Trying to Rename tons of photos...Let MS Windows do it for you

This is one of those tips that most people say "No Duh", but it's quick and useful, something Windows really isn't known for... :-)  (Now that's funny right there).

Okay, you decided to copy all your pictures off of your camera, and trying to organize them in Jalbum.  You have pictures from Vacations, Birthday Parties, Family events, and that weekend trip to Las Vegas....well....we'll just leave those Vegas pics alone for now.

There are a plethora of tools to do batch rename operations, but why clutter up your PC with just another piece of software what I call "SecondWare", side programs that just take up space that can be done already with Windows.

Here is a list of photos on my computer:

 

Now I want to rename them, so I select the bottom picture first(left click), hold down the control key on the keyboard (Ctrl) and select the very first picture in the list.  NOTE: Select from the Bottom Up !!! 

 Right Click on the first picture, select "Rename"

 

Enter in the new name, hit the Enter Key, and Windows goes off renaming all your pictures and appends a number at the end of the file.

 

Here's another hint, take the time to organize your pictures into folders.  Once you decide on a structure, everything else is just so much easier.  For example, I created a Folder called "1st Birthday", renamed all files in that directory to "1st Birthday".  So, when searching for pictures, I don't rely on the picture name, I trust my folder structure.

If you try to rename each picture manually and try to add more info than needed, (i.e. "Picture of Uncle Bob and Aunt Judie at the Lake in Phoenix Arizona June 2007.jpg", you will loose interest by the 10th picture and nothing will ever get done.

Those with large albums know this to be true, picture names aren't important.  Those with small albums eventually learn this lesson too.  So, don't waste time renaming pictures, let Windows do it for you, spend more time outside taking pictures, or more time in Las Vegas, since those Vegas pictures are always the best :-)