Using Automator to rename files....

I have 2,500 image files to rename. They're images of artwork by many different people, and each image is labeled like this...

Lastname, Firstname 01 (or 02, 03 etc... if they have multiple images.)

I want to load all the images onto a SD card so I can display them on a digital photo frame. In order get all 2,500 on the SD card, the filenames can only be 8 digits long. I guess I could figure out how to just rename them all sequentially - but what I'd really like to do is keep the first five digits of the original filename (the first five letters of the artists last name) and then have the last three digits be sequential numbers.

Can I do this?

Thanks!

I'm sure automator can do this but you may find Name Mangler more straightforward.

Many Tricks · Name Mangler

Yes, Automator can do that quite easily. After you specify the files, use the "Rename Finder items" action and specify "Make Sequential". You'll have to experiment a bit, but it should work.

1. First you will need a set of files or folders to rename. If you don't have any for the purposes of this tutorial, just create three or four untitled folders on your desktop. Go to your desktop and use the shortcut key strokes, Shift+Command+N or go to File>New Folder. Create three or four new folders. Leave each folder as Untitled.

2. Now open up Automator. If you're opening up the latest version of Automator, in Leopard, a Starting Points window will appear. This window is supposed to help you get started with Automator, but I don't think it does a very good job. So click on Custom and then click OK.

Rename Files