Batch Rename Question

[alfischer]

Since getting a good archiving program (Archive Creator) I have embarked on a mission to archive all my photos. (no small task) The photos are from 3 different digital cameras, and some scans from negatives. The filenaming convention used has also changed over the years. All are stored on CDs which are still readable (at least for now).

I want to rename all to YYMMDD_HHMMSS.XXX. Then archive on DVDs according to date.

Problem is some have EXIF info and some do not. The CD contains Date Created and Date Modified. If I copy the CD to a folder then the file contains Date Modified (when CD was written) and Date Created (when new copy folder was written) BBPRO uses the Date Created from the copied folder (timestamp) if there is no EXIF. Obviously the date cannot be changed on the CD, hence the copy to folder and the rename is done.

It seems to me that one of the options for the 'Timestamp' should be Date Modified. This would allow a closer approximation of when the photo was taken.

If there is a better solution please advise. What I don't want to do is manually change each file!

Your thoughts please.

[Chris Breeze]

Normally the date/time created doesn't change and when you edit a file the date/time modified is updated. However, if you copy a file the date/time created is set to the current date/time. This means that if you edit and copy a file both date/time created and modified are of little help as to when the photo was actually taken. You can also get the bizarre situation where the date/time modified is earlier than the date/time created.

I think your best bet is to look for a utility to set the date/time created to the date/time modified. Failing that, it shouldn't be hard to write a script to do it.