Photo Identification Sheet

Who this is for

One old photograph worked out on one page. Where the print is, what it is and roughly when, then each person by their position in the picture, the name you give them, how you arrived at it and how confident you are, in your own words.

Anyone with a box of unlabelled photographs and a relative who might still know the faces, and family historians who want the reasoning behind a name written down rather than pencilled on the back.

What this helps you track

• A reference number and the physical location of the print, negative or file
• The format, the estimated date and the place and event, with the studio if named
• Every person by position, so 'back row, second from left' means the same to everyone
• How each name was arrived at — told by whom, compared with what, or guessed
• How sure you are of each identification, in your own words rather than a score

How to use it

1. Give the photograph a reference number and write it, in pencil, on the back of the print or in the file name, then copy it to the header.
2. Record where the original is, what format it is, and your estimate of the date with the reason for it in the notes.
3. Describe each person by position — row and place from the left — before you write a name, so the sheet can be read against the picture by someone who never met them.
4. Write how each name was arrived at: who told you, what it was compared with, or that it is a guess. Then say how sure you are in your own words.
5. Show the sheet and the photograph to the oldest relatives who might know, and add what they say with their name and the date.
6. File the sheet with the photograph or its scan, and add anyone newly identified to their ancestor profile.

Formats

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

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 online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

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

Why write the position before the name?

Because names change, get corrected and get doubted, and the position never does. A sheet that says who is where can be checked against the print by anyone, long after the person who wrote it has gone.

How do I estimate the date?

From what you can see and what you know: the format of the print, a studio name, the apparent ages of people you can identify, a known event. Write your reasoning in the notes so someone can disagree with it later.

What do I put for confidence?

Whatever you mean — 'certain, she told me herself', 'probably', 'a guess from the resemblance'. The column is free text on purpose; a number would suggest a precision that does not exist.

Do I write on the photograph itself?

That is your decision. Many people put only a reference number on the back, in soft pencil, and keep everything else on a sheet like this so the print is not marked and the reasoning is not lost.