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I am a very new user of Lightroom Classic CC Ver. 9.2. I have migrated from Photoshop Elements 15 using the automated import catalogue option in lightroom.
For some reason it has set the preserved filename as the same on all files and I want to remove it. Can this be done and if so how?
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By preserved filename you are refering to the metadata field that contains the original file name of a photo as recorded when shot, for a file you have renamed. Why a concern?
Follup/correction, preserved filename is populated upon import, does not require rename to implement.
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It has used the same filename for all my images and that includes a postal address so I need to remove it.
It is not the camera assigned filename or another other relevant filename.
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Are you saying that the preserved file name is identical photo to photo? Are these photos you renamed? What is the preserved name?
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The preserved filename is identical in all photos.
All files have been renamed with shoot location from the original camera filename before import.
It is in the format xxxxxxxxx-026.jpg where xxxxxxxxx is a postal address used on one file within the catalog.
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Oh, and you are renaming those photos within a Lightroom Classic, correct, not for some odd reason thru Bridge?
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They were all renamed through Photoshop Elements (various versions) during the import into that product.
The ones I have imported through Lightroom Classic, which I have just started using, are correctly reporting the camera filename. It's just the ones that I imported into the cataloge from PSE15 that are causing the problem. I'm mystified!
I don't use Bridge.
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Try selecting all of the photos in which the 'Preserved Filename' field is populated, then delete the text.
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That was my first thought using Lightroom but they are not selectable, ie: greyed out. This is what I would expect though.
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Your import, was that ADD or Copy?
if Copy, hence the previous would still exist, what does that metadata field have when viewed in Elements? Not the Copy's.
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On the original import from Photoshop Elements 15 I don't remember any options other than selecting the correct PSE15 catalog, which had already been identified by Lightroom after which the process was automatic and a lightroom catalog was created, as in effect, a copy of the PSE15 catalog but in a different location.
I am not aware there is any equivalent preserved filename metadata field in PSE15 so I cannot check that. Might it be hidden in some way?
I have just noticed that as soon as I edit a file in PSE15 by accessing it via LR it puts the same preserved filename in the metadata field when you import the PSE15 edited file back into LR. Does that help?
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You can't clear Preserved File Name from within LR, but you can use the free Exiftool utility to do it:
1. Make a backup of your catalog and all your photos.
2. In LR, select all the photos and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File.
3. Start a command prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac).
4. Enter this command:
exiftool -r -preservedfilename= path
where path is the full file path of the parent folder containing all the photos or folders of photos you want to process.
5. In LR, select all the photos and do Metadata > Read Metadata From File.
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For some reason this command does nothing.
Preserved File Name is still there.
Speaking of which: How can I convert the Preserved File Name to whatever name I have given the image as filename?
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"For some reason this command does nothing. Preserved File Name is still there."
Hmm, I just retested the steps of the recipe and it worked. To troubleshoot this, I just starting with just one photo and making sure the Exiftool command line is working as expected. E.g. do these three lines:
exiftool -preservedfilename file
exiftool -preservedfilename= file
exiftool -preservedfilename file
where "file" is the path to the photo file or its .xmp sidecar (if it's raw). The first line will show the current value of the XMP:PreservedFileName field, the second will clear it, and the third will show the updated value of the field. If it's not doing what you expected, post a screenshot here of the terminal/command prompt window.
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Got it. Thanks.