Home Photo Inventory Log

Who this is for

The index that makes a folder of photographs usable. Each picture gets a number, the room and item it shows, the date it was taken and the file name, so a photograph can be found by what is in it rather than by scrolling.

Anyone photographing a house for insurance, for a move or before letting it, and anyone who has taken two hundred photographs and cannot now find the one of the boiler serial plate.

What this helps you track

• Which photographs exist and what each one shows
• The room and the item, so a picture can be found by name
• Whether a serial number or label is legible in the shot
• The date each was taken, which is what an insurer looks at
• Where the files are kept and whether a second copy exists

How to use it

1. Decide on a numbering scheme before you start — most people use the room and a number — and write it at the top with where the files will be kept.
2. Work room by room. Photograph the room as a whole first, then each item worth recording, then any serial or model plate close up.
3. Give each photograph a line: the number, the room, what it shows and the date taken.
4. Write the file name exactly as it is saved. Renaming files to match this sheet takes minutes and saves hours.
5. Tick the serial box where a number or label is readable in the picture, since those are the shots an insurer or a police report will want.
6. Keep the files in two places — a computer and somewhere off the premises — and note the second copy on the sheet.

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 keep a written index of photographs?

Because a folder of images has no order anyone else can follow, and the person using it may be an insurer, an executor or you in five years. A numbered index turns the folder into a document.

Is this the same as a contents inventory?

No. A contents inventory lists what you own and what it is worth; this log lists the photographs and says what each one proves. They work best together — the inventory row and the photograph number cross-refer.

How often should the photographs be redone?

That is your call. Most people redo them after anything significant — a renovation, a large purchase, a move — rather than on a schedule.

Should the photographs show the whole room or single items?

Both. Room shots establish what was there, close-ups establish what it was, and plate or serial shots establish which one. The log has a column for the serial so those shots can be picked out.