Rename/Batch Rename files

I use PSE 5.
I name all my images before I import them into Organizer. Here is an example: 2007-11-01 071500 Bolsa Chica pelican -- meaning this picture of a pelican was taken November 1, 2007 at 7:15AM. I may have a dozen or more images of pelicans from that day, but taken at different times obviously. If I would like to rename/batch rename these files to indicate brown pelicans instead of just pelicans, can I do it within the program and still retain the date and the different times for images?
I can't find a way to do it. And I've searched this site as well as The Missing Manual. I've been using PSE since Ver. 3, but have always used another program to batch rename files. I'm guessing Adobe expects users to rely on tags, otherwise they would have a more "sophisticated" batch rename capability.
But am I missing something about batch renaming? Sorry for the very long post . . .
Wendell

I have several bones to pick with PSE5's file rename ability (in Organizer, go to File, Rename), primarily the 30-character limit on new names.
I use long file names like
2007-11-11 Al and Nadia wedding NYC roses-1.jpg
2007-11-11 Al and Nadia wedding NYC roses-2.jpg
2007-11-11 Al and Nadia wedding NYC Peter and Julie.jpg
The spaces make for easier legibility to humans.
If I were to include these files in a web address, I'd use hyphens.
For this past Thanksgiving I toiled over the metadata in a group photo that might become important for family history, adding title, caption, keywords, date. I found that the "Save for Web" dialog strips some or all of the metadata, and other programs might or might not read or preserve the metadata.
A number of people who receive my photos cannot readily use the metadata:
--Naive users (gram and gramps)
--Busy and distracted users (the niece who is a mother of 3; the day-trader who's thinking about his puts and calls)
--People with poor support (a friend who has some sort of Photoshop Starter edition at work that does not recognize keywords; and she can't justify even Photoshop Elements)
Even among all these folks, almost no one is using an operating system that requires short names.
So, I put an abundance of information into my file names. Photoshop Elements allows that ON IMPORT, but not after the fact IN THE ORGANIZER.
I just hope that this inconsistency is fixed in PSE6. I get tired of explaining this over and over again to folks.
-- Bob
P.S. I love Photoshop Elements, but I'm looking into moving my picture store to my MacBook Pro, and using Bridge (already installed) and GraphicConvert to manage my photos.

Similar Messages

Batch rename files preserving the original file name in metadata

How can I batch rename files while preserving the original file name in metadata? (Don't want the old file name as part of the new file name)
(Adobe CS Bridge can do this with some success, but I don't want to be dependant on this software. Results are inconsistent.)

With a simple terminal script. More details needed, though.

Custom batch rename files with Aperture 3 in the following format: IMG_0023.cr2 to Smith_YYMMDD_0023.cr2? I cannot find a way to structure the date in Aperture as such, as well as extract only the camera file

Please advise how to custom batch rename files with Aperture 3 in the following format: IMG_0023.cr2 to Smith_120816_0023.cr2? I cannot find a way to structure the date in Aperture as such (YYMMDD), as well as extract only the camera file (0023, for example). Adobe Bridge CS5 can do this, but NONE of the Adobe software is retina optimized, and is terrible to look at.

In Aperture you are limited to renaming files by the entries in the File Naming preset window.
At what point are you looking to rename, import or export? It might be possible to do what you are looking to do external to Aperture either via a script or other software.
regards

Batch rename files on the server?

Can someone explain how to batch rename files on the server ?
I have 1000 rows each containing these fields
id (unique key)
productCode
filename1
filename2
For every row I need to rename the following fields:
Rename [filename1] to [productCode]_[id]_1
Rename [filename2] to [productCode]_[id]_2
also I need to rename the actual file on the server using the above scheme
Can someone show me the way ? I'm a little rusty with ColdFusion

So far I've got everything working apart from CFFILE which works only if it finds a corresponding jpeg file on the server. In other words it works perfectly until row 20 of the database because the filename contained in the field doesn't have a matching jpeg file on the server, so CFFILE fails like this...
Attribute validation error for tag CFFILE.
The value of the attribute source, which is currently C:\images\DSCN1293.JPG, is invalid.
The error occurred in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\link\htdocs\old_apps\psp\updater.cfm: line 63
61 :                    action = "rename"
62 :                    source = #my_source1#
63 :                    destination = #my_destination1#>
is there a way to carry on looping through the remaining rows and ignore the above fail ?

