You scanned them. Now what?
Scanners stamp every print with scan day. We restore the real dates, and your archive falls back into order.
2026scan day
Forty years, filed under scan day.
1962
1974
1987
Folders by year. Library in order.
The problem no sorter app mentions up front
Sorting tools read the date stored inside each file. A scanner writes the day it scanned, so every tool files a 1974 wedding under this year. Restoring the real dates is the missing step, and it is the whole service.
Three steps. One of them is yours.
How the dating works Handwriting on the backs, lab-printed dates, clues in each picture, and the photos around it. Every estimate is shown on a timeline you can review and adjust.
What you get back
The corrected date is written inside each file, so one fix organizes your scans everywhere at once.
Pick a layout at download: by year, year and month, oldest to newest, or by person. The organize photos by date taken page shows the folder layouts in detail.
Every layout, with examples, on the file download page. Re-download in a different layout any time, free.
The date lives inside each file, so every photo app shows scans where they belong:
No lock-in: the fix rides in the files, so the order holds in any app you ever switch to. Compare all the delivery options.
App marks belong to their owners. Timeline Scan is an independent service, not affiliated with Google, Apple, or Immich.
Your options, honestly
The difference is who supplies the missing dates: you, or the service.
| Sorting by hand | Auto-sorter apps | Timeline Scan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | You look at each photo, decide on a year, rename or drag it into a folder | Tools like PhotoMove or folder scripts move files into date folders using the date already inside each file | Works out when each photo was taken, writes the date into the file, then sorts folders and photo apps from that |
| Works when scans have no real date? | YesBut you are the one supplying every date | NoScans only carry the scan date, so everything files under scanning day | YesRestoring missing dates is the core of the service |
| Reads handwriting on the backs, lab dates, and photo clues? | Only as fast as you can flip prints and squint | NoThey never look at the picture | YesBacks, printed dates, clothing, cars, and neighboring photos all count as evidence |
| Fixes the order inside Google Photos, Apple Photos, Immich? | Only if you also edit each photo's date in the app, one by one | NoFolder moves don't change the date the apps sort by | YesThe corrected date is written into the file, so every app sorts it right |
| Time for a few thousand scans | Weeks of evenings; most people never finish | Minutes, but the result is one giant folder named this year | Upload, review the timeline, download. The dating runs for you |
Comparing dating tools instead? See Timeline Scan vs MyHeritage PhotoDater. Still scanning, or planning the whole project? Read the complete guide to digitizing and organizing a family photo archive.
Made to be comfortable
Common questions
Digital cameras and phones write the moment a picture was taken inside the file, and sorting tools read that. A scanner can't know when a print was taken, so it writes the scan date instead. A photo from 1974 scanned in 2026 sorts as 2026 in every app. Until the real date is put back into each file, no software can sort scanned photos correctly.
Those tools move photos into folders based on the date already stored in each file, which works well for camera and phone photos. Scanned photos only carry the scan date, so an auto-sorter files every scan under the day you scanned it. Timeline Scan solves the missing step: it works out when each photo was actually taken and writes that date into the file, after which any sorter, and any photo app, puts them in the right order.
Timeline Scan reads handwriting on the backs of prints, dates printed by the photo lab or camera, clues in the picture like clothing, cars, and rooms, the photos from the same album page or film roll, and family details you share such as names and birth years. Every date is shown on a timeline you can review and adjust before you download. The details are on the fix scanned photo dates page, and the AI photo organizer page walks through every clue the AI weighs.
Two things at once. First, your files in tidy folders: by year, by year and month, one folder sorted oldest to newest, folders by person, or exactly the folders you uploaded. Second, because the corrected date is written inside each file, the same photos line up in the right order in Google Photos, Apple Photos, Immich, and any other photo app you use.
No. The pictures themselves are never edited or recompressed: same pixels, same quality. Only the date metadata inside the file is updated, in the standard place photo apps read.
You can try it free with no credit card, and see your own scans dated and sorted before paying anything. After that, pricing is per photo dated; see the pricing page for current rates.
Start with free photos, no credit card required. See your own scans jump into chronological order before you decide anything.
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