The purpose of the Capturing the Past phone app is to apply consistent machine readable file naming to photographs of historic documents and log the capture process in a comma separated value file to support the users of those photos. The app uses the device’s camera and saves photos with catalogue reference information included in the filename.

The app’s reference generation mimics the reference numbers used in the The National Archives’ Discovery Catalogue and includes timestamps so that unlimited versions of each photo/reference can coexist and be ordered according to when they were taken. The result is a photo named to identify a specific item in a internationally identifiable archive catalogue (or user assignable variation if no Archon code is available).

The file naming supports inclusion of additional catalogue levels to identify sub parts such as the pages of a letter. An additional level is included for exceptional circumstances such as torn, broken or detached pieces, the level appends a custom notation to the reference number.

Users download their photos to their computer or share them using cloud based services such as google photos or Dropbox. Some users capture documents belonging to sources that disallow use of online services, which means control over sharing is necessary.