It's an easy process: First, I create a digital copy of my scanned original photo. Next, I use photo software to write name and date on the copy. Then I save the photo with a "caption" notation in the file name.
If I'm going to post the photo on a public genealogy website, I now add an attribution to the caption (see photo).
Why digitally caption old family photos?
- Keeps photo and caption together. Too often, photos and captions are separated. Maybe a relative wrote a note that was (ouch) clipped to a photo or a photo was removed from the album for scanning or storage, leaving the caption behind. With digital captions, descendants and researchers won't wonder who's in the picture (dates and places are a plus).
- Convenient digital sharing. Especially when I connect with cousins for the first time, captioned digital photos allow me to easily share ancestor faces, names, and dates. It's convenient because the captioned versions are self-explanatory. I can always share non-captioned photos, if needed, because the original scan is intact.
- Give credit where credit is due. I want to make it crystal clear whose photos these are. I don't obscure a big part of the photo in doing this, but I do want to acknowledge which family is kindly sharing the photo.
On genealogy sites such as Ancestry, it's quite common (and encouraged) to have photos and documents saved to other members' trees. The Ancestry system automatically includes the notation of who originally uploaded the image and when.
That little notation makes all the difference. It credits me as the person responsible for submitting the image, and it acts as cousin bait in case someone wants to get in touch to discuss ancestors.
This isn't the same as copying from my tree or my blog and moving a photo to an entirely different website.
No copying and reposting without permission
Recently, Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, wrote a detailed blog post explaining that copying photos and reposting without permission is illegal. Judy linked to the terms of use for several major genealogy websites. She included an excerpt from Family Search, indicating that users are legally responsible for content they post.
I'd just discovered that someone I don't know had copied some photos from my Ancestry family tree, without my knowledge or permission, and put them on the Family Search tree. Judy's comments encouraged me to take action.
After writing that person to ask whether we are related, with no answer, I tried a more direct approach. I politely and firmly requested that my photos be removed because they violate the Family Search terms of use. I said I would contact officials at Family Search and make them aware of the violation if my photos weren't deleted.
Within one hour, the user answered with a terse note saying the photos were taken down. I confirmed they were gone and responded: "Much appreciated."
My digital attribution ("courtesy: Wood family") is a strong and unambiguous public statement of the source of the photo. If all my public photos had this attribution, I suspect none would have been copied and posted to Family Search.
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The Genealogy Blog Party's May theme has to do with photography. This is my entry!
This is an excellent post. Oh, if only we had all done this from day 1 of collecting photos.
ReplyDeleteGood point - I should digitally caption the ones I have at Ancestry and re-upload them. Several have already been copied, but at least I know most of the tree owners (one is a distant half-cousin). Yet another project!
ReplyDeleteTeresa, Ancestry credits you as the original submitter of the photos so anyone who saves to their tree has that info attached. That's not the case if someone copies from Ancestry (or elsewhere) and moves to another tree or site without permission or acknowledgement. Slowly I may recaption my Ancestry photos too--meantime, I'm captioning anything I post from now on!
DeleteUgh, it's so frustrating when that happens. I love it when the FamilySearch app pings me with a message that they've "found a photo of your grandmother's grave," and it's a photo that I TOOK and posted on Find A Grave. Grrr. Thanks for sharing (another) great post on the Genealogy Blog Party! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have been adding digital captions to many photos I scan. Now, I am thinking I will add an attribution as you suggest. What do you think of using a web address? One that would lead back to my contact info, or at least my front page? Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBarb, adding a web address sounds good...as long as you think it will be available years in the future. With luck, our digital images will be floating around online for a very long time. TY for reading and commenting.
DeleteWe should all be captioning our digital photos, shouldn't we? Our descendants would greatly appreciate knowing who we all were! No more - Oh, what a great photo, but I don't know who any of them are!
ReplyDeleteThis is most interesting. I have found several of my photos in various places, none of which are really bothersome, but now I see that I could be using my photos to a better advantage.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea. I caption all the ones I share on Instagram.
ReplyDeleteWhat photo software are you using to caption the photos?
ReplyDeleteI still use Picasa (now discontinued) and also Preview, which is bundled with Mac computers.
DeleteI'd like to hear about any new apps or programs since (since this last comment in 2021) that allow users to easily add VISIBLE captions to family history photos, preferably without covering any of the image itself. I had heard some people working with family history photos are using SNAGIT image capture program. Also found an Australian company that sells a tool called Caption Pro. Would like to hear about any other tools that make this process simple and see any examples of people using the captioned images in their genealogy work.
DeleteOn a Mac, I use Preview which can capture and caption images. In the past I used SnagIt but have no experience with it for more than 10 years. Thanks for your comment!
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