Page numbers and file names

[Guido Benigni]

Hello everybody, I would like to have your opinion about this problem I have.
This is my scenario: I work for a monthly magazine, work on all the articles separately and eventually collect them in a Book to create pdf’s for printer and packaging the Book to archive when job is done.
Consider — of course — that the order of articles (and page numbers) changes continuously till the very last day.

The printer requires the pdf’s to follow a strict name code to manage the automated printing process, like <CK09_003_007_ArticleName.pdf>, where it identifies us (CK), the issue number (09), the actual page range (003_007) and the Article Name.

This means that, when we’re ready to generate the production pdf’s for the printer, I have to
1. manually rename ALL the files in my Finder folder with the correct page number(s);
2. open, renumber the pages and save EACH ONE of my 80+ book entries.

This is terribly time consuming…

I’m wondering which way to approach the problem.
I mean, should I rename all the .indd files in the Finder and run a script that renumbers those articles BASED ON FILE NAME?
Or instead the other way round, like renumbering all the articles in my book and run a script that saves (in another folder) the file renaming it BASED ON PAGE NUMBERS?
Thank you all…

[Peter Kahrel · Accepted solution]

This is eminently scriptable. Ask someone to write a script for you for a fee. You can invite people here, maybe they've already sent you a private message.

[Guido Benigni]

Sure, if someone wants to provide a script for me, I'd be glad to know.
But I don't have the faintest idea how much it could cost… 😬

[Peter Kahrel]

Ask whoever approaches you. Rates differ.