How to Check Automatically Generated Descriptions of Old Photos
By ImgHeal · Updated
An automatic description can sound confident about an old photograph that your family still cannot identify. Treat it as a draft to inspect against the source, not a new witness to the scene.
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Compare the description with the untouched image
Read each claim in the generated text and locate its evidence in the original scan. Look for invented objects, incorrect numbers of people, guessed relationships, or emotional interpretations presented as facts. Check whether a restored version introduced a clearer-looking feature that was not actually present in the source. Keep confirmed family context separate from what the visual model appears to infer. Do not accept a person's name, date, or location solely because the sentence is grammatically convincing.
Rewrite for the document's actual purpose
Open the relevant alternative-text panel in the external document or gallery editor and replace unsupported wording. Microsoft documents how automatic alt text can be reviewed and edited; the available controls vary by version. Retain only useful visual information and supported context. If a detail remains unreadable, describe the uncertainty instead of selecting another automatic draft until one sounds appealing. A missing facial expression is preferable to a falsely precise statement that the people were happy, frightened, married, or related.
Check the saved text and later image changes
Reopen the document or published item and confirm the corrected alternative was saved on the intended image. Inspect any other copies in the file, because repeated pictures can each have their own description. If you replace the photograph with a crop or a new restoration, review its alternative again. Keep sensitive personal research out of text that will be exposed to public readers. An accessibility description should help people understand the presented image without quietly expanding the historical claims attached to it.
Check before sharing this record
- Check every generated claim against the source.
- Replace guesses in the actual alt-text field.
- Review alternatives again after replacing an image.
Sources and further reading
- Microsoft: Effective alternative textReviewing generated descriptions and giving images useful alternatives without duplicating surrounding text.
- W3C WAI: Images tutorialChoosing text alternatives according to an image's purpose and context.
Questions about this restoration task
Does a high-confidence automatic description need checking?
Yes. Confidence wording is not independent evidence about a historical photograph. The author still needs to verify its visual claims and adapt the text to the image's purpose.
Continue with a related guide
Try a restoration on a copy of your photo
Keep the original scan. Upload a separate digital copy, review ImgHeal’s generated result, and decide whether it suits your needs.
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