A Life in Years
Some things are too important to leave in a folder.
One photo. One year. The whole story.
A Life in Years is a simple tool for building a timeline of a life. Yours, someone you love, or someone you've lost. You choose one photo per year and write a single line beside it. That constraint is the point. What you end up with isn't an album. It's a record.
Create an account
What it isn't
Not a photo album.
Albums hold everything. This holds one thing per year, the one that mattered.
Not a social feed.
There are no likes, no followers, no public profile. Just a private link you choose to share, or don't.
Not a backup.
Your photos already live somewhere. This is for the ones worth arranging in order.
Every year, up close
Hover over any year to preview the photo and caption. Click to open it fully. The rest of the timeline fades back so you can read without distraction.
On mobile, swipe left or right to move through the years without returning to the grid.
Ways to read a life
Every timeline has multiple views. Switch between them at any time.
List
One year at a time. Full image, a caption beside it. The way you read a book.
Grid
All the years with photos laid out together. The shape of a life, at a glance.
What people use it for
Memorials
A complete life from birth to death. One photo per year, in order. Something to share with family, and to keep.
A child growing up
Year one to year eighteen. One photo per year. A gift to hand over when they're old enough to appreciate it.
Annual holidays
The same place, year after year. One photo from each visit. The kind of record you only appreciate once you have a decade of it.
Your own life
Not for someone else. For yourself. One photo per year, from whenever you want to start.
How it works
- 1
Create a timeline
Give it a name and set the years it spans. A year-by-year editor is created for you, one row per year.
- 2
Add a photo and a line
For each year, upload one photo and write a caption: a date, a place, a memory. You don't need to fill every year. Blank years are fine, especially for decades before digital cameras existed.
- 3
Share it, or keep it
Every timeline gets a private link you can share with family. You can also download a print-ready PDF at any time, for free.
Start a timeline
Free. No credit card. Yours to keep.
Questions
- Why is it free?
- A Life in Years is a passion project. Your photos and data are never sold or shared. The service is free because it feels wrong to charge for something this personal.
- Do I need a photo for every year?
- No. Blank years are expected and completely normal, especially for decades before digital photography. A timeline with 30 or 40 meaningful years out of 70 is still a remarkable thing.
- Who can see my timeline?
- Only you can edit it. The share link lets anyone who has it view the timeline, but it is not listed publicly anywhere, so it is only visible to people you choose to send it to.
- What happens to my photos?
- They are stored securely and only used to build your timeline. We do not share them, sell them, or use them for anything else. You can delete a timeline and all its photos at any time from your dashboard.
- Can I come back and add more later?
- Yes. Your timeline is always editable. Many people build it slowly over weeks or months, adding years as they find photos or remember details.
- Can I make more than one timeline?
- Yes, as many as you like. Each timeline is independent, with its own photos, years, and share link.
- What can a timeline be for?
- Timelines work for anything that spans years: a whole life, a child growing up, a recurring trip, your own story. The only requirement is a start year and an end year.