Bulk renaming photos with tokens in Disk Sort by Zaweba

Camera names like IMG_4721 tell you nothing. Bulk rename in Disk Sort by Zaweba turns a folder of them into something you can read, using rules and tokens, with a live Before and After preview so you see every new name before committing. Press R or F2 with files tagged or selected to open it, and if a batch comes out wrong, Undo last rename puts it back.

Opening the rename window

Rename works on the tagged files or the current selection. Tag a set across folders with T or Ctrl+T, or simply select files in the list, then press R or F2. The window lists each file with its current name beside its new one.

Rules

Rules describe what to do with the names. They include find and replace, numbering and case, among others. Find and replace swaps one piece of text for another, such as turning "Copy of" into nothing. Numbering adds a counter. Case changes the capitalisation of names, which helps when files from different devices have been named inconsistently.

Tokens

Tokens are placeholders filled in for each file. {original} is the existing name. {n:000} is a number padded to three digits, so files sort properly as 001, 002 and so on. {width} and {height} are the picture's size in pixels. {camera} and {lens} come from the photo's details. {rating} is the star rating you've given it in Disk Sort. {folder} is the name of the folder it's in.

They combine freely. {folder} {n:000} turns a holiday folder's pictures into names like Cornwall 001 and Cornwall 002. {rating} {original} puts the stars at the front, so the best shots sort together. {camera} {original} helps tell apart pictures from two cameras that used the same numbering.

The Before/After preview updates as you change rules and tokens. Read it all the way down. Look for names that clash, names that have lost their extension, and numbering that starts where you expect. The preview is the cheapest place to catch a mistake.

Undo last rename reverses the most recent batch. It's there for the moment you realise the folder name was wrong or the numbers should have started at 1. Use it soon, before you rename again.

Renaming folders

In the tree, F2 renames a single folder. Tags, history and the scan follow the folder to its new name, so you don't lose your place, your tags or your size information.

Good naming habits

Check the order before you number. If the numbers should follow the moments rather than the camera's file names, sort by date taken first and read the preview to make sure 001 is the first shot.

Keep the original in the name when you can. Adding {original} at the end means you can always match a renamed file back to the camera's own numbering.

Pad the numbers. {n:000} gives every number three digits, so 9 comes before 10 in any file window instead of after 1.

Rename after the cull. There's no point naming 400 pictures when you'll keep 60. Mark keepers, delete the rest, then rename what's left.

Put ratings in names only when they'll stay settled. A {rating} in the name is handy for sorting, but if you re-rate pictures later the names won't change with them.

Bulk rename sits alongside tagging, copying and moving in Disk Sort by Zaweba, so a folder can go from camera numbers to a named, numbered set in one sitting.