Batch rename files in PSE 15

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
December 22, 2018
2 replies
4010 views

Hello,

I am quite new to Photoshop but not to computers. I am running PSE15 on a windows 10 computer. I am switching from Picasa to PSE 15, so far so good.

My question: I have thousands of photos already within an existing file structure. I would like to totally replace the original filename for each file in a folder with a base name that represents the folder it resides in followed by a sequential number and I would like to do it as a batch process, one folder at a time, from within PSE 15. Is this possible? A google search turned up many references to a Photoshop menu item called "Process multiple files" in PSE 12 and earlier, and it sounded like just what I needed but I can not find that menu in PSE 15. Was it removed? Replaced with something else? Am I just missing it?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

batch_rename

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Correct answer Peru Bob

File > Process multiple files from the Editor in Expert Mode.

kenf51Author

Inspiring

Thank you very much for your quick answer, Peru Bob. I was attempting to do this in the Elements Organizer, but apparently it can't be done there. I will experiment with it in the Editor and see if it will do what I want.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

What is your reason for changing the file name structure? If you intend to use the Organizer as it is designed, it really doesn't matter where you store your files or what you call them. The Organizer maintains a database of your files, and if you use its tools, you can find any photo on your computer almost instantaneously.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Thank you for the suggestions Michel,

I have not actually used the PSE "downloader" function yet but it looks to be useful for renaming files as you suggest. I do not have a "card reader" on my computer, but I presume I could use my camera connected via USB in the same way. (although slow transfer rate) When it comes to photography I am strictly a hobbyist and take my photos with my iPhone or Canon Elph 340HS.

I am only beginning with Photoshop and only have a small fraction of my photos imported so far. Once I am more comfortable using the program I will begin importing the remainder of my photos, (many, many thousands) which I currently still view and edit using Picasa. At that point I may want to rename many, if not most, of them. Doing the renaming during the import process seems to make sense at this point. Over the years my photos have been taken with a variety of cameras and thus have a variety of filename conventions. I do, however have them sorted in folders by year and month so some kind of date based naming scheme would seem to be the best. For that many photos I would prefer to do a direct import from my hard drive rather than move them to an external card first. I will do more research and thinking before I begin that task.

PS:I have a couple of questions about Picasa files and processes, relating to preparation of files for import into Photoshop. Since I am now a member of this community is there an appropriate forum for these questions? I promise not to whine (much) about having to leaving Picasa!

kenf51 wrote
I do not have a "card reader" on my computer, but I presume I could use my camera connected via USB in the same way. (although slow transfer rate)

You can always use a USB external card reader. They are very cheap. Importing a card written on your computer through your camera may be problematic. On occasion, I have found that a camera does always read a card that has not been formatted by that camera.

Doing the renaming during the import process seems to make sense at this point. Over the years my photos have been taken with a variety of cameras and thus have a variety of filename conventions. I do, however have them sorted in folders by year and month so some kind of date based naming scheme would seem to be the best. For that many photos I would prefer to do a direct import from my hard drive rather than move them to an external card first.

I agree that it would probably make sense to rename your photos before importing into the Organizer. One other tool you may want to consider as part of your reorganization is watched folders. If you make the top of your tree a watched folder, whenever you rename or move a file/folder under the tree, it will be automatically seen and imported into the catalog.

MichelBParis, I use the same naming convention as you do (YYYY MM DD). Although it makes no difference to the Organizer database, it can be helpful for other reasons.

Peru BobCorrect answer

Community Expert

File > Process multiple files from the Editor in Expert Mode.

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