Rename Photos in Adobe Lightroom 2016-17

Capturing photographs that are huge in quantity as well as detail is easier today like never before, thanks to smartphones and tablets. This also results in the photos getting disorganized with time as the users keep on clicking images without properly sorting them. Picking a particular image in such a scenario from a database of thousands of images in such a scenario is a nightmare.

Adobe Lightroom makes it very simple to for the user to rename images (and so much more, of course), and this is exactly what this tutorial explains in the following lines. Should you prefer renaming Lightroom images automatically, you can try the Easy File Renamer utility. The EFR is a feature-rich software with multiple renaming rules. 

Solutions

In Adobe Lightroom the images can’t be renamed without importing them to the computer. Therefore this tutorial teaches both how to import images as well as how to rename them.

How to Import and Rename Photos

  1. Search for Adobe Lightroom in the start menu, and click to launch it.
  2. Click the File menu. Then select Import Photos and Video to do as the name itself suggests!

    Select Import Photos and Video from the File menu
    Select Import Photos and Video from the File menu
  3. Select the source under either the Device or the Folder area.
  4. Select either Copy or Move from the top bar of the Import wizard. It’s important to distinguish the differences between Copy and Move, as moving will transfer the original sources of the files whereas copying will just create a copy and then move it while leaving the original content then and there.
  5. Select the images that have to be imported and subsequently renamed.

    Select the target images
    Select the target images
  6. On the right-hand panel, click File Handling so that it collapses to display its options. Now add the checkmark to Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates.
  7. Just like the last bullet point, now click File Renaming to view it’s constituent options and then select the Rename Files option.
  8. In the Template drop-down box, select Custom Name (x of y). And then give it the desired name in the Custom Text field. The Sample area will display the outcome as its name suggests. In this case, the filename will always be Custom Text (“file’s position” of “the number of total files imported”). For instance, if you used Random as the filename and imported 10 files, the Sample area will show Random (1 of 10).
    image25
    There are several other templates in the Template list. A complete explanation of each of them is mentioned at the end of this guide.
  9. Select the destination of the files that are to be copied, just under the TO text situated in the top right of the Import Wizard.
    image21
  10. Now click on the Destination group to open it and then select Into Subfolder. Next, select Into one folder so that all the files are copied to a single folder. However, if you want to save the files into multiple subfolders ordered by the creation date of the images, select By date.
    image29
  11. Finally, click Import to initiate the process.

 

How to Prepare An Android Smartphone For Copying / Moving Files?

It’s fairly simple to import the images stored in any device, and this includes mobiles, digital cameras, and even portable hard drives. Even though no special preparation is required for importing files from a portable hard drive, when it comes to certain kind of devices such as mobile phones, PTP or the Photo Transfer Protocol ought to be enabled in order to transfer the photos from the mobile to the computer through Adobe Lightroom.

  1. Unlock your phone and swipe the top of the screen to open the Notifications window. At this point make sure the phone is connected to the computer via a USB cable in order for the USB for photo transfer message to appear as seen in the following screenshot.
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  2. Tap once to open it, now select Photo transfer (PTP) to prepare the phone for the transfer process.

 

File Rename Templates for Advanced Renaming

If you wish to rename files with advanced configurations, then follow this sub-tutorial. It also explains how you can create customized templates, as well as how to save them for future usage.

Custom Name – Original File Number

This template keeps the file number of the original photo as well as providing an option to add a custom name at the end.
image01

Custom Name – Sequence

This template appends a number sequence at the end of the given file name to make them look like they belong to a group of images.
image03

Custom Name

As the title says, this template changes the name of each image entirely to the name you specify.
image05

Filename – Sequence

This template doesn’t change the filename, but it appends a number sequence at end of each image’s existing name.
image07

 

How to create custom templates?

Custom templates can be easily created to rename files and photos with your own designed naming scheme.

  1. Click Edit to access the custom template creator wizard.
  2. The white textbox displays the naming scheme currently in use.

    Currently employed naming scheme
    Currently employed naming scheme
  3. Add new schemes to the textbox from the available ones as shown in the following screenshot.
    image17
  4. Click on Preset so that it collapses to bring up the menu and then select Save Current Settings as New Preset.
  5. This will open up the New Preset box which will require you to name the newly created template. Give it your desired name and then click on Create.
  6. Finally, click on Done to mark the completion of the customized template saving process.
  7. Now this newly created template will always be available in the list of templates in the File Renaming group. Select it and make good use of it as per your requirements.

Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms. If you have any question about the content, you can message me or the company's support team.