Batch rename files

How can I batch rename files to original (embedded in metadata) file names?

If you are saying that your photos have their original filename stored as the DocumentName field in the EXIF metadata, you can use the free ExifToolGUI:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/Multimedia/Graphics/Portable-ExifToolGUI.sh tml
It requires the free ExifTool:
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/ExifTool-Download-90656.html
ExifToolGUI allows you to rename files using that DocumentName field -- just be sure the extension is included.
Added:
I just installed those latest versions, and there isn't the file renaming option any more.
Can probably be done by setting up an ExifTool commandline, but I haven't experimented with that yet.
Ken
Message was edited by: photodrawken to add more info.

Sedname - Batch rename files using sed

Renaming files using sed is nothing new, but this script makes the process a little more friendly and adds a few features, including insertion of sequential numbers and a simulation mode. The output of any find command can also be piped through sedname.
sedname version 1.0.0
Batch-renames files using a sed script
Usage: sedname [OPTIONS] SEDSCRIPT FILE ...
Usage: find [...] | sedname [OPTIONS] SEDSCRIPT
Example: sedname 's/$.*$\.jpg/\1.jpeg/' *.jpg
Example: find /mypics | sedname 's/$.*$\.jpg/\1.jpeg/'
OPTIONS:
--sim simulate only
--dir rename directories too
Use #D to insert a number with D digits forming a unique filename
Example: sedname 's/thisname.*/thatname#3/' *
( changes thisname* to thatname001, thatname002, ... )
Use #0 in replacement name to insert a number if needed
Example: sedname 's/thisname.*/thatname#0/' *
( changes thisname* to thatname, thatname1, thatname2, ... )
http://igurublog.wordpress.com/download … t-sedname/
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=37707

