In the last WW we talked about physical file organization, file renaming and metadata tagging. Most people are probably familiar with basic file organization concepts – making directories, sub-directories and moving files around between these directories. But few people are probably more deeply familiar with file renaming and metadata tagging.

We’re going to begin with some groundwork, then move into 2 screen casts showing you how to do these things.

Renaming Within The Operating System

When in comes to file renaming, we’re going to talk about 3 options available. The first option is renaming directly within the operating system. If you’re using Windows XP or even Windows Vista, you may not know it, but there are some file renaming tools built into the system that you can take advantage of.

Using A Renaming Tool

The second option is to use a renaming tool. There are a lot (repeat a lot) of tools out there, but there is a tool we’ll talk about here that really stands out. Not only is it free (though the creators would love to get donations if you find the tool useful), but it is one of the most useful, stable and robust renamers I’ve seen. While the options may be daunting at first, the tool does show you a preview of the final renamed file so you can make sure it looks the way you want it to before you commit.

Since there are so many options, we’ll give you a guided tour of the basic options available, then let you decide for yourself if the tool is for you or not.

Bulk Rename Utility by Jim Willsher
Windows XP/Vista
http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php

Using PSEs Renaming Feature

File renaming in PSE is actually rather convenient, and there are two ways to do it. The first way is to actually rename files upon import. If you decide to follow the file renaming guidelines in the WW#3, you may have a little trouble keeping the original name of the file and instead may have to adopt a renaming scheme that includes the date as suggested, but then instead of retaining the unique name the camera gave the file, you will have to use a new random numeric name or some other value to your choosing. We will show you how to do this so that least your file names are numbered in order. Since the file renaming is occurring at import, you’ll have no problems following the suggested workflow step of backing your files up immediately, since from that point forward, all your edited files will have the new name.

The second way is to rename your files from within the editing tool of PSE. We’ll show how both of these methods can be used to achieve the same basic result.

Which is best?

Understanding which option to use is no simply choice. It will depend largely on how whether you want to use one or more tools outside of your primary editing and organizing tool (like Photoshop), or whether sticking with a single tool for everything is more important to you. Since I tend to have a more complex naming scheme, I am comfortable using additional tools that provide features not part of my editing and organizing tool. The choice will be largely dependent on your preferences and needs!

Look out soon for the two screencasts that explore the options available to you!