Post-import bulk file renaming

[Mediaman09]

Post-import, I know I can rename all the files in a folder, to my custom preset syntax, by simply selecting all files and hitting F2. Works great. And I love that for folder/files, LightRoom infact DOES change the source files. All good. My syntax is essentially FolderName-Date-Sequence. Works fine, and a typical folder will have filenames such as TRAVEL-GREECE-20040612-0001 to TRAVEL-GREECE-20040622-0256

Right now I can do this manually, folder by folder, begging the questions:

Q1) Is there a way to do this one shot for the entire library and keep the sequence each folder independently so that each folder starts with 001? Right now if I select the whole library, it will rename the files, but it will sequence them as one large set from 001 onwards.

Q2) If I delete and start over, and re-import the whole thing using my preset, how will the sequence numbering work? Will it start at 001 for each folder or will re sequence then entire library as one set?

 

[Tony Jay]

Hi, welcome to Lightroom Forums!

As far as I know renaming presets will not distinguish between files in different folders when the entire collection is selected for renaming.
Your current practise of renaming folder-by-folder is the way to go.

Tony Jay

 

[Mediaman09]

Thanks.

I did the folder by folder method, all done. Didnt take too long.

As to importing, I did a test run there as well, and it behaves the same one - one folder at time is good, selecting more than one is treated like one large sequence even when selecting "organize by original folders".

That's okay as typically, pre-LR I used to bring in a dump of new images from the media card into a one or more directories and create/rename folders accordingly. I can use LR to do that ( ie a COPY) into a subfolder and manage the files/folders form then on within LR, rejecting and keeping and moving around as needed , then renaming files en masse with F2 for the one or two new folders I end up with.

The feature to rename on import is nice , and I have it set that way, but 9 times out of 10, I will rename files anyway as I would want to re-sequence after the rejects are gone.

 

[Tony Jay]

Thanks.

I did the folder by folder method, all done. Didnt take too long.

As to importing, I did a test run there as well, and it behaves the same one - one folder at time is good, selecting more than one is treated like one large sequence even when selecting "organize by original folders".

That's okay as typically, pre-LR I used to bring in a dump of new images from the media card into a one or more directories and create/rename folders accordingly. I can use LR to do that ( ie a COPY) into a subfolder and manage the files/folders form then on within LR, rejecting and keeping and moving around as needed , then renaming files en masse with F2 for the one or two new folders I end up with.

The feature to rename on import is nice , and I have it set that way, but 9 times out of 10, I will rename files anyway as I would want to re-sequence after the rejects are gone.

Some people regard this as overkill but, in fact, I think it is a very useful DAM intervention since any missing images can immediately be identified because the sequence is incomplete!

Tony Jay

 

[johnbeardy]

It's known as a "sequential number integrity" control.

John

 

[shaunhill]

Hello there, it has been three years since this thread was created. I am faced with the painful task of renaming multiple folders from within Lightroom and was hoping there was a way to batch rename. I want to change the folder scheme from Pictures>Month>Date to Pictures>Month for several years.

Please tell me that this is now possible without right clicking and manually selecting rename on EVERY folder!

 

[Roelof Moorlag]

I want to change the folder scheme from Pictures>Month>Date to Pictures>Month for several years.

Why would you want this?
It's make more sence to do this kind of organizational work with (smart) collections.

 

[shaunhill]

I don't always want to have to open up lightroom to browse my photos. It is difficult with the current structure to find what I want but I am aware if I move outside of lightroom it could cause me serious heachaes!

As lightroom is able to rename files, surely the same option should apply for folders without the manual intervention I described originally?

 

[Roelof Moorlag]

As lightroom is able to rename files, surely the same option should apply for folders without the manual intervention I described originally?

No, it has not. I think this has to do with Adobe's vision of how organizing should be done. That is not by moving files around your filesystem. So it makes sence they are not facilitating it.

 

[PhilBurton]

I don't always want to have to open up lightroom to browse my photos. It is difficult with the current structure to find what I want but I am aware if I move outside of lightroom it could cause me serious heachaes!

As lightroom is able to rename files, surely the same option should apply for folders without the manual intervention I described originally?

I think you have two (at a minimum) options. One is to leave the current folders in place, but to place all newly imported pictures into the new folder-naming scheme.

