Renaming Files & Folders

To rename a file or folder, hit the relevant keyboard shortcut or right-click and select “Rename” to bring up the Rename dialog.

This dialog will, depending on the context, provide access to different renaming “modes”:

Regular Renaming

Regular renaming is just a basic text input that validates the input as you type.
This mode is not accessible when you have selected multiple files.

Batch Renaming

You can use the batch-renaming to quickly and easily transform the name of multiple files.
This mode is accessible when you are renaming more than one file.

Add Text

Select this mode to insert the specified text before or after the filename (but before the extension).

Replace Text

Select this mode to enter some text which should be replaced by some other piece of text (or simply be removed).

Advanced Renaming

Advanced renaming can be used to “imprint” your file names with all kinds of data. It might be the tempo of a given sound, the current time or even the name of the currently logged-in user.

To begin with, simply choose to rename one or more files. You should notice that the Rename dialog has been extended with an “advanced” mode:

Use Tokens to fetch data

Once you enter the advanced mode, you can enter special values, so-called “tokens” into the name - each of which will embed a certain piece of information into the filename.

Tokens can also be accessed from the popout menu on the right side of the text input.

Underneath the text input, you’ll see a preview which updates as you type, pulling information from the file and/or library. In addition, the preview will inform you when the input contains a syntax error or unknown value.

Use Modifiers to get the syntax right

You can add so-called “modifiers” to change the value of a token. For example, you might want all text to be lower-case.

Modifiers are specified by entering a colon, the name and arguments immediately after the token. And just like tokens, modifiers can also be accessed from the popout menu on the right side of the text input.

Here we define a “replace” modifier that replace any occurrence of “foo” with “bar”:
%user:replace(foo:bar)%

Modifiers can also be chained together, simply by adding another modifier following the first one. if you specify more than one modifier, they are parsed in left-to-right order.

For example, %user:wrap(before_:_after):upper()% might output BEFORE_USERNAME_AFTER, as the wrapping text got transformed into uppercase.

Token Reference

Here are the most important tokens in alphabetical order:

In addition to the tokens above, you can include metadata by specifying the name of the metadata column, prefixed with meta: (for example, meta:artist).

Modifier Reference

Use modifiers to change the input provided by a token. If you specify multiple modifiers, they will be processed in a left-to-right order. The modifiers are divided into three categories: numbers, strings and date modifiers.

Note: each modifier will expect either a number or string as input, but will automatically try to convert the input into the appropriate format.

Number Modifiers

String Modifiers

Date Modifiers

These modifiers all expect a numeric unix timestamp as input (e.g. %nowtime%, %modtime%, %favorite% and %hidden%)

Sequence

Files will automatically have a number (the “running sequence”) assigned to them when they are renamed. This makes it possible to ensure that the original order is kept.

A special case here is the Project: when some files have already added to a project, and you apply a profile which makes use of the %seq% token, the user will be prompted if the numbering should be updated:

Naming Profiles

A Naming Profile is a “template” which can be used when renaming files. Use it to define more complex, reusable patterns containing multiple tokens and/or modifiers.

To view/edit or create Naming Profiles

To view/edit/create a profile, head into the application menu > View > Show Naming Profile Editor

The application comes with a few ready-made profiles that demonstrate how the feature works. But you can also define your own profiles from scratch, or base it on an existing profile.

To apply a Naming Profile to items in a Project:

1. Open the Project sidepanel.
2. Select the desired items (files).
3. Click the “%” symbol to bring up the dropdown menu.
4. Select your desired profile.

To apply a Naming Profile to items in the Browser:

1. Bring focus to the Browser (CTRL/CMD+K)
2. Select the desired files.
3. Right-click and choose ‘Assign Naming Profile’
4. Select your desired profile.

Examples

Prefix entries with running sequence index (3 digits)

pattern: 
  %seq:lpad(3:0)%-%filename%  

input: 
  Foobar.wav
  Barfoo.wav
  Barbaz.mp3

output
  000-Foobar.wav
  001-Barfoo.wav 
  002-Barbaz.mp3

Embed note information into filename (octave, pitch class)

pattern: 
  %pitchclass:rpad(-:2)%%octave%  

input: 
  Foobar.wav
  Barfoo.wav
  Barbaz.mp3

output
  C-1.wav
  E#2.wav 
  F-4.mp3

Display embedded metadata (artist/album/song info)

pattern:
  %meta:artist%,%meta:album%,%meta:title%

input: 
  file_with_embedded_metadata.mp3

output:
  Depeche Mode,Memento Mori,Speak to Me.mp3