What does it have over zsh's zmv:
# Remove illegal characters in a fat32 file system. Illegal characters are
# / : ; * ? " < > |
# NOTE: ``-Q'' and (D) is to include hidden files.
$ unwanted='[:;*?\"<>|]'
$ zmv -Q "(**/)(*$~unwanted*)(D)" '$1${2//$~unwanted/}'
# Changing part of a filename (i. e. "file-hell.name" -> "file-heaven.name")
$ zmv '(*)hell(*)' '${1}heaven${2}'
# or
$ zmv '*' '$f:s/hell/heaven/'
# remove round bracket within filenames
# i. e. foo-(bar).avi -> foo-bar.avi
$ zmv '*' '${f//[()]/}'
# serially all files (foo.foo > 1.foo, fnord.foo > 2.foo, ..)
$ ls *
1.c asd.foo bla.foo fnord.foo foo.fnord foo.foo
$ c=1 zmv '*.foo' '$((c++)).foo'
$ ls *
1.c 1.foo 2.foo 3.foo 4.foo foo.fnord
# Rename "file.with.many.dots.txt" by substituting dots (exept for the last
# one!) with a space
$ touch {1..20}-file.with.many.dots.txt
$ zmv '(*.*)(.*)' '${1//./ }$2'
# Remove the first 4 chars from a filename
$ zmv -n '*' '$f[5,-1]' # NOTE: The "5" is NOT a mistake in writing!
# Rename names of all files under the current Dir to lower case, but keep
# dirnames as-is.
$ zmv -Qv '(**/)(*)(.D)' '$1${(L)2}'
# replace all 4th character, which is "1", with "2" and so on
$ zmv '(???)1(???[1-4].txt)' '${1}2${2}'
# Remove the first 15 characters from a string
$ touch 111111111111111{a-z}
$ zmv '*' '$f[16,-1]'
# Replace spaces (any number of them) with a single dash in file names
$ zmv -n '(**/)(* *)' '$1${2//( #-## #| ##)/-}'
# or - with Bash
$ find . -depth -name '* *' -exec bash -c '
> shopt -s extglob
> file=$1
> dir=${file%/*}
> name=${file##*/}
> newname=${name//*([ -]) *([ -])/-}
> mv -i -- "$file" "$Dir/$newname"' {} {} \;
# Clean up file names and remove special characters
$ zmv -n '(**/)(*)' '$1${2//[^A-Za-z0-9._]/_}'
# Add *.py to a bunch of python scripts in a directory (some of them end
# in *.py and give them all a proper extension
$ zmv -n '(**/)(con*)(#qe,file $REPLY | grep "python script",)' '$1$2.py'
# lowercase all extensions (i. e. *.JPG) incl. subfolders
$ zmv '(**/)(*).(#i)jpg' '$1$2.jpg'
# Or - without Zsh
$ find Dir -name '*.[jJ][pP][gG]' -print | while read f
> do
> case $f in
> *.jpg) ;
> *) mv "$f" "${f%.*}.jpg" ;
> esac
> done
# remove leading zeros from file extension
$ ls
filename.001 filename.003 filename.005 filename.007 filename.009
filename.002 filename.004 filename.006 filename.008 filename.010
$ zmv '(filename.)0##(?*)' '$1$2'
$ ls
filename.1 filename.10 filename.2 filename.3 filename.4 filename.5 ..
# renumber files.
$ ls *
foo_10.jpg foo_2.jpg foo_3.jpg foo_4.jpg foo_5.jpg foo_6.jpg ..
$ zmv -fQ 'foo_(<0->).jpg(.nOn)' 'foo_$(($1 + 1)).jpg'
$ ls *
foo_10.jpg foo_11.jpg foo_3.jpg foo_4.jpg foo_5.jpg ...
# adding leading zeros to a filename (1.jpg -> 001.jpg, ..
$ zmv '(<1->).jpg' '${(l:3::0:)1}.jpg'
# See above, but now only files with a filename >= 30 chars
$ c=1 zmv "${(l:30-4::?:)}*.foo" '$((c++)).foo'
# Replace spaces in filenames with a underline
$ zmv '* *' '$f:gs/ /_'
# Change the suffix from *.sh to *.pl
$ zmv -W '*.sh' '*.pl'
# Add a "".txt" extension to all the files within ${HOME}
# ``-.'' is to only rename regular files or symlinks to regular files,
# ``D'' is to also rename hidden files (dotfiles))
$ zmv -Q '/home/**/*(D-.)' '$f.txt'
# Or to only rename files that don't have an extension:
$ zmv -Q '/home/**/^?*.*(D-.)' '$f.txt'
# Recursively change filenames with characters ? [ ] / = + < > ; : " , - *
$ chars='[][?=+<>;",*-]'
$ zmv '(**/)(*)' '$1${2//$~chars/%}'
# Removing single quote from filenames (recursively)
$ zmv -Q "(**/)(*'*)(D)" "\$1\${2//'/}"
# When a new file arrives (named file.txt) rename all files in order to
# get (e. g. file119.txt becomes file120.txt, file118.txt becomes
# file119.txt and so on ending with file.txt becoming file1.txt
$ zmv -fQ 'file([0-9]##).txt(On)' 'file$(($1 + 1)).txt'
# lowercase/uppercase all files/directories
$ zmv '(*)' '${(L)1}' # lowercase
$ zmv '(*)' '${(U)1}' # uppercase
# Remove the suffix *.c from all C-Files
$ zmv '(*).c' '$1'
# Uppercase only the first letter of all *.mp3 - files
$ zmv '([a-z])(*).mp3' '${(C)1}$2.mp3'
# Copy the target `README' in same directory as each `Makefile'
$ zmv -C '(**/)Makefile' '${1}README'
# Removing single quote from filenames (recursively)
$ zmv -Q "(**/)(*'*)(D)" "\$1\${2//'/}"
# Rename pic1.jpg, pic2.jpg, .. to pic0001.jpg, pic0002.jpg, ..
$ zmv 'pic(*).jpg' 'pic${(l:4::0:)1}.jpg'
$ zmv '(**/)pic(*).jpg' '$1/pic${(l:4::0:)2}.jpg' # recursively
(from zsh-lovers)
Edit: tried it now, and had to remove this silly block to make it let me use alternate delimiters:
if [ "${sedscript:0:2}" != "s/" ]; then
echo "Invalid sed script: $sedscript" > /dev/stderr
exit 1
fi
Last edited by JohannesSM64 (2010-05-31 15:29:44)