The second requires a deep breath and a full backup of both catalog and photo picture folders. Shut down Lightroom. Once that is done, take another deep breath. Then you will move pictures from each month's Dates folder to Month folders. I can't tell if you are running Windows or MacOS, and I can speak only to Windows. For each month, do a search in File Explorer for all the file types that are present in any of the date folders. With that search result, drag the entire search result list into the month folder. Then delete all the Date folders. Check in the Recycle Bin to be sure that all the Date folders are truly empty. You will need to perform this sequence only once per Month folder.

After you have done all the moves, start up Lightroom. LR will indicate that all/most of your photos are missing. Follow the standard process for locating missing folders and LR will then learn the new file locations. There have been several threads on this forum about this process and there are also instructions from Adobe. Another great source is Victoria's Missing FAQ books.

 

[Jim Wilde]

I must be missing something here, but going back to the original post #6 I can't see where "renaming folders" should even be necessary. If all that is required is to change an existing yyyy/mm/dd scheme to a simpler yyyy/mm scheme then renaming isn't required....simply move the pictures out of the "date" folders to the corresponding (and already existing) "month" folder in Lightroom. That is simple, if a little tedious:

1. Make sure that "Show Photos in Subfolders" in the Library menu is checked.

2. For each year, select the first month folder. That will show all the photos from that month in the Grid, regardless of which "date" folder in that month they are in.

3. Ctrl+A to select them all, then drag from the centre (not the frame) of any one of those selected images and drop them on the appropriate "month" folder in the Folders Panel. That will move the photos into the "month" folder and the photo-count for all the "date" folders in the month should show zero. Confirm that this is so before doing the next step!

4. In the Folders Panel, click on the first empty "date" folder, then shift-click on the last empty "date" folder in that month, right-click and select "remove". If you see any warning messages advising that this action will cause photos to be deleted, then step 3 didn't work so cancel the remove and repeat step 3 until it's fully worked, i.e. all "date" sub-folders are zero.

Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each required month. It sounds a lengthy process, but it really isn't once you have the hang of it.

Before you do anything, however, can I just comment on your stated goal of being able to browse your images in the file system without having to open Lightroom....you do realise that when you do that you are viewing unedited images? Lightroom is a non-destructive editor, so any changes you make to your images in Lightroom are not "saved" back to the file, so the system's file browser will only be able to show you the unedited version. If you want to see your edited images outside Lightroom, why not explore syncing your images to the cloud so that you can then view them (fully edited) on any browser or mobile device. After all, if you have a subscription for LR Classic you're already paying for the cloud aspect as well.

 

[PhilBurton]

I must be missing something here, but going back to the original post #6 I can't see where "renaming folders" should even be necessary. If all that is required is to change an existing yyyy/mm/dd scheme to a simpler yyyy/mm scheme then renaming isn't required....simply move the pictures out of the "date" folders to the corresponding (and already existing) "month" folder in Lightroom. That is simple, if a little tedious:

1. Make sure that "Show Photos in Subfolders" in the Library menu is checked.

2. For each year, select the first month folder. That will show all the photos from that month in the Grid, regardless of which "date" folder in that month they are in.

3. Ctrl+A to select them all, then drag from the centre (not the frame) of any one of those selected images and drop them on the appropriate "month" folder in the Folders Panel. That will move the photos into the "month" folder and the photo-count for all the "date" folders in the month should show zero. Confirm that this is so before doing the next step!

4. In the Folders Panel, click on the first empty "date" folder, then shift-click on the last empty "date" folder in that month, right-click and select "remove". If you see any warning messages advising that this action will cause photos to be deleted, then step 3 didn't work so cancel the remove and repeat step 3 until it's fully worked, i.e. all "date" sub-folders are zero.

Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each required month. It sounds a lengthy process, but it really isn't once you have the hang of it.

Before you do anything, however, can I just comment on your stated goal of being able to browse your images in the file system without having to open Lightroom....you do realise that when you do that you are viewing unedited images? Lightroom is a non-destructive editor, so any changes you make to your images in Lightroom are not "saved" back to the file, so the system's file browser will only be able to show you the unedited version. If you want to see your edited images outside Lightroom, why not explore syncing your images to the cloud so that you can then view them (fully edited) on any browser or mobile device. After all, if you have a subscription for LR Classic you're already paying for the cloud aspect as well.

Jim,

I stand corrected, and you have shown that I'm not all that experienced with Lightroom.

@Mediaman09. Ignore my post above and follow Jim's method just above.

Phil