Which clues help date a family photograph?
Begin with facts you can check: writing on the back, who appears in the picture, a known birthday, a wedding, a house move or a dated photograph of the same occasion. Clothes, cars and decorations may suggest a period, but use them as clues to investigate rather than proof of an exact year.
Keep a known date separate from an estimate. If you remember only a month or a range of years, save that uncertainty. Then & There helps narrow the range and choose a full calendar day for export; it cannot recover a forgotten day with certainty.
Example: two years old, but not on the birthday
In this fictional example, Maya was born on 24 July 1990. “Maya was two” supports 24 July 1992 to 23 July 1993. It does not, by itself, mean the photograph was taken on her second birthday.
You remember that the picture was taken after that birthday and before a family move on 1 September 1992. The possible days narrow to 25 July–31 August 1992. Compare other photographs or place the slider within that interval; 12 August 1992 could be your chosen best guess.
The exported Metadata date would then be 1992-08-12. Keep the range and reasons in your Then & There archive, and do not describe that estimated day as a confirmed historical date. If another photo really shows the same moment, review the linked-photo confirmation before applying the date to both.
Start with a photo that needs a date
Open the bundle's Date & review photos area, then Start dating photos or Continue dating photos. Use Previous and Next to work through the photos. Add or edit date details opens the helpers. If you know the day, choose Set a date and use the calendar icon or enter a full date.
Choose a person and an age
Choose Estimate from age and select someone confirmed in this photo, or add someone. Choose One exact age for a specific milestone, such as 7 months or 2 years 6 months. Choose Age range if you remember a span of possible ages. A saved date of birth is needed to turn an age into calendar dates. Press Next.
Say which side of the milestone fits
For one age, choose Before, On the birthday or After; month-based ages use the corresponding age milestone. Only choose the birthday itself when the photograph was actually taken that day, not merely at a later birthday party. An age range goes directly to the nearby-date questions.
Compare with nearby events and photos
Answer the nearby reference questions one at a time. Use Before, Same date or During this period, After, or Not sure. Referenced photos are shown so you can inspect them. Back lets you change an answer. The questions begin with nearby dates and use your answers to narrow the interval.
Add a life detail if an anchor is missing
Use Apply a life detail to link a dated holiday, home, school, wedding or other event that genuinely applies to this photo. Add a new life detail if needed. Saving an event in the bundle does not attach it to every photograph. Saved event dates are shared facts; deliberate corrections belong in Life events.
Review the best-guess day
Check both the supported range and the proposed day. Close boundaries may propose the middle day; a wider interval offers a slider so you can place the photo nearer one reference. The midpoint is a fallback, not evidence that the event probably happened then. Save photo date records the clue, range and chosen estimated day together. If there is not enough information, Save age clue keeps what you know for later.
Check the date that will travel with the image
Look for Metadata date and its full year-month-day value. An estimated label means it is a reviewed best guess. A saved month or year may still need an export day. In the date review editor you can use a slider, type a full date or tap the calendar icon. An outside-range date requires you to review proposed boundary changes before saving.
Lock the date deliberately
Choose Lock date when you want the saved date to stay fixed. If photos are connected by Same moment, inspect the linked-photo confirmation before locking them together. Locking an estimate does not make it historically certain. Use Unlock date before an intentional date change; new contradictory clues remain visible for review.
A few useful things to know
- When a slider cannot move because the range is one day long, there is only one day inside that range. Use text or the calendar to propose a different date and review the changed boundaries.
- A suggestion has not been saved until you confirm the relevant Save action. Simply browsing a reference or moving a slider does not apply a date.
- A bundle can have dates saved for every photo while still needing full-day metadata choices before photo export.
Instructions checked against Then & There 0.2.66. Labels may change as the app develops.