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lourrzurn
Participant
July 2, 2025
Answered

Renaming In Bridge "First Last" > "Last First"

  • July 2, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 270 views

Hi everyone I'm trying to do a batch rename of 200+ photos. They are currently named "FirstName LastName" and I'd like to flip the order so that I can do some processes with them organized alphabetically by Last Name.  I'd imagine there's a way to do this in Bridge but I'm not sure what the best way to go about it. 

 

Thanks, Lou

Correct answer Stephen Marsh

It's done using regular expression capture groups in the batch rename string substitution.

 

I've posted an example in the past, I'll see if I can find it.

 

Can you copy/paste a few example file names or post a screenshot, just in case the pattern isn't as straight forward as expected?

 

First Last.jpg

Last First.jpg

 

Find:

(\w+) (\w+)

 

Replace:

$2 $1

 

1 reply

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
July 2, 2025

It's done using regular expression capture groups in the batch rename string substitution.

 

I've posted an example in the past, I'll see if I can find it.

 

Can you copy/paste a few example file names or post a screenshot, just in case the pattern isn't as straight forward as expected?

 

First Last.jpg

Last First.jpg

 

Find:

(\w+) (\w+)

 

Replace:

$2 $1

 

    L
    lourrzurnAuthor
    Participant
    July 3, 2025

    Thank you so much I don't understand any of that but it worked a treat. Are there any resources you'd recommend to help me learn more about how to understand the sytax so I can do more?

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 3, 2025

    @lourrzurn 

     

    There are countless resources, just search for tutorials on: Regular Expressions

     

    I learned this through numerous websites, videos and most importantly, hands on practice.

     

    https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/batch-rename-string-substitution/m-p/12413178#U12415474

     

    RegexMagic: Regular Expression Generator

     

    RegExr: Learn, Build, & Test RegEx

     

    https://regex101.com/

     

    Regex Tester and Debugger Online - Javascript, PCRE, PHP

     

    https://indesignsecrets.com/resources/grep

     

    Search using GREP expressions

     

    There are often multiple ways to achieve the same result, which can be frustrating when learning.


    It blows my mind that the concept of regex pattern matching was invented in the 1950's and practically first used in "modern" computing in the 1960's and are just as useful today.

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