not sure im in the right forum, mac "how to" filing question

missemanuel

missemanuel

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Hello there :wave:

Iv got a load of photos split into different files all from one shoot. In each file the photographs are numbered. I want to put them all in one file so they are numbered in order of shooting. How do i do this? If I just copy and paste of course I end up getting 3 of number 1 or 3 of number two.... Am I making sense? :cuckoo:

Thanks for any assistance....:thumbs:

S
 
It's the kind of thing for which it's relatively easy to build a custom workflow using Automator

http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/ss/Using-Automator-to-Rename-Files.htm

You may have to do a couple of renaming passes in your workflow


- Add Date or Time HHMMSS before your file name using the created time
- Add Date or Time YYYYMMDD before your file name using the created time

That will ensure that your files sort in the correct order - YYYYMMDDHHMMSS_originalfilename.jpg

If the shoot was all on one day, you may be able to skip the YYYYMMDD pass.

- Then a final rename Make Sequential with new name and serial number - IMG_001.jpg, etc. It may be better to do this as a separate workflow.

There's plenty of shareware to do this kind of thing though; A Better Finder Rename has been around for years.

Graphic Converter will also allow you to batch rename files.

If you've processed the files from RAW originals, it could get trickier as the file creation dates may not reflect the time of capture and you'd have to figure out some way of reading the EXIF data. If you have Adobe Lightroom (or Apple Aperture) you can do it in a few seconds and not worry about this, though.

edit: N.B. Always test out on copies of your files, not the originals. ;)
 
Last edited:
I use A Better Finder Rename. Absolutely brilliant. Perfect for this sort of job.
 
Musicman said:
It's the kind of thing for which it's relatively easy to build a custom workflow using Automator

http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/ss/Using-Automator-to-Rename-Files.htm

You may have to do a couple of renaming passes in your workflow


- Add Date or Time HHMMSS before your file name using the created time
- Add Date or Time YYYYMMDD before your file name using the created time

That will ensure that your files sort in the correct order - YYYYMMDDHHMMSS_originalfilename.jpg

If the shoot was all on one day, you may be able to skip the YYYYMMDD pass.

- Then a final rename Make Sequential with new name and serial number - IMG_001.jpg, etc. It may be better to do this as a separate workflow.

There's plenty of shareware to do this kind of thing though; A Better Finder Rename has been around for years.

Graphic Converter will also allow you to batch rename files.

If you've processed the files from RAW originals, it could get trickier as the file creation dates may not reflect the time of capture and you'd have to figure out some way of reading the EXIF data. If you have Adobe Lightroom (or Apple Aperture) you can do it in a few seconds and not worry about this, though.

edit: N.B. Always test out on copies of your files, not the originals. ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you! loads of different things to try! :thumbs:
 
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