Batch rename ImageDescription with Pattern for multiple JPEGs

Question

I used IrfanView to rename holiday pictures from my girlfriend and myself to get them in order. I could arrange them and use pattern to add numbers infront of the filenames. The pattern I use for batch rename with IrfanView is ###_$N to add numbers but keep the original filename.

This works great for the windows explorer but on my SmartTV the files are sorted by ImageDescription, which my girlfriend uses to add additional informations about location or tourist attractions. I know this might not be the best place for this she did this for all her images so far and it is not easy to edit/change them manually.

So im asking for some program or script that lets me edit/rename the ImageDescription of my files according to a pattern like in IrfanView. I want to add numbers in front of the original ImageDescription if any is set, otherwise just the numbers to get the right order. Kind of like: ###_orignialImageDescription. I don't want to edit the Filename but the ImageDescription itself.

Thanks in advance!

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TLDR: Is there any program or script that lets me add (incrementing) numbers to original the ImageDesription of multiple JPEGs?

Answer 1

I would say the real problem to fix is the software that insists on sorting on the description field. That's just weird. If you really want to do the hacky workaround of prepending stuff to the description, though, it would probably be more robust to just use the filenames, if those already provide the correct sorting. Something like this with exiftool:

exiftool '-imagedescription<$filename $imagedescription' -ext jpg .

or maybe use the original date instead:

exiftool '-imagedescription<$datetimeoriginal $imagedescription' -ext jpg .

assuming the original timestamp from the camera is intact in the files (and accurate).

Answer 2

I believe ExifTool by Phil Harvey can do that. http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/index.html