Metadata – Never Ask Who is That Person in That Photo Again

How many times have you looked at an old family photo and wondered “who are these people? When and where was this picture taken? What story does it tell?” While it’s an amazing thing to see pictures of family members from past generations, the experience is even better when you actually know who is in the picture and have more details.

We’ve all looked through old family photo albums or slides and found details about those moments hand written on them, but often times the descriptions are illegible or faded. Handwritten notes on the outside of a box or on the back of a photo used to be the best way to remember who was in a picture and why it was taken, we now have a different approach – metadata.

In reference to old photographs, metadata describes the contents of the picture such as who, what, when and where.

Metadata is information that describes another set of data. In reference to old photographs, metadata describes the contents of the picture such as who, what, when and where. This is all of the information you and future generations will need to truly remember and understand your family;s history. Metadata gets attached to the digital file so whenever it is shared or duplicated, the same information follows the image around from phone to computer to tablet.

Scanning photos has a multitude of benefits, but it doesn’t actually tell you anything about your photos.

Scanning your photos is the first and most important step in preserving your family’s history. Digital images are immune from damage or loss (when properly backed up) and are easily shared. Every picture tells a story in and of itself, but when we add detailed information pertaining to that moment in time we can convey an even greater story to the viewer. Scanning photos has a multitude of benefits, but it doesn’t actually tell you anything about your photos. Once you’ve taken the important step of digitizing your photos, during the digital organizing process, make sure to add any important information pertaining to the physical image you are enjoying, sharing, reminiscing about.

Who – Who is in that picture? The best place to start with tagging a photo is to go right to left and record the names of any person, animal or thing in your photos. In 50 years you don’t want your great granddaughter asking who is that guy next to great grandma? Especially when that guy is your big brother.

What – What is going on in this picture? Tell us why it was important to take a photo. Was this photograph taken at a wedding? What birthday party was it? What was the best part of that day?

When – Now you also want family to know when a picture was taken. Type in dates of the events or hangouts documented in the picture. You can also add ages so people can say Wow! Grandma was only 12 when this was taken!?

Where – Where was this photograph taken? Not all photos show an obvious location such as Mount Rushmore or the White House. Let future generations know that this family photo was taken at a tiny restaurant on the Jersey Shore. Type it all in!

Through digitizing and tagging your photographs, your family legacy can live on forever!

By attaching metadata to all of your digital photos you save your entire family, for generations to come, the hassle of tracking down all of the information about family memories.

I’m sure you are now wondering, how do I attach metadata to photos? Here you go:

Windows 10

• Go into the Pictures folder on your computer
• Select the image you want to add metadata to
• Go to the View tab across the top and select Details pane
• On the right hand side a pane will pop up that says Date Taken, Tags, Rating, etc. – fill out these sections as desired by double clicking where it says Add (for more specific details fill in the comments section)
• Click Save

Windows 7 & Older

• Right click on the image
• Select Properties
• Go to the Details Tab
• Enter in all of the information you have!

*Note: Occasionally adding metadata via the properties function doesn’t allow the information to stick to the image and follow it around. Make sure to test a few files to be sure all of the information you’ve added follows the image to other devices or programs before doing this for a large project.

Mac

• Select a photo
• Click Command I to open the Information window
• Add comments, details tags, etc. to the Spotlight Comments section
• Rename the photo in the Name & Extensions section

This metadata will now follow around all of your digital images no matter how many people you share them with or how many devices they are on. Through bulk photo scanning and meta-tagging your photographs, your family legacy can live on forever!

Cora Foley

Smooth Photo Scanning Services

Cora Foley has worked at Smooth Photo Scanning for almost 4 years now. Her passion for memory creation and preservation drew her to this family-owned company. After using Smooth Photo Scanning Services for her own memories, she wanted to help the company spread their reach so more people can enjoy, share and preserve their own experiences through digitized photos, negatives, video tapes and more. She loves working at this company due to their passion of preserving important moments!