Batch Renaming Files

Greetings,
Is there a way to "Batch Rename" a group of files?
For example, I might want to rename dog.gif, cat.gif,
rat.gif, etc. to animal01.gif, animal02.gif, animal03.gif, etc.
Thanks,
folsombob

folsombob wrote:
> I don't have a problem batch renaming files outside of
DW. If I do, though, I
> will break all of the links and references.
There is no way of batch renaming files and preserving links
and references.
However, you can rename one file at a time in the Files
panel, and
Dreamweaver will automatically update the links throughout
the site.
David Powers, Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
Author, "PHP Solutions" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/

Batch Processing to Rename Files

I use batch processing to rename file in Photoshop Elements 5.0. I renamed my files with the MRW extension and the extension was changed to PSD.
I also tried batch processing to turn the MRW file into RAW files. I was able to do that but then Photoshop Elements was not able to open the newly renamed RAW files.
Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?
Bill

You cannot make changes to your actual raw files. You must convert them to another format to do this, which is what PE is doing. The kind of RAW files PE/PS can read or create without going through ACR (the camera raw plugin window) are not camera raw files, but photoshop raw files, a very old PS format that is not good for much these days.

HowTo Rename file based on message content?

Hi All,
Newbie here.
I have an message which i'm pushing out to a file via a File eWay.
I need to name\rename the file based on the ID of the message.
What is the best way to do this?
Thanks,
Ken

I'm not aware of a way to do this via the File eWay, which is very limited in functionality. Of course, you could do it with standard java.io but that isn't very Java EE. So, I typically use the Batch eWay (Batch Local File) where more robust capabilities such as this are quite easy using the dynamic configuration features.

Rename files in different subfolders

Hello,
I am looking for a script to do the following:
I have different files in various folders and subfolders that I wish to rename.
So I need a script to search for files in all folders and subfolders of my external drive and find all files ending in .doc.
Then I need each file to be renamed as "report.doc". (there is only one file per subfolder so there is no danger of having two files with the same name.)
Can someone show me how to do that? I found similar posts but it was not what I was looking for.
Thank you very much for your time.

This is an old document I have so some may no longer exist or work with Lion, but you can probably find utilities that will do this for you. I use Renamer4Mac from back when it was free.
*Renaming Utilities*
NameChanger [http://www.mrrsoftware.com/MRRSoftware/NameChanger.html]
Renamer4Mac [http://renamer4mac.com/batch-rename-files-on-mac-osx.html] - now shareware but older versions may still be free.
psrenamer [http://www.powersurgepub.com/downloads.html#psrenamer] - Java based (=slightly slow) free utility.
Name Mangler [http://www.manytricks.com/namemangler/] - requires OS 10.5+, but File List [http://www.manytricks.com/download/filelist] is an older version for pre-10.5.
[http://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderRename/] - $20

Rename files in Prelude?

I don't see a way to rename video files in Prelude. Coming from a still photo background I have always renamed files to a sensible name at the point of import. If this can't be done in Prelude is there a suggestion on how to do this before prelude? Kind of a prelude to using prelude?!? For now I will continue to import and rename both still and vid files in Lightroom but would like to see this in Prelude.
Thanks.

