The Importance of Renaming Images

I regularly meet photographers, both enthusiast and professional who don’t rename their photographs on a regular basis. By this I mean more accurately they that don’t rename the image files on the computer. This is a terrible idea if you create images and intend to work on them in any meaningful way through post-production, or if you want to do more than shoot pure for social media (and even then it’s better to rename the files). The usual excuse is that it is just too much work and hassle to rename the files. It really doesn’t have to be though.

Here’s why it is important. The software we use, particularly PIEware (which stands for Parametric Image Editing Software) like Adobe Lightroom and other catalogue editing systems, require a filename in order to match up the edits that you make with the RAW or original file which is stored in a different location. If the filename changes at any point after the ingest of the images into the software, then the connection between the original file and the edits is broken. This is the dreaded ‘Image cannot be found’ error that every Lightroom user I have ever met has come across at some point.

The second problem is that the way a camera automatically creates a filename is similar to the way that a motor vehicle’s odometer works. After 999,999km the odometer on your care resets back 000 000, and you start all over again. The term used is that your ‘odometer has clocked over’. A camera’s internal file naming names each file in a chronological order from 0 to 9,999. When you hit 9,999 the counter ‘clocks’ over and the next image is back to being named 0001 (usually with a file extension related to the camera file type, so .NEF, .CR3, .RAW etc). The camera filename is usually preceded by the letters DSC, which stands for Digital Stills Camera. So a typical automatic filename would be DSC_0347.NEF.

The fact that software requires a unique filename for a digital file and that the camera clocks over every 9,999 images, is that you will end up having different photographs with the same filename. Software like Lightroom and Capture have certainly come a long way in the last decade and usually the software will happily ingest files with the same filename, so long as they are stored in different folder locations. However, this isn’t always the case and I have seen situations where photographs can’t seem to import, let alone see the images on a card that they are trying to ingest into their editing applications.

The answer is to rename files soon after ingest so that every image has a unique name; akin to a serial code almost. All Digital Asset Management software gives the ability to batch rename files so that this task is made simple. Better yet, you can usually use metadata tags to automate aspects of the renaming process. Files can also be renamed during ingest/import, or after, so long as they are renamed using the software that was used to ingest the files into the computer and whatever catalogue software that you happen to be using.

A note on PIEware

PIEware, or Parametric Image Editing Software, is software that manages large data or image files by creating small jpeg proxy files for the original file. Additionally a small sidecar .XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) file is created to store any edits or metadata changes so that the original file remains untouched. Photographers using PIEware applications will make changes that are recorded in the .XMP file and will see those changes applied to the proxy .jpeg file on screen. When they export the photograph (all PIEware applications require that the image be exported) the edits and changes in the .XMP file are applied to the original file to create a new image file. This means that PIEware apps are non-destructive in the way that they handle image files. Because the software is using .jpeg proxies instead of the original files they are also a faster in searching through image databases. The downside is that the database itself can grow to an enormous size in it’s own right, and any issues with file-naming make it very difficult to find the original file.

Some software offers something in between the two. Edits are saved in sidecar .XMP files next to the original file, but proxies are not necessarily created, or are created on the fly as and when they are required (e.g. Capture One using Sessions)

• Examples of PIEware software - Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, Photo Mechanic Plus
  
• Non-PIEware editing suites - Photo Mechanic, Adobe Bridge, ACDSee, Nikon Studio
  

For arguments sake, let’s assume that since you have read this far, you agree that files should be renamed. There are two broad types of renaming: Job Lot renaming and Chronological renaming. Chronological renaming is simply adding a sequence number to your images. It’s exactly what your camera does, except that the camera clocks over at 9999. You can use the date inside your filename so that there is no ‘clocking over’ of the counter. This is the default renaming template of just every editing application available; date+sequence. Since the date of the image is included in the file name, you can never have a repeat of the filename itself. The downside to this naming convention is the image name is literally just a sequence of numbers, giving no hint as to what is inside the image.

The second naming convention, Job Lot naming, is where we place all the images in a folder related to that shoot and simply rename the files with the name of the shoot combined with a sequence number. So if you were shooting at Vestrahorn in Iceland you might have image names like; Vestrahorn_001 etc. Of course the downside should be already apparent; what happens if you go back to Vestrahorn a second time? Does this not risk having the same filenames again, thereby negating the whole reason for renaming the files in the first place?

