by Valarie Lemons

Digitals Designer

Have you ever found yourself in a situation that required you to rename a LOT of files in a hurry, but with similar names? For example, my digital camera software allows me to download my pictures into folders created automatically, according to the dates the pictures were taken. It’s a very handy feature, but the problem remains that the pictures are given numbers instead of meaningful names, and typing new names for each picture, one by one, is really a chore.

What do you do when you have 60 pictures from one birthday party, and you want the names to reflect that, but you’re short on time? Paint Shop Pro 8 has a Batch Rename feature designed to help you streamline this process.

(Instructions are probably similar for different versions of PSP and other programs)

1. Open Paint Shop Pro and click File > Batch > Rename (Rename appears on a flyout after you slide down from File to Batch.)

2. Click Rename. You’ll see something similar to this picture. Navigate to the folder containing the files you’d like to rename.

3. In this instance, I want to rename only files with a .jpg extension. If you’d like to change to another file type, you’d need to click the arrow beside "Files of type" to change that.

4. You’ll notice that the box for "New File Name" already has one of my file names in it because I’ve used this feature before. If you haven’t ever used it, yours will probably be blank.

5. PLEASE don’t click the "Start" button until you are absolutely sure that you have everything ready to rename. It will absolutely rename everything you told it to, even if it was a folder name, and just an accident. *grin* Guess how I know?

6. Click the "Modify" button now. This will take you to a place where you can set up your unique filenames for one-step renaming.

7. I usually only use Custom Text and Sequence for my renaming, but you can use any others that you’d like. Click on a selection under "Rename Options" and then click "Add" to move it to the "Included" list. The up and down arrows will help you arrange which choice will come first in your filename. I prefer to have the descriptive names first, and then number sequences.

8. Click "Custom Text" and a box appears for you to type your custom text.

9. "Example Output" shows you a sample of what one of your new filenames will look like. Mine has a 1 at the end because I will have all of my renamed files numbered sequentially like this: "VLemons_Funny_Truck_1, VLemons_Funny_Truck_2, VLemons_Funny_Truck_3" If this looks fine to you, click "OK". If it doesn’t, modify the text until you are satisfied, and then click "OK".

10. At this point, you will be brought back to the window where you can select the files you wish to rename with your new filename specifications.

11. If you REALLY want to rename every single file and folder in the location you’re in, click "Select All" and the program will rename everything there instantly.

12. If you only want to select certain pictures, use your "Control" key as you click with your mouse to select individual pictures. After you have finished selecting the pictures, click "Start" and the files will be renamed.

~Valarie Lemons