help please with re-naming photos.

[landscape_shooter]

<p>I have all my photos saved as original file numbers-example-IMG-3409. I want to change them all so they are unique and also I can sort from two cameras by time. In DPP I can't find any way that would rename and name new photos from the camera exactly the same. ANyone else run into this? Do you just rename photos after loading from camera all the time? The seperations are different-periods, underscores etc. My other question is how will this affect my saved backups of all the files on my computer which I have on an external drive? Do I need to clear the ext. drive and save them all again with the new file numbers? Thanks so much!</p>

[jarle_aasland]

<p>Personally, I rename all my files to include the date (and time, if needed) AND the original file name.<br>

I use PhotoRename, a Windows program which I originally wrote for my own use - but there are plenty of programs that can do this, and more.<br>

Good luck!<br>

Jarle</p>

[parv]

<p>You should mention the operating system that you are using, so that people don't have to guess & you get relevant reponse.

</p>

 

<p>

I use my own Perl program to do file name cleansing needs (<a href="http://www103.pair.com/parv/comp/src/perl.xhtmls">File::Name::Sanitize</a>). I read that <a href="http://zsh.sourceforge.net/">zsh</a> (available, at least, for Unix-like OS & MS Windows too) has excellent built-in file name generation facilities.

</p>

[graham john miles]

<p>If you download and install Irfanview, it has a marvellous batch processor that will allow you to do a bulk rename of all your images to whatever you wish.<a href="http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00Tr8v?unified_p=1"></a></p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>I mainly use the batch rename function that's bundled with my preferred viewer program: ACDSee. I use an older version 5.0, which runs a bit faster and has features that were stripped out in later versions. It's shareware, around $50 I think.</p>

<p>In a pinch you can use CKRename, a small freeware program specifically for batch rename. I've used this and it works well.</p>

[landscape_shooter]

<p>Thanks for the help, anyone know about my external harddrive and how to go about that? I am using DPP and Windows Vista with a Seagate external hard drive. Thanks again</p>

[peter]

There are any number of batch freeware file renamers available in the itnernet. Some are easy to use. Some difficult. But the better ones will allow you a variety of renaming options like using prefixes and suffixes, underscores, symbols etc.

 

Try this site for links to renaming utilities.

 

http://www.snapfiles.com/freeware/

[mendel_leisk]

<p>If you're renaming files on your hard drive you definitely should clear out the external drive and recopy the files over. Just common sense ;)</p>

<p>You might look into XXCopy for automated file copying. It's freeware for Windows operating systems. It can ensure that your destination matches source. If files are deleted at source it will delete them at destination. It will ensure the two match, either the entire drives, or specific directories. Easiest to use at a DOS prompt in a batch file. Here some example:</p>

<p>rem xxcopy switches:<br />rem /bi: Backs up incrementally, different (by time/size) files only.<br />rem /yy: Suppresses ALL prompts unconditionally (good in a batch script).<br />rem /zy: Deletes extra files or subdirectories in destination, WITHOUT PROMPT.<br />rem /e: Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.</p>

<p>And an example, that would duplicate the My Doc's directory from one drive to another, make sure they are completely sync'd:</p>

<p>xxcopy /bi /yy /zy /e "C:\My Documents\*.*" "d:\My Documents\</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Note, if the two drives are different format, eg: ntfs and fat, there is a different minimum time interval for file statistics, something like 2 seconds vs 10 seconds. This will cause XXCopy to think there are difference between files where there are in fact none (apart from the minor time difference), and in turn result in some superflous copying.</p>

<p>In other words, it will copy files even though the only difference is a few seconds in the time statistic. This will cause it to take a little longer, do unneeded writes, but will accomplish the same result. Your best bet is to have same file system on both drives, say ntfs.</p>