Hi Mike
Thanks for your response.
Actually this is my first time working with the file based system. XDCAM. Usually the guys give me a single video file for footage and use it just it straight up.
But since I was given an XDCAM I did a search and came across this post. So being my first time not sure how helpful I can be but let me give you my current workflow so maybe this can help answer your question above.
I don't work with producers or directors I work with the end user or "viewer" as the case may be. So they are not technical and I can not tell them to get a copy of prelude and mark it up for me.
What I do is take the raw footage and transcode to a web friendly size ( at this point quality is not the issue but cut points are) and load them up to my site for the client to review and give me notes according to timecode.
Now when I load 20 of these up there and need to link them to my pages I like the files to be something I can understand. So I don't have to write down some sort of reference sheet so I can put the correct video on the correctly worded page.
Of course I can easily batch transcode in media encoder but it is nice to be able to view the files as a group in prelude. (and would be nice to) rename each one while I am looking at it and know what clip it is. then transcode all in one step renanming the originals as an alias if you like in the project panel but would like my transcoded files to be renamed also for the upload.
Not sure how it all works across the other programs yet, but I would like that if I can once on the initial ingest rename files to something I can easily understand what they are and be able to use that across the holy trinity Prelude, Premiere and After Effects. That would be most helpful

Rename files for contactsheet

I'd like to make a contactsheet.
To do so, I first have to rename my files from numbers to letters, because otherwise the photo's are at a wrong place in my contactsheet.
I make numbers like: 01, 02 ,03 etc.
When I want to batch the files to rename them with letters, in bridge or with an action in photoshop, then all the files are at another order.
Does anybody knows, what I have to do so that I can rename it easily and that the programme does what I want?
I hope someone has the answer.
Thank you for helping me out.

How are you making the contact sheet? If with the old Photoshop script, then it's several years since I last used it, but IIRC you just need the files to be in the right order, and tell it how many rows and images per row. I don't remember anything about the file names needing to start with a letter.
So what version of Photoshop? What are you using to create the contact sheet? How many images, and how do you want to format them?
Goodness. I just checked and it was more than six years ago. This was done by choosing not to flatern the Contact sheet so I could use Free Transform and layer masks to overlap the images. It took me ages!

Rename files using text or excel file

I am trying to find out how to rename files on my pc using the names stored in a text document
eg. the file on the pc is called "C07_08.dat"
the text file has the following line "3am Eternal KLF 03:15 121 BMG C07.08"
i want to change the name of the file "C07_08.dat" to "3am Eternal.mpeg"
What I would like is a batch file or program or something that will see the text "C07.08" and find the corresponding file "C07_08.dat" and rename it "3am Eternal.mpeg"
I have managed to create a excel document that has the information in four separate columns
Column A has the name of the file I want to use (ie. 3am Eternal) Column B & C have unneeded information and Column D has the file reference (ie. C07.08)
I was told that Python or Visual basic could do this so I downloaded them but I have no experience with this so im lost as to what to do, I have over 1800 of these files so doing it file by file will take quite a while.
I have included a sample of the text file for reference if that helps
3am Eternal KLF 03:15 121 BMG C07.08
4 In The Morning Gwen Stefani 04:22 092 UMA HD1.10
4 Minutes Madonna ft J Timberlake 04:04 113 WAR HE3.05
5 6 7 8 Steps 03:24 000 BMG C48.03
5678 Steps 03:23 140 MUS H16.02
6 Of 1 Thing Craig David 03:15 116 WAR HE2.11
60 MPH New Order 03:51 125 WAR N57.11
7 Days Craig David 04:30 084 SHO N41.16
7 Things Miley Cyrus 03:29 107 EMI HE7.09
99 Luft Balloons Nena 03:58 095 WAR C27.10
99 Times Kate Voegele 03:27 112 UMA HG6.07
A Girl Like You Edwyn Collins 03:47 126 MDS R06.08
A Little Bit Pandora 03:35 132 UMA H23.01
A Little Less Conversation Elvis VS JXL 03:02 115 BMG H68.03
A Matter Of Trust Billy Joel 04:00 110 SON C59.11
A New Day Has Come Celine Dion 04:20 092 SON H65.20
A Woman Like You Mondo Rock 04:03 169 MUS R06.01
About You Now Sugababes 03:32 083 UMA HD5.08
Absolutely Everybody Vanessa Amorosi 03:52 124 TRA H40.06
Absolutely Fabulous Pet Shop Boys 03:45 132 EMI C15.02
Accidentally In Love Counting Crows 03:08 138 UMA H94.05
According To You Orianthi 03:18 066 UMA HG4.12
Achy Breaky Heart Billy Ray Cyrus 03:55 122 SON K11.02

