How to put a date stamp on your iPhone photos
The little orange date in the corner of an old photo is one of the quickest ways to make a picture feel like a memory. The iPhone Camera won't add it, but there are easy ways to get it.
Does the iPhone add the date to photos?
Not on the picture itself. Your iPhone saves the date and time with every photo, but it's stored in the photo's details rather than printed on it. In the Photos app, swipe up on a photo or tap the info button to see when it was taken.
That's useful for finding photos later, but it isn't the look people mean when they search for a date stamp. For that, the date has to be part of the image.
Where the orange date comes from
Many compact film cameras from the 1980s and 1990s had a date back: a small panel that printed the date onto the film as each picture was taken. The digits usually came out orange or red, low in a corner of the frame.
Because it was printed when the photo was taken, the date became part of the picture. That's why it still reads as a real moment rather than decoration.
Two ways to get it on iPhone
Use a camera app that prints the date as you shoot. The date goes into the photo at the moment you take it, just like a date back. Nothing to add later.
Add it afterwards in an editing app. This works for photos you've already taken. Use a small orange typeface low in a corner and keep it subtle; a big, perfectly sharp date looks added on.
Getting the look right
Keep it small and low. Old date backs printed in a corner, close to the edge.
Mind the background. Orange digits read best over darker or busy areas. On a bright sky they can almost disappear.
Pick your moments. A date suits holidays, birthdays and everyday snapshots. For a clean portrait, you might leave it off.
Doing it in Isochrome
Isochrome, the iPhone film camera app we make, has a date stamp built in. Switch on Print on photo under Date stamp in Settings and choose a format, and the date is printed into the frame, orange and low in the corner, as you shoot.
It prints the date on photos you take with Isochrome. It doesn't add dates to photos already in your library.
