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How to date a Polaroid or instant photo: peel-apart, square SX-70, 600 and Instax

· 5 min read · The Memory Palace Team

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Short answer: Start with the type of print. A peel-apart print on paper is Polaroid roll or pack film: sepia from 1948, black and white from 1950, colour from 1963. A square print in a plastic frame with a wide bottom border is integral film: SX-70 from 1972, 600 from 1981. Instax prints date from 1998.

Last updated: 2 November 2026. Every year on this page was checked against the museums, archives and photo-history sources listed at the bottom.

An instant photo carries its technology on its face. Whether the print was peeled from a negative or developed inside its own plastic frame, and what shape it has, places it within a few years before you even look at the people in it.

Peel-apart prints (1948 onwards)

  • Sepia roll film, 1948. Polaroid's first camera, the Model 95, went on sale in 1948. Its prints were sepia; true black and white followed in 1950.
  • Pack film and colour, 1963. Polaroid introduced pack film in 1963, together with colour peel-apart film. These prints are thin paper rather than a thick frame, often with a narrow white border.
  • How it worked. The negative and positive were pressed together with a reagent, and after about a minute you peeled them apart. That is why these prints have no plastic frame and no chemical pod.

Integral prints (1972 onwards)

  • SX-70, 1972. The SX-70 system brought integral film: the whole print develops inside a plastic envelope, with no peeling. The image is square, about 8 by 8 cm, in a frame with a wide white border at the bottom that holds the chemicals.
  • 600, 1981. Polaroid 600 film used the same square format and frame with a faster film. An SX-70 and a 600 print look much alike; the film box or the camera tells them apart.
  • Kodak instant, 1976 to 1986. Kodak sold its own instant film and cameras from 1976 until it left the market in 1986, so a Kodak instant print falls within those ten years.
  • Fujifilm Instax, 1998. Fujifilm's Instax system arrived in 1998. Its best-known print, Instax Mini, is smaller than a Polaroid and rectangular, in a slimmer frame.
  • New Polaroid-type film, 2010. Polaroid stopped making film in 2008. The Impossible Project made new film for SX-70 and 600 cameras from 2010 (renamed Polaroid Originals in 2017), sometimes with coloured frames. A square print with a coloured frame is very likely from 2010 or later.

Other clues

People often wrote the date on the white bottom border of an integral print; treat it like any handwritten note and check it against the picture. Instant prints are unique originals with no negative, so scan them early and keep them out of the light. The clothes and interiors help within the range: see The 1970s (1970 to 1979), The 1980s (1980 to 1989) and The 1990s (1990 to 1999).

Quick checklist

  • Thin paper print (peel-apart) or a thick print in a plastic frame (integral)?
  • Sepia peel-apart: 1948 to about 1950.
  • Square with a wide bottom border: SX-70 (1972) or 600 (1981).
  • Kodak name: 1976 to 1986. Smaller rectangular print: Instax (1998 or later).
  • Coloured frame on a Polaroid-type print: probably 2010 or later.

Try the free photo date tool

Not sure yet? The free photo date tool asks what you can see (the material, the colour, the edge, the back, a printed year) and turns your answers into a period, with the source behind each year. It needs no account and uploads nothing. For digital photos and scans, read when was this photo taken.

Once you know the year

Write the year in soft pencil on the back, and put it at the start of the file name when you scan it. Then hang it with its date in your palace: in The Memory Palace each photo gets its year, the people in it and the story that goes with it, in a room the family can walk through together. You can start your palace for free.

Date a photo from another decade

Start from the overview: when was this photo taken, or the seven general clues in how to tell when an old photo was taken. All guides on old photos:

Sources

Questions people ask

How can I tell how old a Polaroid is?

Look at the type. A peel-apart print on paper is from 1948 or later, sepia ones from about 1948 to 1950, colour ones from 1963. A square print in its own plastic frame with a wide bottom border is integral film, from 1972 (SX-70) or 1981 (600). A coloured frame usually means new film from 2010 or later.

When did the square Polaroid with the white border start?

In 1972, with the SX-70 camera and its integral film, which develops inside its own frame. Polaroid 600 film, from 1981, used the same square format.

Were there instant photos before Polaroid's square prints?

Yes. Polaroid sold peel-apart instant film from 1948, at first in sepia, then in black and white from 1950 and in colour from 1963. These prints are thin and have no plastic frame.

Is a Kodak instant photo a Polaroid?

No. Kodak sold its own instant cameras and film from 1976. It stopped in 1986, so a Kodak instant print dates from those ten years.

When was this photo taken?

Reads the date taken from digital photos and says when only a file date is left. For paper photos and scans, a checklist with sources estimates the period.

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