Sorting Photos by Name

I'm a new Mac user. I've migrated all my photos from PC to iPhoto, but now I'm having a terrible time getting the photos to sort properly by title. I have used a naming convention (topic #) where # starts at 1 and goes up sequentially. However, when I sort by title, the photos appear in this order: topic 1, topic 10, topic 11, etc. I resolved this in XP by beginning the numbering at 100. However, I can't figure out how to do this in iPhoto (or Mac in general). Even when I batch rename in iPhoto and append a number, I cannot properly resort by title because photos 10, 11, 12 etc always get placed before photo 2, 3 etc.
Please help, I have thousand of photos and don't want to resort to renaming and reimporting from XP.
And just one more question. Although I am generally very very happy with the switch to Mac, why is it so difficult to batch rename files in Mac OS vs. XP?
thanks
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

beatlife:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Unfortunately the default alphanumeric sorting order is as you've discovered. In order to get files to sort in the 1-99 order correctly you must pad the first nine numbers with zeros, i.e. 01, 02, 03, etc.
Once in iPhoto the file names cannot be changed (titles for use in iPhoto can) unless you export the files with one of two options which will sequentially rename them (using the Album name will add padded numbers, using the Photos->Batch change and then export with the Use Title option will not pad zeros)
You can either manually pad zeros in those sets that you've renamed that way or, copy your photos from your PC again to your desktop and use R-Name to batch rename them with padded zeros. If a series of file names are XXXXX-1.jpg, etc., you can use R-Name to rename them sequentially to XXXXX-01.jpg or -001.jpg as necessary. It's a pretty slick application. Then import into iPhoto.
If you have to resort to creating a new library from scratch you might consider using iPhoto's alias mode where it does not copy full file into the library but only uses a link and an alias file. You source files are then stored where ever you want (but can't be moved once you create the library). Then you can rename the files with the proper numbering system (if you have more than 99 files in a sequence you need to pad with two zeros, 001, 002, etc.)
The alias mode may not be for you but if you think you might be interested check out these Tutorials.
Bottom line is if the numbering is important it might be worth your while to start over and rename the files with the padded zeros before importing into iPhoto. A little effort up front may save you time later on. You'll have to decide if it's worth it. Good luck.
Do you Twango?

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Cannot sort photos by name

I just upgraded to OS X 10.10.3 with the new Photos app. It seems that Apple left out the ability to sort photos by name. I have thousands of scanned photos -- some going back to the 1800s -- so sorting by date (which essentially is the scan date) does not make any sense. Using iPhoto, I named the photos with the date in yyyy-mm-dd format and sorted on name to get the photos in the proper sequence. On some of the photos, I could only determine the year, so that's all that was used in the naming. Sorting should be available on a variety for fields in the photos -- both ascending and descending.

It's easier to use 3rd party apps like Photo Manager Pro. You can drag the photos around like the way you do with apps.
https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/photo-manager-pro/id393858562?mt=8

Sort photos by name

Not sure what I'm missing here.
Basically I had a project full of photos imported from a camera, and also some others added from photostream from my iPhone.
I have now added the photostream in iyts entirity, thinking I would be able to order the photos by name and go through and remove duplicates from the project.
By default, Aperture has added the recently added photos from photostream after all the photos that were already there.
I thought to reorder I just had to Right Click the project name, then select Keep Arranged By > Name.
Bu this isn't doing anything.
I've tried selecting all the photos I want to sort, then trying.
I've tried creating an Album in the Project, but still no joy.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

The Keep arranged by that you get when you right click a project actually has to do with how folders and albums in that project are arranged when you look at them in the Library tab of the inspector. It doe not apply to the images in the project.
To sort the images in the project open a browser on the project and use the sort pulldown.

How do I sort photos by name after newest update?

I downloaded the newest iTunes update last week and now al my photos on my iPad are in chronological order. I prefer my photos in name order because I have specific order I want to view them in. Is there anyway to fix this? It's so frustrating!

