photo auto-rename

[frisbee68]

I have tens of thousands of photos on my various drives. As I want to start to sort and edit them, I notice as they drag them into a common folder that many of them have the same name (usually something like photo001.jpg, photo002.jpg, etc.) These were the names given to them by the various photo programs. Fine.
When I drag dozens of photos into a folder where other photos exist, a dialog window opens telling me there are photos with the same name there, I am given three options: "Stop" "Replace" and "Don't Replace." (Somewhere out there, I used to see an option "Keep Both," but I'm not seeing that doing the process I'm currently using.)
Is there a program that will automatically rename identically named files that are being placed into a folder?
Or: a process that will lead to the "Keep Both" option?
Thanks in advance.

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum. We need a bit more information on your problem. What tool(s) are you using for these photos? An app like Photos or just Finder? What version of the OS are you using?

Normally when you try to copy a file from one folder to another in Finder, if there is a file there already with that name, Finder will offer "Keep Both," "Stop" and "Replace." If there is a version of the file already there and you pick "Keep Both" the new one will have the number "2" appended to the name. Do that again and you get a "3," etc. If you are moving (not copying), the result will have the word "copy" appended to the name.

But you are getting three different options, so what tool are you using to do this merging?

BTW, once you get them all in one place, you may want/need to run a de-duping process to get rid of duplicates

 

[frisbee68]

I am using Finder.
On my desktop, I have created a folder named "Photo Project." In this folder, I have sub-folders named by date in which I am placing newly-scanned photos. Many of the files in each of these folders have identical names as those in other folders. When I try to place them in a single file -- also on the desktop using Finder -- I get the three options noted above, but NOT the "Keep Both" option.
I am using iOS Mojave 10.14.6
Thanks for any help.

 

[krs]

Weird...
I'm on Mojave 10.14.6 and I get exactly what Jake has described when I drag a file from one folder to another and a file with the same name already exists in the target folder.

 

[badshoehabit]

Have you tried "Don't Replace" with a few to see what happens? By the process of elimination, that may be a newer version of keep both.

 

[krs]

Have you tried "Don't Replace" with a few to see what happens? By the process of elimination, that may be a newer version of keep both.

Very good thinking, certainly worth a try.
Just strange that I run the same macOS - Mojave 10.14.6 and I get the "Keep Both" option.
And if I chose that the file has copy attached to the file name.

I assume the OP meant macOS 10.14.6 in post #3, not iOS

 

[MacInWin]

And if I chose that the file has copy attached to the file name.

That is because you are MOVING the file. That is, it's going to disappear from where it was and appear where you moved it. Given there is already a file there with that name, "copy" gets appended. However if you copy the file, that is, it stays where it was and a new copy is put where it is going to, and if there is a same name there, it gets a number appended to show that there are more than one. That's what I tried to describe in post #2.

 

[MacInWin]

From the macOS user guide found here: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/organize-files-using-folders-mh26885/mac

Move items into folders

1. On your Mac, click the Finder icon
   
   in the Dock to open a Finder window.
2. Do any of the following:
   • Put an item in a folder: Drag it to the folder.
   • Put several items in a folder: Select the items, then drag one of the items to the folder.
     All selected items move to the folder.
   • Keep an item in its original location and put a copy in a folder: Select the item, press and hold the Option key, then drag the item to the folder.
   • Keep an item in its original location and put an alias for it in a new folder: Press and hold the Option and Command keys, then drag the item to the folder to create the alias.
   • Make a copy of an item within the same folder: Select the item, then choose File > Duplicate or press Command-D.
   • Copy files to a different disk: Drag the files to the disk.
   • Move files to a different disk: Press and hold the Command key, then drag the files to the disk.

 

[krs]

That is because you are MOVING the file. That is, it's going to disappear from where it was and appear where you moved it. Given there is already a file there with that name, "copy" gets appended. However if you copy the file, that is, it stays where it was and a new copy is put where it is going to, and if there is a same name there, it gets a number appended to show that there are more than one. That's what I tried to describe in post #2.

And you did an excellent job with your description in post #2.

I thought the OP was moving files when he used the word "placed" in post #3
But when I copy files, I still get the option to "Keep Both", the only difference is the new file name as you already pointed out.

Maybe the OP needs to describe step-by-step exactly what he is doing because I haven't been able to get the "Don't Replace" option and I'm running the same macOS software.

