Renaming digital images

[joe_zammarelli]

I have two digicams. Each uses a different naming conventnion. One

uses a straight numbering system; i.e. IMG-0083. The other

incorporates the date; i.e. P3150027 (March 15, image 27). The first

I find useless. The second at least lets me know, if not what, at

least when the photo was taken. The problem is twofold: a) I can't

identify the images by name and b) I can reset the cameras, which

results in duplicate names.

 

If I plug the camera into the computer, XP provides a Wizard that

allows me to rename the pictures as they're copied. If I was at the

Renaissance Festival on October 14, XP can rename the pohotos

renfest1014 001, renfest1014 002, and etc.

 

To save on battery use, I bought a Lexar reader that will read four

card types. But it functions as a disk drive and simply copies

whatever is on the card to my hard drive.

 

I'm an old DOS kind of guy, but using the rename command is not

reliable, sometimes it works, often not. Probably gets confused with

the old 8-character convention and the new long names. Keying:

rename img-* renfest1014* won't work.

 

Does anybody know of a technique or a utility that does mass renames?

[jennifer_brown2]

For Windows, I am a big fan of Jim Willsher's Bulk Rename Utility:

 

http://www.jimwillsher.co.uk/Site/Software/BRU_Intro.php

[joe_zammarelli]

Perfect, Jennifer. It's terrific and (almost) free!

 

Thanks, and have a gooooood day!

[ellis_vener_photography]

In the Browser section of Photoshop CS (and I think Photoshop 7) there is a

built-in batch re-name utility.

[ellis_vener_photography]

In Photoshop CS. go File > Browse > Automate> Batch Rename. It works on

all of the images you have selected

[hyunyu]

I use Albert Bertilsson's Renamer. Freeware, VERY powerful and flexible, and did I mention it's free?<p>

 

<a href="http://www.albert.nu/default.asp?sub=programs/default.asp?sub=renamer/main.htm">Renamer</a href><p>

 

Using the Renamer program, I have written a macro within the program so that after I download the contents of CF cards, I run the program and macro and voilà! I use the following convention: yyyy-mm-dd_camera_last four digits of the original file name as unique identifier. So, for example, if the original images from my 300D are named IMG-3056, IMG-3057, IMG-3058 taken today, etc., then they'd be renamed to:

<p>

 

Folder name: 2004-06-29 Renaissance Fair<p>

 

2004-06-29_300D_3056.JPG<br>

2004-06-29_300D_3057.JPG<br>

2004-06-29_300D_3058.JPG<br>

[._._z]

Photoshop. <p>

 

There's a very useful freeware app for Macs, also called Renamer, that renames your digital

photos by date (and also sorts them alphabetically): <p>

 

<u><A href = http://www.qdev.de/?location=mac/exifrenamer>

http://www.qdev.de/?location=mac/exifrenamer</a></u>

[m_p7]

Try <a href="http://www.acdsystems.com/English/Products/ACDSee/index.htm">ACDSee 6<a>. 30-day trial.

[michael_spencer3]

I also use Bertilsson's Renamer (for Windows) and I find it very easy and useful.

 

However, in a different life I was a systems analyst and learned the hard way a basic rule about data (and databases) namely ... never, ever include information in the key value of your record. In this context, it would be ... never, ever add any information to the image name. Simply use a straight sequential number.

 

I also learned a corollary to this rule which is that no one will ever adhere to it until they have aquired a large amount of data which they have lost control of. So here's some free advice (remember that advice is worth what you pay for it) :-) ... Sequentially number your images, create and use a folder tree that is meaningful until you have the time and energy to put everything into some kind of album or database.

 

Live long and prosper

[ellis_vener_photography]

Thank you Michael! I think I understand the why of yourr advice.

[yian nyc]

Michael or Ellis

 

Can you please give a brief explanation why putting info in the key field is

bad?

 

I have two principles for renaming, (1) that each number is unique, and (2) the

number is as simple (and short) as possible. (3) a third easy to implement

factor is that it is sorted correctly by a simple alphabetical sorter.

 

So I rename my files using iview mediapro to YY_SS_XXXX.

 

YY is the year. (Since I started shooting in 02, I feel relatively safe from the

next millenium bug.)

 

SS is the shoot number. Hopefully, I don't do more than 100 shoots a year. I

also combine all my random Paris street shootings into the same folder.

Same with portraits at my home, etc.

 

XXXX is the index number of the the shot, starting at 0001.

[kkjuhy]

http://www.irfanview.com/

[joe_zammarelli]

I, too, was a systems person for 25 years and I believe in using key info in the name. Every system I designed had key info in the file names. The trick is finding a scheme that would fit all conceivable contingencies. The key, if you will, is to use as little key info as possible while providing enough usable information.

 

For my pics I use a simple two character code, date, and sequence number. I go to Florida twice a year, so for a recent trip I used "FL 20040315 001." And all the shots are in folder "FL 20040315." This way, if I want to move things around, I never lose the key information (location and date). I could have included more key info like - FL 20040315 pm matlacha game preserve egret perched - but what happens if I'm looking only for egrets or shots taken at Matlacha? Do I change the names around so they sort properly? No! For me, simply having a code (make up your own, it's your system) and a date is enough. Just make sure each file has a unique name!

 

Complimenting this are my "keeper" files. For every outing I select a couple of keepers and copy them to appropriately-named folders; i.e. animals/birds/egrets. Egrets have their own folder because I have a LOT of egret pictures. And turkeys are getting up there, so all I have to do is create a folder, then CTRL click my way through birds, cut, and paste.

 

If I'm looking for something I can usually find it in the keeper folders and the name will tell me where the rest of the shots are. Or I may recall that I took the shot in Florida last spring and go find it directly.

 

If this seems like a lot of work, it isn't really. Choose a code, create a folder, blast the images into it, rename them, review and delete the obvious crap, select a few keepers, and copy them to the appropriate folders. They'll retain their original names and allow me to track down the originals. Simple.

 

While no system is perfect for everybody, and this system is not even perfect for me, this works exceedingly well for my current needs.

 

Not to sound like ad ad, but I gotta say Jim Willsher's Bulk Rename Utility is very slick. It allows you to rename all or any part of a file name, add sequence numbers, include "create" date or append folder name. Plus it remembers the last change, so when renaming similar files in different folders you can just select all and click OK. Very slick.

[raghu]

This might be straying from Joe's original qn but naming and managing images is quite an interesting problem.

<P>

I think it is best to add info into the EXIF/IPTC because I think XP and Google will soon sniff that meta data too. So you can keep the image name specific to the date/time and some basic cataloguing logic.

<P>

More of my thoughts are <a href="http://www.indospectrum.com/articles/manage_digital_library.html">here</a>.

[david_richardson5]

I use BreezeBrowser or an app called RenX that I had written for me by a chap called Nik Swain, and modified by me.

 

http://www.btinternet.com/~edensor/apps/

 

 

Basically I use yymmdd_hhmmss_originalfilename.ext if from a digital camera, or yymmdd_hhmmss_scan0001.tif as an example from my scanner.