The naming convention I use is a blend of the two, automated through the use of metadata tags. I personally choose to store my images in a series of dated folders. So the file structure of my RAW image library looks something like this:

Images inside each of these folders are then renamed with this naming convention:

YYMM-DD-Sequence-Location-EvM

At a glance I can see the date that the image was shot and where it was shot. The last ‘EvM’ tag are my initials, and are something that I started adding when working with a group of photographers. That last tag ensured that the editor knew exactly who the photographer was as well as ensured that if anyone else were using a similar naming convention the files would not accidentally overwrite each other (the software will only accept one version of two files so if both photographers are using the same naming convention there is the possibility that one set of files will overwrite the other).

In essence the YYMM-DD-Sequence aspect of the filename is something like a serial number for the image. The ‘Location’ information is then linked the ‘Job Lot’ aspect of the image. What’s even better is that I can add even more information to the file name. So for instance client work of mine tends to use the naming convention of:

YYMM-DD-Sequence-Client Name-Location or Event-Title-EvM

This naming convention is particularly important when I am photographing products that have a name or a code. That code or name is input into the title bar in the metadata, and then when I rename the files it is automatically included in the filename. The incredibly useful thing about this naming convention is that I don’t need to even see the image to know who the client is, or what the image is of. A case in point is this filename:

2406-03-045-FinFloor-Bella_Natura-Dark Oak-EvM

The filename tells me that this is the 45th image in the sequence shot on the 3rd of June, 2024. The client is FinFloor (one of my regular clients), so I know that Bella_Natura refers to a range of flooring that they produce and Dark Oak is obviously the colour of the floor (the Title in this case).

So that’s my naming convention. Now, how to get that sorted so that your files are renamed easily.

How To Batch Rename Files

All editing platforms allow the user to batch rename image files using a template structure. The template uses information stored in the metadata of the photograph. Metadata is usually split between EXIF data which is embedded in the camera itself and IPTC data which is a standardised range of textual data that is used to describe the digital file itself. In theory EXIF cannot be changed while IPTC can be edited and changed at any point.

Best practice is to ingest your images into whatever your preferred software is, using that software itself, or something similar. The reason we do this is so that we can add metadata during the ingest/import, which sort of simplifies your life afterwards. I always try to add location and shoot information into the relevant metadata fields, as well as a few keywords that can potentially help me find the image files later.

Even if you don’t add this information during the ingest stage, it can still be added to the photographs after they are imported into the editing software. Using the software, select the images and use the metadata dialogue to add and then sync (or copy) the information to all of the images that you want to have the same information. These tags will then make it easier to be able to rename the files.

Renaming files comes down to selecting the images and then applying a renaming template. Note that the key input instructions below are given as Mac/PC

Lightroom Classic

Select the photos to be renamed (usually select all images in the folder by hitting Cmd+A/Cntrl+A). Then in the top menu go to Library>Rename Photos (or simply hit Fn+F2/F2). This will bring up a rename dialogue. You can click on the template name (usually starts with ‘Custom Settings’) and that will open up all the presets as well as the ‘Edit’ feature. Select this last Edit to be able to build your own naming template. You can save the template after building it for easy access later. 

Capture One Pro

Select the photos to be renamed (usually select all images in the folder by hitting Cmd+A/Cntrl+A). Then in the top menu go to Image>Batch Rename Images (there is no default shortcut). This brings up a renaming dialogue. Click on the Format menu (three dotted block) to bring up the template builder. You can use the tags (double click or drag) to create a template. You can save the template after building it for easy access later.  

Adobe Bridge

Select the photos to be renamed (usually select all images in the folder by hitting Cmd+A/Cntrl+A). Then in the top menu go to Tools>Batch Rename (Shift+Cmd+R/Shift+Cntl+R). This brings up a slightly more complex template builder than Lightroom and Capture, with more options in how the original name is used, as well as options to create copies with new names. You can select criteria under the New Filenames options. Unfortunately Adobe Bridge doesn’t allow location metadata (which is bizarre as Lightroom does). A workaround is to include the folder name in the image filename and make sure that the location is in the folder name itself.

Conclusion

That’s it in a nutshell. The most important thing of all is simply that your image files are renamed in some way or another. This can even be done on import/ingest automatically. All it takes is a few minutes to set this up in whichever application you use to import your images. Doing this makes your image files safer and easier to find in future. Trust me, just do it. It’ll save a whole bunch of time and heartache further down the line.