at least 300 dpi, and if possible create both a TIFF copy and a JPG copy. The TIFF copy will be enormous, but will save you having to rescan your photos at a later date, as the TIFF format retains all of the image data in a bit-by-bit format. If you later edit or touch-up your photos, no image data will be lost, unlike JPG; the TIFF format can also be used to create new JPG versions of edited photos for storage on your computer.
Part Two:
Ex. 2009-0001 [2009 is the current year, and 0001 is the individual picture’s number]. A series of numbers would look like this:
2009-0001
2009-0002
2009-0003
• Hard copy: Write the corresponding number on an index card, available at most office supply stores. Below the photo number on each index card, write any information you know about the particular photograph. Suggestions: what the subject of the photograph is, the date, names of individuals, the location, the photographer, etc. If you have digitized your photographs in the previous step, attach your thumbnail image to the index card.
Also record on the index card where that particular photo can be found among your albums, boxes and photo sleeves, so you can find it later! Place the completed index card into a storage container and continue until all your photos have been documented.
• Digital: Within your Excel spreadsheet / Access database, create a chart of columns, rows and headings. Label your headings as Photo Number, Subject, Date, People, Location, etc. Begin entering the corresponding number of your photograph beneath the first heading- Photo Number. In the next rows beneath their headings, enter what the subject of the photograph is, the date, names of individuals, the location, the photographer, etc. If you have digitized your photographs, now you can click between the Excel spreadsheet/ Access database and the file that you’ve saved all your images to.
Also record in your Excel spreadsheet/ Access database where (ex. Location 2) that particular photo can be found among your albums, boxes and photo sleeves, so you can find it later! Continue this process until all your photos have been documented. [/accordion-item][accordion-item title=”Step Four: Creating Index Subjects” state=closed]Now that your photo collection is completely numbered, documented on either index cards or in Excel / Access, (and placed into acid-free albums and photo sleeves) you’ll need to create subject titles that you’d like to search your photos by.
This is where you can be as specific or as broad as you like, depending on your time and the extent of your photograph collection.
Hard copy: Make a tab or divider with the subject title and file the index cards that fit into that subject, alphabetically. Examples of Subject suggestions: birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, Christmas, Halloween, vacations.
After you have determined your broad subject titles that suits your collection, feel free to make sub-categories within the subjects. A person’s name, year or location: ex. Birthdays: Smith, Anna or 2008. If you are on a vacation, sub-category would be location, and or year. ex. Vacation: Cuba, 2008.
Digital: Create a list of subjects you’d like to search your collection by. Insert these subject title(s) beside each photo entry in your Excel spreadsheet/ Access database. Examples of Subject suggestions: birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, Christmas, Halloween, vacations.
After you have determined your broad subject titles that suits your collection, feel free to make sub-categories within the subjects. A person’s name, year or location: ex. Birthdays: Smith, Anna or 2008. If you are on a vacation, sub-category would be location, and or year. ex. Vacation: Cuba, 2008.
NOTE: Excel has an excellent tool called the drop-down menu. See the help section to learn how to insert it into your spreadsheet for the Subject heading. Once inserted, the drop down menu will limit the different subjects you’ve listed, and you can click on each one – minimizing the search to just that subject. OR You can alphabetize your collection by highlighting the spreadsheet, clicking on the “Sort Ascending” button, and sorting by subject. OR simply search the entire database with the Find tool by holding Ctrl + F.[/accordion-item][accordion-item title=”Step Five: Continue and Repeat” state=closed]Your photo collection is indexed. Now you can find any photograph at ease!
Continue and repeat these steps as you take more photographs or acquire other family albums. Enjoy your memories for many years to come.
Final note: Be sure to backup your computer system regularly to ensure that you don’t lose your digital memories. Many organizations, including the City of Ottawa, offer courses to teach you how to use and maintain a healthy computer at home. A healthy computer means a secure digital archive of your family memories.[/accordion-item][/accordion]