Here are two VBScripts that will rename the files based on the text file example you provided. The script that reads a
TEXT FILE requires each entry to be separated by
ONE TAB because it is the
TAB
that it uses to split each line into 4 parts (part1 - old file name, part2 and part3 - items you don’t need, part 4 - new file name). If there is more that one tab then the Split Function will not work properly.
The second VBScript will read the
EXCEL FILE row by row and use the values in Column A for the old file name and
Column D for the new file name. This approach will work much better if you have an excel document setup like this.
I used your example that you provided and it test fine for both approaches.
'Read text file
Dim objFSO, objFolder, inFile, strInLine, strOldFile, strNewFile
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
'Select the folder
Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder("C:\Scripts\MusicFiles")
'Open Text File
Set inFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile("C:\Scripts\MusicFiles.txt",1)
Do Until inFile.AtEndOfStream
'Read text file line by line and Split each line into 4 parts.
strInLine = Split(inFile.ReadLine, vbTab)
'Old File name
strOldFile = strInLine(3)
'new File name
strNewFile = strInLine(0)
'Loop through the files in the folder
For Each File In objFolder.Files
'If the file name matches the old file name above
If File.Name = strOldFile & ".dat" Then
'Replace it
File.Name = strNewFile & ".mpeg"
End If
Next
Loop
'Close the text reader
inFile.Close
MsgBox "Done."
'Read Excel file
Dim objFSO, objExl, objFolder, objWorkbook, strOldFile, strNewFile, intRow
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objExl = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
'Select the folder
Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder("C:\Scripts\MusicFiles")
'Open the Excel file
Set objWorkbook = objExl.Workbooks.Open("C:\Scripts\MusicFiles.xls")
'Start at row 1
intRow = 1
'Read each Row until the end
Do Until objExl.Cells(intRow,1).Value = ""
'Old file name is in column 4
strOldFile = objExl.Cells(intRow, 4).Value
'New file name is in column 1
strNewFile = objExl.Cells(intRow, 1).Value
'Loop through each file in the selected folder
For Each File In objFolder.Files
'If the file name matches the old file name above
If File.Name = strOldFile & ".dat" Then
'Replace it
File.Name = strNewFile & ".mpeg"
End If
Next
'Increment each row
intRow = intRow + 1
Loop
'Close Excel
objExl.Quit
MsgBox "Done."
v/r LikeToCode....Mark the best replies as answers.

Can't rename files on an external harddrive,

I import my pictures into Lightroom using the following format YYYYMMDD - XXXX. For example, a picture with a file number 2113 taken on Dec 16th, 2011 would be ranamed 20111216 - 2113. I import them to my computer first and then move them to an external hard drive when the storage on my computer gets tight. For a while, I accidently was adding a space to the front of my file name, so it would import as " 20111216 - 2113" instead of "20111216 - 2113" notice the space at the beginning file name. This space was maintained when the file lived on my computer, but it was removed when I moved the lightroom folder to my external hard drive. As a result, all of the files that are on the external hard drive show up as "missing or deleted." Light room thinks there should be a space in the front, but none of the files on the hard drive do. I have to locate each and every file by hand, and the "find nearby photos" check box doesn't help, because all the files are missing the space. Is there a way to batch rename files in lightroom, even when the file is missing? I need to change all the names in my catalogue to take out the space at the front so I can then easily locate the files on my external hard drive. Can someone help me out? There has to be a better, faster, easier way to do this other than individually locating each and every file on my external hard drive.
Thanks for your help,
matt

Lightroom can't rename files while they're missing. If you batch rename the files on the external hard drive, to include the space again, LR should find them and then you can rename them within LR to remove the space again.

How can I rename files when importing?

Is there a way to rename files when importing them? Every method I've tried retains the original file name the camera assigns (e.g. DSC_0001). I'd like the ability to rename the files automatically either with a date or event name with sequential numbering following.
Thanks!

First you will have to upload from the camera to a folder on the Desktop where you can batch rename them before importing into iPhoto. That's a safer workflow IMO because you can make sure the photos are safely on the hard drive before starting any other operation.
OT

Rename/Batch Rename files

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for