How to Match a Lab's Scan Filenames to Your Original Prints
By ImgHeal · Updated
A folder of numbers is usable only if you can identify what each image represents. Rebuild the connection to the original prints before renaming or restoring a large delivery of family scans.
Start with the order supplied to the lab
Check intake lists, envelope labels, album page references, and any numbering the provider used. Ask whether files follow the submitted sequence or were reorganized during processing. Preserve the original filenames while investigating. A matching number on two items does not guarantee a relationship if several envelopes or albums each began their own numbering system.
Create a visual review sheet from the scans
Make small viewing copies or a contact sheet that includes each supplied filename. Compare these with the physical collection or intake photographs in manageable groups. Use clothing, borders, damage, and background details to distinguish similar poses. Do not write directly on an original photograph to create a new identifier during this matching exercise.
Record certain and uncertain matches separately
Build a correspondence list connecting the lab filename with your family identifier and source location. Mark ambiguous cases explicitly, particularly when front and back scans have similar names. Keep a note of the clue used to make each uncertain match. A confident-looking filename should not conceal that two nearly identical prints remain unresolved.
Rename only after the map is preserved
If descriptive names would help, create working copies with those names while retaining the delivered set and correspondence list. Check that every restored version can still be traced to its scan and physical source. Send unresolved cases to the provider with a few visual examples. Completing this map now prevents later captions and family identifications from being attached to the wrong image.
Before using this source for restoration
- The provider's filenames remain available.
- Each match has a source location or an explicit uncertainty note.
- Restoration copies retain a link to the correspondence list.
Continue with a related guide
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