Rename Files With Lightroom 3

You'll know you're likely to become a hoarder when you stash years-worth of digital photographs and let them sit around for a while. Time comes when you feel the need (or the itch) to organize these files, only to find yourself drowning in the sea of files. Worse case scenario: the file names look all the same, something like a generic IMG_xxxx. You are so stuck for the whole weekend working this out. Or probably not. Pull up Lightroom 3 and rename multiple files in a way that would suit your needs.

Multiple file naming presets

1) Click on the Library section. On the lower right panel, click on the folder where your files are   located. Select the files to be renamed.
2) On the the toolbar, click on Library, then Rename Photos. A pop-up will present you with options for custom name settings.
3) There's a big chance you'll find a naming template that's suitable for your needs (see dropdown values) but if you want more customization, click on Edit and you will be presented with a complete set of customization options. This is so cool, I customized my files with a custom text, date pics were taken and sequence starting from 1. Way to go, loooonnnggg file names!

Full customization options

After renaming your files, I guess it would be a whole lot better to segregate your files. It would be a lot easier to cut and paste them over to separate folders or whatever type of organization you would love for your pictures. This Lightroom 3 feature is best for people who take a lot of pictures and leave organizing them for another day and for people who consolidate picture files from different sources but possibly same file naming formats (IMG_xxxx ??). Renaming files, in bulk, was never this easy.