Renaming files is easy, right? Click the icons, hit enter, and start typing. But after the first couple of dozen, it can get pretty tedious. Batch file renaming has never been one of the Mac OS’s strong points (though the Terminal gives Unix geeks a leg up). But when the rest of want to rename the hundreds of “DSC1234.JPG” files from our cameras to something more useful, we often depend on third-party utilities. One of the absolute best has always been the aptly named A Better Finder Rename, around since 1997 and now at version 8. The current release represents a greatly improved user interface and can take full advantage of Intel Macs’ 64-bit processing power.
A Better Finder Rename handles all your basic batch renaming needs with simplicity, speed and elegance. But if your needs are more complex, it has the power and flexibility to handle just about any task
One of the more basic options is ideal for renaming batches of digital images from your camera. You simply add a prefix that all the files will share and the program will append a sequence number. Then, just drag the files you want to rename into the center of the panel and will give you a preview of the new filenames to their right. Tell it to go and a screen pops up showing a QuickLook view of the first file and a description of the full path, to make sure the right things are happening in the right place. You can then approve the rename file by file or give the go-ahead to the whole group.
But Wait! There’s More! The folks at PublicSpace have been in the file renaming business a long time and that starts to show when you start exploring some of the many other features. The program is smart enough to peek into the metadata that’s commonly embedded in or attached to digital media files. For example, many digital camera image files contain information about when and how (and sometimes, where) an image was shot in the form of EXIF metadata. The program supports EXIF data in any format that OS X can understand (which covers nearly all the bases). A Better Finder Rename can use the information in file naming or simply for sorting before appending sequence numbers. This is a blessing for pros who are shooting an assignment with multiple cameras and memory cards. In fact, if you rather use a time/date stamp than a sequence number, the program will make sure that each file is uniquely named, even if your DSLR is automatically bracketing photos or in “motor drive” mode, shooting multiple frames per second.
Batch renaming can also be handy for music files and the program is equally talented in handling MP3 tags, a slew of information attached to music files, like song name, composer, album title and even the track number. All this data can be used to name and organize files in your music collection.
Cleaning Things Up Another group of users that often need to take the big-box approach to file management are server administrators and webmasters. They’ll be happy to know that the program has a mode that understands the syntax of regular expressions (regex) to alter and substitute complex patterns in filenames. A Better File Rename also supports file lists (basic text and tab-delimited text) if you need to set up and store a boilerplate for filenames. Even without having to master the art of regex and file lists, the program can convert a group of files to web- and DOS-safe formats, changing spaces to underscores and truncating filenames and managing name conflicts either manually or automatically via predetermined rules.
If you find yourself using the program a lot for certain tasks, it has a handy feature that obviates the need for actually running it: droplets. A droplet is a smart folder generated by A Better Finder Rename that contains predefined settings for renaming. Pre-establishing rules for naming and conflict resolution will let you create “silent” droplets that require no user interaction at all. As is the case when working within the program, droplets can contain multiple renaming steps, allowing you to perform several operations (removing spaces, changing case, adding sequence numbers) at the same time.
A Better Finder Rename is available as a free trial with a ten-file limit. The full version is $19.95 and a bundle including two of PublicSpace’s other popular programs, A Better Finder Attributes and Big Mean Folder Machine is $34.95.
Flexible Creates automated Can use EXIF metadata and MP3 tags Excellent interface, keeps the complex tools accessible but out of the way for a casual user
Cons:
Possibly a bit pricey in its category, but still a great value for the power it holds
