Can I batch rename multiple file types (raw, xmp, JPEG, TIFF) by Capture Date?

[NomadPhoto.net]

Hi Support Gurus,

I am using Photo Mechanic v5.0 build 13915 on my MacBook Pro laptop, with OS X 10.8.3.

Here's the issue:

I need to reorganize my photo library, including file names, by Date + Time stamp.  I have over 87,000 images, and most are named with a combination of objective (where, when, what) and subjective data, but the date field is at the end. I have done lots of editing in Lightroom and some in Photoshop.  I don't want to orphan those edits, or face manually renaming everything to get in shape.

Can I do a batch renaming action in PM 5, where I sort all file types of the same name by Capture Time, and then rename them, applying the same Date + Time Stamp + sequence number (most original camera file names are lost) across file types, so the affiliation is kept in Adobe software systems?

Please tell me PM 5 has some magic beans to help me.

Thanks,
Tricia

[Kirk Baker]

Tricia,

Can I do a batch renaming action in PM 5, where I sort all file types of the same name by Capture Time, and then rename them, applying the same Date + Time Stamp + sequence number (most original camera file names are lost) across file types, so the affiliation is kept in Adobe software systems?

I don't know what it means to keep affiliation in Adobe software systems, but PM will rename a photo and its associated files (audio, xmp sidecars, etc.) so that they maintain their associations.

If you don't need to keep the prefix part of your file names and simply want Date_Time_Seqn then use the Rename dialog and enter the following as your Renaming string:

{date}_{time}_{seqn}

or if you want more control over the format of the date and time you can use the individual components:

{yr4}{mn0}{day0}_{hr0}{min}{sec}_{seqn}

Set your Sequence to 000 or 001

Then look at the examples of how your files will be renamed and if they're to your liking, click the Rename button.  If you want to keep parts of the original file name and want to add on the above additional information, I'll need some concrete examples in order to figure out how you should proceed.

HTH,

-Kirk

[Hayo Baan]

One important caveat: the files you rename should have their exif data relatively intact for things like e.g., capture times to work. If you created your tiffs (and jpgs) with Adobe software and did not chose to remove the information, then you should be fine, however.

Cheers,
Hayo

[Luiz Muzzi]

I myself use Name_date_timesorting
All pictures get automatically sorted by capture date/time and I still have an easy reference of the subject of the picture (name of person, event, etc.).
HTH,

-Luiz Muzzi

[SamFrost]

Can I do a batch renaming action in PM 5 [...] so the affiliation is kept in Adobe software systems?

I'm fairly sure that if you rename any file outside Lightroom, Lightroom will lose them and they will have to be re-associated with the Library manually.  This would be very boring with 87,000 files, one by one!  You should rename within LR.