How can I print scanned photos with space for handwritten metadata notes?

Asked 4/20/2021

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2 answers

I have a large set of scanned family photos and want to give printouts to a non-technical relative so they can write down names, places, and events for each image. I’d like each page to show multiple photos, include each photo’s filename, and leave blank space beside each image for handwritten notes so I can match the notes back to the digital files later. Standard contact sheet and photo album layouts don’t seem flexible enough. What’s a simple way to create this kind of printable annotation sheet?

scanning metadata printing workflow contact-sheets

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

5y ago

2 Answers

If you are comfortable working with HTML, a quick table could work:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <title>Photos</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <style>
        * { border-collapse: collapse; }
        tr { page-break-inside: avoid; }
        td { border-style: solid;  width: 50%; vertical-align: top; }
        img { width: 100%; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table>
    <script>
        for ( let num=1; num<=6; ++num ) {
            document.write( '<tr> <td> <img src="file:/data/Scans/' + ("0000"+num).slice(-4) + '.jpeg" /> </td> <td>Photo ' + num + ' Details:</td> <tr>\n' )
        }
    </script>
</table>
</body>
</html>

That will generate a table like:

<tr> <td><img src="file:/data/Scans/0001.jpeg"></td> <td>Photo 1 details:</td> </tr>
<tr> <td><img src="file:/data/Scans/0002.jpeg"></td> <td>Photo 2 details:</td> </tr>
<tr> <td><img src="file:/data/Scans/0003.jpeg"></td> <td>Photo 3 details:</td> </tr>
<tr> <td><img src="file:/data/Scans/0004.jpeg"></td> <td>Photo 4 details:</td> </tr>
<tr> <td><img src="file:/data/Scans/0005.jpeg"></td> <td>Photo 5 details:</td> </tr>
<tr> <td><img src="file:/data/Scans/0006.jpeg"></td> <td>Photo 6 details:</td> </tr>

Which will look like:

Originally by user97853. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user97853

5y ago

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

A practical solution is to make a simple custom print layout rather than use a standard contact sheet. One workable approach is an HTML table: put each photo in one cell and leave the adjacent cell blank or labeled for notes, with the filename printed there as well. Then print the page from a web browser.

This gives you the flexibility contact sheets often lack:

multiple photos per page
a dedicated notes area beside each image
filenames printed for easy matching later
page-break control so a photo/notes row stays together

In general, any tool that lets you build a two-column layout would work, but HTML is simple and highly configurable if you’re comfortable editing it. You can size the images, add borders, and adjust spacing for handwriting. The key idea is to create a custom template with one column for thumbnails and one for metadata notes, rather than relying on fixed contact-sheet templates.

How can I print scanned photos with space for handwritten metadata notes?

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