 

[frisbee68]

OP here.
I apologize, but I was in error when I said I got a "don't replace" option. I haven't seen such a thing. I was relying on memory. The three options I get are "Skip" "Stop" and "Replace." The "Skip" action ends up not replacing the first file with the new file, so acts in the same way as a "don't replace" option would, and no doubt why I remembered it that way.
So here's what I've tried:
1) COPIED files from a folder and tried to PASTE them into a folder where there were same-name files previously existing. Get a dialog box with three options: "Skip," "Stop," and "Replace".
a) If I choose "Stop," the entire action is cancelled and nothing is done (as one would expect by choosing this option)
b) If I choose "Replace," the (e.g.) 10 files with same names REPLACE the original files and they simply disappear. I've, thus, lost 10 photos I had.
c) If I choose "Skip," the files with the same names are simply skipped over, and only files with different names appear in the new file. Of course, they still exist in the original folder, but it is tedious and time-consuming to determine which files those are, and defeats the purpose of the post.
2) If I MOVE files from a folder to a folder where there were same-name files previously existing, I get the same dialog box with the same three options: "Skip," "Stop," and "Replace." Only this time, if I choose either "Replace" or "Skip," I will inevitably lose files from one folder or the other because I didn't copy them, but moved them.

 

[MacInWin]

How are you doing the Move and Copy actions? What keypresses or mouse actions are you using?

 

[krs]

Thanks for the detail.
What are you actually trying to do?
Do you have images in one folder that you want to just move to a different folder (which already has images with the same name) or do you want to copy the images to a different folder?
In either case, have you tried just selecting the image or images and dragging them to the new folder - forget the copy and paste exercise.

Just for interest I tried every copy and paste option I could think of -using the mouse right-click, also the Edit copy and paste, and I always end up with the "Keep Both" option.
What format are the images in? I'm testing with jpg images -but I just can't duplicate what you are getting.

 

[MacInWin]

Also, where are these various folders and files? Transporting files from one drive to another works slightly different than moving them around on one drive.

Remember, we cannot see your system, so you have to give us accurate and complete descriptions of what you are doing and seeing before we can give good advice.

 

[frisbee68]

Replying to MacInWin.
Thanks for your continued attempts to resolve my issue.
I use the "Find," then "Copy," then "Paste" commands at the top bar of the screen when I attempt to Copy files from one folder to another.
When trying to move, I highlight the files I want to move, hold the "Shift" key and the mouse to drag them to the new folder.
Also, they are all on one drive, using the desktop.

Replying to krs:
I am using a scanner to create new digital files of photos. Ultimately, I want to end up with one copy of each photo I own. Whether I can move them all from one folder to another, or have to copy them, paste them in a new folder, then delete the originals doesn't matter to me. I just can't get the option to "keep both" -- and I am experimenting with all the suggestions being made here. In the detail I provided earlier, I indicate that, yes, I have tried both dragging and copy/paste.
I do 150-200 pictures a day and have been saving them to files with names based on the date I scanned them. Every day as I start the scanning process (because once I cropped and saved the 200 photos in the form I want them, I delete the original scans) the scanning process begins naming the files from *000.jpg again. (Yes, they are .jpg files.)

 

[krs]

Have you tried holding down the Option key instead of the shift key?

Enable the Hidden

When you drag files into a folder, OS X looks for files with the same name and asks you if you want to replace them or skip those files. If you want t

lifehacker.com

 

[ferrarr]

Since you are going from one drive to another drive, the files are being copied. Making the "Skip" option harder to identify the files that were not copied to the new location. If you move the files to the new location, then selected "Skip" when the option arises, the files that still exist in the original location will need to be renamed to be moved.

 

[krs]

Since you are going from one drive to another drive........

He is not !!!
The reply to Jake in post #14 was:

Also, they are all on one drive, using the desktop.
("they" referring to the folders)

PS: I earlier actually tried moving files from a folder on the desktop to an external USB Flash Drive - I still get the "Keep Both" option.

 

[krs]

@frisbee68 - I'm pretty sure holding down the Option key will do the trick.

When I move a file to a folder where that file name already exists and I get the "Keep Both" option...when I then hold down the Option key, the "Keep Both" changes to "Skip" -so I would imagine the same thing will happen when you try that, just the other way around.

The question now becomes how does one make the "Keep Both" option the default (if that is what you want).

 

[frisbee68]

Hello, krs.
Unfortunately, what you describe above using the Option key did not change anything for me. I cannot seem to get the "Keep Both" choice no matter how I move a file into a folder where a file with that same name already exists: whether copying and pasting, or dragging while using the Shift key, while using the Option key, or while using no key at all but just the mouse. It's weird.

 

[ferrarr]

What I would do is create a new folder, within the folder that you are trying to move those images into. Move the images into the new folder temporarily. This way they are still in the folder you want them in. Then another day or time try to move them into the original folder again.