Raise your hand if you like the way your camera names your photos. I can't see you, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any hands raised right now. Well, before Photoshop had the Batch Rename feature, renaming a few hundred photos could take some time. But with Batch Rename it's much easier. There's even a new feature in Photoshop CS2 that makes the process a lot more useful. Step OneIn Bridge, select the thumbnails of the images you want to rename. You can press Command-A (PC: Control-A) to Select All, or just press-and-hold the Command (PC: Control) key and click on individual images to rename only specific ones. ©MATT KLOSKOWSKI Step TwoOnce the images you want to rename are selected, choose Tools>Batch Rename or press Command-Shift-R (PC: Control-Shift-R). The Batch Rename dialog will appear with your renaming options. The Destination Folder section at the top of the dialog is an important one and has something new for CS2 users. Here, you need to choose where you want your renamed images to go. If you want them renamed in the same folder, then choose Rename in Same Folder. However, if you pick this option then all of your originals will be renamed. The next option, Move to Other Folder, renames your images and moves them to another folder. Finally, the last option, Copy to Other Folder, is my favorite (and is what's new in CS2). This one copies your images to another folder and renames them there. It leaves your original files untouched.
Step ThreeThe second section, New Filenames, deals with how you want to rename your images. It looks a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it you'll have a lot of options for your file names. The most popular choice from the first pop-up menu is Text. After you choose Text, you'll see a text field appear to the right of the menu. Type in some descriptive name here to help you remember what these photos are all about. I'll use "Vegas" since that's where these photos were taken. Step FourThat's not it, though. If we just left it like this all of our photos would be named "Vegas" and that's not good. So, click on the small plus sign (+) icon all the way to the right. This will add another line of options for you. From the new pop-up menu on the left, choose Sequence Number. Then make sure to type the number 1 in the center text field. Finally, pick Two Digits from the pop-up menu on the right.
Step FiveThe third section in the dialog allows us to pick some options. It's best to turn on the Preserve Current Filename in XMP Metadata checkbox here. This makes sure that you always know what the original image was named in case you ever need it.
Step SixNow, click Rename and Batch Rename will work its magic. It may take a moment or two depending on how many images you have. When it's done, you may be able to see the results right in front of you. However, if you've chosen to copy the images to another folder (which I recommend), then you'll have to navigate Bridge to that folder to see the renamed images. (If you're choosing to copy the images to another folder, you will first need to click the Browse button in the Destination Folder section, and select a destination folder, before clicking Rename and running Batch Rename.)
|