Photo and Home Movie Digitising Tracker

Who this is for

A family archive scanning project, one album or tape at a time. Each source gets an ID, a format, a rough count and a running count of what is scanned, with file names and folder. A second table follows checks, backups and the originals.

Families turning boxes of prints, slides, negatives, video tapes or cine film into digital files, whether scanning at home in the evenings or sending batches to a digitising service.

What this helps you track

• Every album, box, reel and tape in the project, with an ID for each
• How many items each one holds and how many are scanned
• The file names and folders used, so the files can be found later
• What went to a service and when it came back
• Details added, quality checked, backups made and originals put away

How to use it

1. Give every album, box, reel or tape a short ID, and write it on a label on the original as well as on the sheet.
2. In the first table, enter the format, what it holds, a rough count of items and whether it is being done at home or by a service.
3. Update the scanned count as you go and note the range of file names and the folder; Done % and the summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
4. In the second table, record any batch sent to a service with the dates out and back, then tick the checks as each source is finished.
5. Tick Original once the album or tape is back in storage, and write where the originals are kept at the top.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Do I have to count every photo first?

No. A rough count is enough to see how far through a source you are. Count a few pages of an album and multiply, or estimate from the box, then correct the figure once the scanning is done.

What should the file names look like?

Choose one pattern and keep to it, such as the source ID followed by a number. Archivists generally suggest simple names without spaces or punctuation, which sort neatly and open on any computer.

What counts as details added?

Tick it once the files carry the who, what, where and when that you know, whether in the file details, a caption or a list kept with the folder. Older relatives are often the best source, so ask them early.

Should I throw the originals away afterwards?

Archivists generally advise keeping originals after digitising, because a scan is a copy and file formats change. The Original tick records that each one went back into storage, so nothing is lost by accident.

How many backup copies should I keep?

That is your decision. A common approach is more than one copy, on more than one kind of storage, with one kept away from the house. Copies counts what you made and the Off site tick shows whether one is elsewhere.