I just did - while researching one Readers question in the forum – discovered a handy little tool for the Mac, which is mostly useful for people who archive their photos with their own folder structure or by filename. The program is called “ExifRenamer” and basically does what the name suggests: it allows renaming files based on the date stored in the Exif data.
Chapter in this post:
Automatic action in “Image Capture”
If you don't manage photos using the Photos app on the Mac, but have created a folder for them yourself, you will probably use the "Image Capture" program to do the import. A big advantage is that ExifRenamer can be used directly as a target for the "Import to" action.
So Mal has all the new photos directly in the Exif tool and can rename them with his own specifications. Of course, you can also drag and drop photos from folders onto the ExifRenamer program icon to start renaming.
Suggestion: YYYY-MM-DD_hh-mm-ss.jpg as a name base
Of course, you can define your own naming conventions in ExifRenamer. Numerous variables, prefixes and postfixes as well as counters are available for this purpose. ExifRenamer's default is “YYYY-MM-DD_hh-mm-ss.jpg”, which makes sense as it allows you to sort photos in a folder chronologically.
So that you don't accidentally rename a complete Schwung folder and then find out that the naming was wrong, there is a preview function which shows directly what the new name of the files would be if you were to start the renaming process.
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Supported file formats
Of course, Exif-Renamer not only works with JPG files, it also works with a number of other formats and even video files, which I would like to briefly list here:
- JPEG images (.JPG / .JPEG)
- TIFF images (.TIFF / .TIF)
- QuickTime-Videos (.MOV)
- MPEG4 videos (.MP4 / .M4V)
- AVI videos (.AVI)
- Sound files (.AIFF / .AIF / .WAV)
- Minolta Raw Image (.MRW)
- Nikon Raw Image (.NEF)
- Canon Raw Image (.CRW - only together with .THM)
- Canon Raw Image (.CR2)
- Preview images, thumbnails (.THM)
- Digital Negative Format (.DNG)
The tool also works with Apple ProRAW. I just threw a RAW from an iPhone 12 Pro Max into ExifRenamer and the renaming works fine. Incidentally, the file extension of Apple ProRAW is .dng - that is, Apple used an existing format as a basis.
Free of charge, but donations are welcome
The programmer Stefan Robl kindly gives his tool ExifRenamer for free download. But of course he is happy about a donation and I think that if you work with the program regularly, this should also be a matter of course. You can find the Mac app ExifRenamer and the possibility to make a donation here on his homepage.
Incidentally, the software is now also a universal binary and thus runs optimized Apple silicon Macs running macOS Big Sur.
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.
Thank you for the hint, Jens! Another fruitful visit to your site.
And then I look at Stefan Robl's page, and the second page brings a very nice application that I've been looking for for a long time, Oscilyzer. Immediately downloaded to the iPhone.
Your site is just one of the most fertile in the Apple universe, and worth a visit every day!
Hello wolf! Thank you, thank you, thank you ... I think you can hardly get better praise. It's nice to hear when you keep finding what you are looking for. I'll have a look at Oscilyzer right away. Maybe another good tip. : D
Hi Jens, I've been using this little tool for years and have found it highly useful. Recently, I upgraded from an older Canon camera (that produced CR2 raw files) to an M6 Mark II. This camera generates CR3 raw files. Here, something odd happens: the renamed CR3 files are off by exactly one hour from the corresponding JPG (I shoot both simultaneously).
I've contacted ExifRenamer's author but not received a response. Hopefully, this is fixable as it completely ruins my initial sorting workflow (ie with a software that bundles JPG/Raw files with the same name so that you only have to delete one to get rid of both).
Hi Nick! That really sounds strange. I hope the app developer will answer you to get that bug solved.