Renaming those Pesky Photos

One of the biggest difficulties we face using digital cameras is renaming all the photos that we keep adding to our computers. I tend to put photographs in folders whose names describe where the pictures were taken, then create the necessary sub folders under the main one. But, even using that system doesn't solve the problems.

For instance, while my Olympus camera gives a unique name to every picture it has ever taken, my Nikon gives the same name over and over every time I put a new (or newly formatted) memory card in the camera. In other words it always starts the name at #1 every time a new card is inserted. This can be a real pain.

For instance, when we were in Yosemite for five days in May, I always dumped my pictures from the camera into the laptop at the end of each day. When I tried to categorize the photos later, such as putting all the pictures of Yosemite Falls into one directory, I couldn't do it as there were duplicate names. I wound up putting putting the pictures in folders named "Day1", "Day 2," etc.

When I work on the photos in Photoshop, that is when I officially name the programs with a descriptive title. However, I do keep the original number in the title so I can go back to the original later, if needed.

Another tool I use on a regular basis is a free program called "Bulk Rename Utility" that allows me to rename photographs or other files on a mass update basis. I can add numbering, prefixes, suffixes and many other items on a mass update basis.

Here's another trick that also might be helpful to you, if you use Windows XP. Let's say you have a folder full of Yosemite pictures. You can rename them at one fell swoop, rather than one-by-one. Here is how:

• First, open the folder and select View > Thumbnails.
• Click the last picture in the folder you want to rename, hold down the Shift key, and click the first picture; this will select them all.
• Right-click the first photo, and select Rename from the drop-down menu.

Windows XP will highlight the filename for the first photo, enabling you to give it a descriptive name, such as "Yosemite 1". After you type in the name, click the white space outside of the photo and watch as Windows applies the name with a sequential number to each picture in the folder.

Let me know if you have a good method for naming and organizing your photographs.