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YarrowLeaf
YarrowLeaf
Inspiring
February 6, 2023
Answered

Not batching - How to change date of multiple files quickly

  • February 6, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 775 views

I have 93 screenshots with the date metadata marked as the day the screenshots were taken. I went through and manually renamed each file with the date at the beginning like so: mm_dd_yy_description

 

When I try to organize them by date in the file explorer, the file explorer doesn't make them truly chronological. It gets close but things get a little mixed up.

 

All the dates are different. I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to go through each photo and change the date metadata if that's something that will help the finder sort them correctly by date.

 

Also, is there a way to extract the filenames of each image into either a .txt or .CSV?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer YarrowLeaf

I'll post what ended up doing in case anyone has the same question. 

  1. In Bridge: batch rename all files to >>mm-dd-yy_descriptor. The underscore is important later.
  2. Upload all the renamed image files to google drive.
  3. Highlight all the image files in google drive. 
    Click  >>share  >>copy links.
  4. Paste into cell A1. Should be a long string of file names.
  5. Select cell A2. Type the formula  =transpose(split(A1",")) into cell A2. Press "enter". You should now have each image link split into row. 
  6. Select all starting from cell A2. >>copy.
  7. Open a new sheet and >>right click >>paste special >>values only. This will remove the formula and give you only the file link data you need.
  8. Select all. In the help tab, type "chip" then select >>convert to file chip.
  9. In cell B1 type =SPLIT(A:A,"-", False) then hit "enter". This will separate the date to only one cell (b1)
  10. Select the first cell and press ctrl+shift+down arrow. This will highlight all the cells in the row.
  11. press ctrl+d to fill copy formula. This  should fill all the dates in column B and descriptors in column C.
  12. Copy column B. In a new column >>paste special >>values only
  13. Format column to >>Number >> date

 
You should have all the data separated now and can format however you need.

1 reply

YarrowLeaf
YarrowLeafAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
February 9, 2023

I'll post what ended up doing in case anyone has the same question. 

  1. In Bridge: batch rename all files to >>mm-dd-yy_descriptor. The underscore is important later.
  2. Upload all the renamed image files to google drive.
  3. Highlight all the image files in google drive. 
    Click  >>share  >>copy links.
  4. Paste into cell A1. Should be a long string of file names.
  5. Select cell A2. Type the formula  =transpose(split(A1",")) into cell A2. Press "enter". You should now have each image link split into row. 
  6. Select all starting from cell A2. >>copy.
  7. Open a new sheet and >>right click >>paste special >>values only. This will remove the formula and give you only the file link data you need.
  8. Select all. In the help tab, type "chip" then select >>convert to file chip.
  9. In cell B1 type =SPLIT(A:A,"-", False) then hit "enter". This will separate the date to only one cell (b1)
  10. Select the first cell and press ctrl+shift+down arrow. This will highlight all the cells in the row.
  11. press ctrl+d to fill copy formula. This  should fill all the dates in column B and descriptors in column C.
  12. Copy column B. In a new column >>paste special >>values only
  13. Format column to >>Number >> date

 
You should have all the data separated now and can format however you need.

gregreser
gregreser
Legend
February 9, 2023

I would not have thougt of using Gggole Sheets >> share  >>copy links.

Nice solution

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