I think that this is an issue for a lot of people. This is the third thread I have seen on this topic today. It appears that the latest update to iTunes "Broke" this option and we are stuck with chronologicl order rather then alpha order.
This is why I bought Photo Manager Pro. Well worth the couple of bucks I spent on it. It allows you to create folders, import pictures into the folders and then sort them however you want to and they seem to stay sorted that way even when iTunes or iOS changes.
You might submit a feedback report, http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html to let the software engineers know that this has become a problem for you.

IOS 7 iTunes 11.1.4 sort photos by name, not date

Hy, I'm running iOS 7.0.4 & iTunes 11.1.4.
I have a bunch of pics in folders that are incrementally named (001, 002 etc).
But when exporting them to my ipod touch, they are listed automatically by the date added.
How can I sort them by NAME and not by DATE on my ipod touch?

See:
iOS: Understanding photo sorting
iPad Sorting Photos from synced folder - MacRumors Forums
That above uses:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photo-manager-pro/id393858562?mt=8

HowTo Sort Photos by Name on iPad (Windows 7, etc. - For Those Frustrated)

So I was very frustrated as I read manga, etc., sometimes in image file form, and the Photos feature on the iPad is perfect for it. Except, when I uploaded the photos in iTunes, they'd get all out of order, and as it stands, there is NO way I know of to sort them in iTunes or on the iPad directly - they are sorted by date taken, period, unless you have iPhoto, which I don't since I don't have a Mac (and there's no version for PC). On a sidenote, I hope Apple provides some photo sorting and more robust options in future updates as this seems to be a rather silly oversight.
Also, I did not come up with this fix on my own, but wanted to streamline it after a lot of trial and error and reading multiple posts on the forum which helped me figure this out. This is using Windows 7, but Vista and XP should be fairly similar. Here's how to get your Photos sorted correctly (It worked for me anyway, so hopefully my logic is right on this):
1.) First, have it set up to sync in iTunes, obviously, with your files in the proper folder (originals or copies - you'll be modifying some of the picture data, so a copy might be best if this data is important to you on the originals). Personally I made an iPad folder (to sync up) in my Pictures directory with image sets in subfolders under it (I believe the iPad can only read one subfolder down). You'll also want to sort the files by name as you want them to be sorted on the iPad.
2.) In the main iPad photo directory you've made, you should see another directory called "iPod Photo Cache" - delete this (it'll regenerate upon next sync with the new order).
3.) Get into your iPad sync folder and then into the subfolder with the individual files you want to sort. CTRL-A to Select All, then once selected, right click, select Properties, and then the Details tab.
4.) Click "Remove Properties and Personal Information" at the bottom. A new window should pop up. Click the radio button for "Remove the following properties from this file:" and then check the "Date taken" box. Alternatively, you can hit "Select All" if none of the information is important to you (what I did). Click "OK" to make that window disappear, then "OK" to close out Properties and accept the changes.
5.) Go back into iTunes, resync, and you should have properly sorted files now. Enjoy, and please let me know if this works for you!
Message was edited by: WolfpupNX

Unfortunately it wasn't this straightforward for me! The above method seemed to work initially on some photo folders but then I found that it didn't on others. I've spent quite a few hours today investigating and experimenting. The iPad definitely sorts on the Windows file attribute "Date Taken" - the difficulty is changing this attribute using batch processing of several files at once. My EXIF metadata date fields are correct so I would like to be able to update the Date Taken file attribute from EXIF data for lots of photo files in one go. No-one seems to have written a program specifically for this task. I have tried various popular EXIF utilities and have only managed to do it with manual intervention on individual files which is too laborious for all my photos. It doesn't help that when you try and manually edit this Date Taken property for an individual file in Windows you can only change the date, not the time.
In my opinion, the real solution is for Apple to offer us a choice of the photo sort order in ITunes. My preference would be filename, perhaps with options to choose the Date Taken attribute, file timestamp or date modified filestamp (EXIF date fields as well is probably asking a bit too much!)

