Useful tip for renaming/reorganising photos based on EXIF data ...

[suleika]

So you've realised that your folder and file naming system for your photos is just not working any more, and you start investigating programs to batch-rename and sort according to EXIF information...

Tip: use your current (flawed) folder structure to help you generate IPTC/XMP keywords before you start moving the photos around!  That way, you can always try out different renaming schema's without being forced to include that information in the new file or folder names.  You can always change/remove the keywords later if necessary.

Anyone more tips for how to begin organising and renaming photos?

[nontroppo]

I use Adobe Lightroom and never care about folder locations or file names, they are irrelevant. Outside of Lightroom my OS search function searches XMP metadata natively:

Spotlight Smart folder:
iso:>400 aperture:<2 keywords:HDR - folder of my HDR photos with an ISO greater than 400 and aperture under 2, irrespective of which folders/drives they are on or what they are called...

[murratore]

look for the lite edition of idimager (http://www.idimager.com). great functionality (not only renaming)

[suleika]

Yes, I've been using idimager lite, along with Exifer, to do some corrective stuff.  I discovered quite late on that the Formats plugin for irfanview hadn't been saving exif information when converting my RAW files to jpg even though I had been selecting that option, so I re-converted the RAW files (PEF actually) with idimager and then transferred the information over to my processed files with exifer, which has a very fast interface for copying exif information from one jpg to another.

[lanux128]

i believe this thread can help you in getting more tips..

• Why is it so hard to find a decent image organizer?

[suleika]

Thank you - I devoured that thread.  That's how I found both those programs.   

I was only wondering if anyone had any tips like mine in case anyone else might be starting a project like this, as to how to organise it - where to start, how to approach it. The serious DAM and related advice is very much geared towards professionals who want to sell or at least share their stuff, and the standard recommended software is very expensive too.  We have the aforementioned thread for software resources, but as to how to use it, in which order, how to do things without having to go back and correct etc... I've not seen that covered comprehensively anywhere. 

So I wasn't actually asking for tips for myself.  I was seeing if there were any other tips around on the same subject.