How to photograph a component for identification
Six photographs that make identification dramatically more reliable — and the mistakes to avoid.
The six-photo set
1. Overall view. 2. Every marking, close and square-on. 3. Connection or mating face. 4. Side profile. 5. A scale reference (ruler or calliper). 6. The part in its installed context.
Lighting
Avoid flash on metal — it washes out stamped text. Use diffuse daylight or a torch at a low angle.
Common mistakes
Blurry close-ups, cropped markings, no sense of scale, and photographing only one side of a part with information on several faces.