Photos for OS X: Displaying & Sorting Photos by NAME

In the new photos app, it doesn't appear that you can:
1) Display the name of the photos;
2) Batch change file names;
3) Sort images by file name (instead of date).
Is this true?
Is there a work around?
(Apple, if this functionality isn't present, please include in a future update.)

1. You can, but need to mouseover the image to see the title
2. True
3. True, but be aware that filename and 'name of the photo' are not the same thing
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html is the place for feature requests and feedback

PE9 - sort photos by file name?

PE9 - how can I sort photos by file name so I can drag and drop into the timeline?

Date is all I want to sort by, so for me it is a better way than filename. Originally they were sorted by name on iOS devices (up to iOS 3.1.3), but Apple must have decided (possibly via feedback) that capture date was a better way. You can always try leaving feedback and maybe in the future there will be a choice : http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html
If you want to sort them in a different order then you can do so if you use a Mac and transfer the photos via iPhoto or Aperture. Otherwise you can either manipulate their capture dates prior to syncing so that they are in the order you want (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4221), or there are third-party apps in the iTunes App Store that apparently allow sorting e.g. Photo-Sort for iPad or Sort Shorts iPad Edition

How do I get my photos to sort by file name when sync'd to the iPad?

How do I get my photos to sort by file name when sync'd to the iPad? The default sorting method changes the order of pictures when sync'd from my pc.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4221

How do you sort photos by face/name on iPad2?

How do you sort photos by face/name on iPad2?

iPhoto is designed to work with photos from cameras, and so seeks the date in the Exif metadata that the camera writes to the file.
There is no way to organise photos by the date they were imported to iPhoto.
Regards
TD

How can I sort photos by file name in Photos?

New Photos seems to be very limiting, even compared to iPhoto. How can I sort photos by filename? Many photos that worked in iPhoto, can't be viewed in Photos.

Welcome to the Apple Community.
Titles don't use the filename any longer, but if you must have them you might be interested in Léonie's script here.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/28052762#28052762

Is there any way to sort photos on iPad

I have iPad 2 and use iCloud to put photos from iPhoto (Macbook Pro) to iPad which works wonderful!!! I would like to sort the photos by name if possible, but cannot find any way to do this. It seems tthat iCloud adds most of the new photos at the bottom of the iPad file, but sometimes, it inserts a photo in the middle of the file. I use the photos as reference for painting and would like some order to them. Any help would be appreciated.

It's easier to use 3rd party apps like Photo Manager Pro. You can drag the photos around like the way you do with apps.
https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/photo-manager-pro/id393858562?mt=8

Can I over-ride the default setting in Organizer to allow sorting photos by filename ?

I am converting slides from the 1970's and 80's to digital files and using PSE 8 to Organize them but it is important to me that they stay in the order of the file name I give them and NOT "Date: newest first or last" because it would seem that PSE, in the absence of metafile information, uses the date and time I uploaded the file to the Organizer as the "Date:". ACDSee has a much more sensible arrangement in giving me full control of how my photos are sorted. I am being driven to using ACDSee as the organizer and PSE as the photo editor, a not very convenient arrangement. So my question is, "Can I over-ride the default setting in Organizer to allow sorting photos by filename ?"

