File renumbering

[guthrie]

I have a bunch of photos in a collection for a trip.

They come from multiple sources, and thus it takes some manual re-sorting to put them in proper order.
I do this on my portable laptop.

But if I copy them to my home desktop machine, I lose all such custom sorts.

One “solution” is to have ACD renumber them in the new ordering. And I can do that with saving the original names:
P123_origName.jpg

Such name-numbering is important as that they can be copied or shared in the desired ordering.

And embed all tagging and category information in them, then copy to the new machine.

But – Now if I add others to the group or do further rearranging the added prefix numbering is wrong.

Q: How to fix it?
I cannot find a naming scheme using ACD tools, e.g.
Replace “P…” with “P###”

I can re-prefix in ACD with new numbering;
N456_P123_origName.jpg

But then how to get rid of the old (obsolete P123) numbers?
N456_origName.jpg

I can do it externally using PowerShell (or some other tool), but then ACD database loses track of the file names, and thus also all tagging information.

I did try this, and then to re-index the folder with all of them, but it did not recover all the allegedly embedded Catalog information.

So – how to do this?

[Greyfox]

I have a bunch of photos in a collection for a trip.

They come from multiple sources, and thus it takes some manual re-sorting to put them in proper order.
I do this on my portable laptop.

But if I copy them to my home desktop machine, I lose all such custom sorts.

One “solution” is to have ACD renumber them in the new ordering. And I can do that with saving the original names:
P123_origName.jpg

Such name-numbering is important as that they can be copied or shared in the desired ordering.

And embed all tagging and category information in them, then copy to the new machine.

But – Now if I add others to the group or do further rearranging the added prefix numbering is wrong.

Q: How to fix it?
I cannot find a naming scheme using ACD tools, e.g.
Replace “P…” with “P###”

I can re-prefix in ACD with new numbering;
N456_P123_origName.jpg

But then how to get rid of the old (obsolete P123) numbers?
N456_origName.jpg

I can do it externally using PowerShell (or some other tool), but then ACD database loses track of the file names, and thus also all tagging information.

I did try this, and then to re-index the folder with all of them, but it did not recover all the allegedly embedded Catalog information.

So – how to do this?

You haven't said what version of ACDSee you are using. I believe the Batch Rename function which was enhanced in the ACDSee Ultimate 2021 version could do what you want, and it's possible the enhanced Batch Rename function in the Pro 2021 would be the same.

If you are using an older version of ACDSee that can't batch rename the images as you want, then another alternative would be to embed all of the ACDSee and IPTC metadata into the images, then outside of ACDSee put a copy of those images into a new folder. Rename the copies (again outside of ACDSee), then open ACDSee and Catalog the files in the new folder. That will add the renamed files as new records in the database, and at the same time read the embedded ACDSee and IPTC metadata from the images into the new database records. Once you have them as you want them, you can then (within ACDSee) delete the original images if you wish.

[LV_Bill]

Hi Gutherie - The ACD Rename command can simultaneously perform both of your steps (re-prefix, and delete the old seq numbers). Launch the Rename command and check off two functions: (1.) Template -- to re-prefix the selected images, and (2.) Remove Text -- to delete the old prefix. The preview names will let you "debug" your settings while you perfect your Rename parameters.

[guthrie]

LV_Bill - thanks, yes, I did find that would work.
I could not get the "replace" and "remove to work, because I was just using the check-box'es. I then notices you have to also click the function name to bring up the details to use them. Worked fine.
It would be nice to have a meta-character capability in these rename functions (?,.) as in typical naming tools.

[guthrie]

Greyfox; thanks, this is what I did originally, but it lost all of my metadata, and doing a re-index on the directory did not recover it. Argh - 400+ files to re-tag all categories & people!
Not sure why this failed. Maybe because I did it all in the same folder? When I would say "embed metadata..." it would say "embedding in 808 files", and there were only 404 in the actual folder.

[Greyfox]

Greyfox; thanks, this is what I did originally, but it lost all of my metadata, and doing a re-index on the directory did not recover it. Argh - 400+ files to re-tag all categories & people!
Not sure why this failed. Maybe because I did it all in the same folder? When I would say "embed metadata..." it would say "embedding in 808 files", and there were only 404 in the actual folder.

Doing a Tools->Database->Catalog files does not read back ALL of the embedded metadata where a record already exists for that image.

The sequence:-
Select the files in question
then
Tools->Metadata->Embed ACDSee Metadata->Clear Embed Pending Icon
then
Tools->Metadata->Rebuild Thumbnails and Metadata
then
Tools->Database->Catalog (Add the folder or folders the images are in and then click start )

should restore the embedded metadata (providing the metadata does in fact exist in the images).

You could also open a completely new database, leaving the existing one as it is, so you can re-open it later if you want, and do a Tools->Database->Catalog Files, selecting the folders the images are currently in. Because they are then completely new images as far as the new database is concerned, any IPTC, ACDSee metadata including Face recognition metadata that is embedded in the images will be read back and added to the new database records.