Batch rename images in Photoshop and Elements

Oct 27, '03 10:52:00AM

Contributed by: victory

This tip is more of a reminder (rather than a clever trick) that Photoshop 7.0 comes with the ability to batch rename image files. While it does not completely replace other rename utilities such as the excellent ABetterFinderRename reviewed here, it does provide a nice option if you already own Photoshop 7.0 and have a large number of files to organize.

Say you have a folder of pictures from your digital camera named PIC321.JPG, PIC322.JPG, PIC323.JPG, etc. and you want them renamed to something a bit more descriptive such as ZOOTRIP01.JPG, ZOOTRIP02.JPG, ZOOTRIP03.JPG:

  1. In Photoshop 7.0, open the newly added 'File Browser' feature.
  2. From the browser, navigate to the folder containing the files you want to rename and select the images you're interested in. (Either multiple-select a group of files using the usual Shift key method or do nothing to rename all the images in that folder)
  3. Now control-click (or right-click if using a 2-button mouse) in the browser window and select 'Batch Rename...' from the contextual menu that pops up.
  4. You'll see a configuration dialog that provides a fairly sophisticated number of options to batch rename files using a new base filename, incrementing sequence numbers, dates, etc. In the case of the aforementioned example, use something like:
    ZOOTRIP+2 Digit Serial Number+extension
  5. Click OK and Photoshop will batch rename your files.
Read the rest of the hint for a few notes on the process...

NOTES

The File Browser feature first appeared in Photoshop Elements before it showed up in Photoshop 7.0. Can anyone confirm if Elements has the Batch Rename feature as well?

[robg adds: Indeed, Elements has a batch renamer as well. It works more or less as described here (and it's also directly accessible via File -> Batch Processing).]

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