The type of file system that you're trying to set up, is actually done better by creating you own file heirarchy in Windows, and then viewing by import batch. For example; you might create a top level folder "My Slide Scans", then perhaps, "My son John". So, the scans of john all go in the same folder, you import the folder in one batch, and you're where you want to be.
That said, PSE will fight you at every turn to do this, since with the scanner hooked up with PSE, PSE is going to want to store your photos in "scanned photos" and import them as you scan them.
I woud suggest this. After the scan and import, use PSE to move the photos to their final destination folder, say " Hawaii 1994", and create a tag of the same name". Then when you're done scanning photos of this event, use the tag to view all the scans at once. Then, delete all the photos from the organizer. (Yeah, sounds radical I know). Take heart! All you've gotta do then is to reimport the whole folder. All the same name photos will be in one import batch. And with all the photos of any given topic in one folder, you'll be able to also use Windows Explorer in any number of modes to view the photos outside PSE.
Keep in mind you can rename batchs of photos by selecting them, or by import batch or even tag, then "Ctrl. > Shift > N" will bring up the name change dialog box.
This technique is quite contensious, but, it makes a whole lot more sense than storing all your photos in the "My Photos" folder on the "C:/" drive where any viral or malware hiccup might cause the necessity of a reformat, which could cause the loss of years of work.
If a name search is a priority, that would be "Ctrl ."Shift" > "K" then type in whatever your heart desires.
Caution: Before attempting a delete/ reimport manuver, Alway, always, write the tag and file info to the photo. "File" >"Write Tag and Properties Info to File".
I always am quite adamantine about suggesting that you do NOT use the same physical HDD that contains Windows to store your photos, that's just asking for trouble. HDDs are quite cheap nowadays, and they're worth every penny in piece of mind. Plus to use a storage ("Volume") drive, you have to create your own file heirarchy anyway, so that leads right back to the beginning of this discussion.

How can I get Elements 11 Organiser to sort by File Name as in Elements 7

I have just acquired Elements 11 to replace Elements 7
All my main photos (thousands) are in 1 file on my computer.
My individual file names are dates - eg "1960-09Sept Venice St Marks Square.." etc, so File Names bring my thousands of images up in date order.
I have tagged them in Elements 11 as appropriate with 1 or more Tags per photo.
In Elements 7 there is an Option "Display" and one of the options is "Folder Location" i.e file name order, which is what I want.
I cannot find this option in Elements 11 - all I have found is an option to sort by just "new" or "old" i.e file date order. Fine for photgraphs where the file date is the same as the photo but a scan done today may be of an image in 1960 which is where I wanted it sorted!
I know you can amend the file date in Elements 11 for each image but I have hundreds of scans to redate!
I also know you can bring the images up in Elements 11 of my whole file by using "Reveal in Explorer" which brings them up in file name/date order for me but not when I click on the Elements 11 Tags which reverts to File Date.
Is there anyway I can get the Tags to sort by File Name/Location in Elements 11 as in Elements 7?
Tony

Many thanks for your previous message. Very useful.
In fact in preparing to answer your question, I find that maybe my problem is not as bad as I thought!
Yes, I have a lot of photos but the majority in digital form are photos (2,500) since the year 2000 which will be sorted by Elements according to the photo/file date.
I have 6,000 or so prints/slides going back mostly to the 1930s but quite a few back as far as the late 1800s. I am scanning a lot of these into digital form but I have only scanned about 500 or so so far and it is only these that are causing a problem. (I am unlikely to scan all 6,000!). These range from the 1880s to 2000. However, as I only started taking digital photos in 2000, if I follow your suggestion, I could give all my scans the same file date (a date prior to 2000) and if I understand correctly what you say, they will then all be sorted in the alpha/numeric order I want.
Have I got this right?.
I suppose, as an alternative, It would not be a real problem to insert a file date for the 500 or so I have scanned and I would then just need to enter a file date for any future scans.
As you indicate, there are other options but one of the 2 options above seem at present to be my best bet.
Thank you very much for your suggestions - maybe I can now more or less get what I want without too much effort but I would still prefer Adobe to add a File Location Option as before!
First & last paragraphs were edited by: Tony Boulton 8/6/13 0054

How do i sort by (file) name

How do i sort by file name for an album? I organize the photos from all different sources.. by filename.. and when i import them i just want them in the right order. This has to be one of the most basic functions and why was it eliminated from iPhoto?
Now all i get is "keep sorted by date" check box... (which does not work, some are still not in order)
Apple: this minimalist crap is getting old.. THIS IS A desktop PC..not an ipad or iphone. Put some meat in the menus and stop worrying so much about everything being pretty and streamlined.
C'mon!!!.. wasted time

Now all i get is "keep sorted by date" check box... (which does not work, some are still not in order)
"Keep sorted by date" can only be toggled on and off for regular albums, not for smart albums.

Sorting Photos by Name

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