Rename photos by date using Python

Renaming photos by date using Python is a common task that can be automated efficiently by reading the metadata (EXIF data) of the images to extract the date they were taken, then renaming the files accordingly. Here’s a detailed guide and a complete Python script to do this.

How to Rename Photos by Date in Python

Key Steps:

1. Read image files from a folder

2. Extract the date the photo was taken (usually stored in EXIF metadata)

3. Format the date into a filename-friendly string

4. Rename the files based on this date

Required Libraries

• Pillow (PIL): To read EXIF metadata from images

• os: To handle file system operations

• shutil (optional): To move files if needed

Install Pillow if you don’t have it:

bash
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pip install pillow

Python Script to Rename Photos by Date

python
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import os
from PIL import Image
from PIL.ExifTags import TAGS
from datetime import datetime

def get_date_taken(path):
    """Extract the date the photo was taken from EXIF data."""
    try:
        image = Image.open(path)
        exif_data = image._getexif()
        if not exif_data:
            return None
        for tag_id, value in exif_data.items():
            tag = TAGS.get(tag_id, tag_id)
            if tag == 'DateTimeOriginal':
                return value
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error reading EXIF data from {path}: {e}")
    return None

def format_date(date_str):
    """Format EXIF date string into 'YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS' format."""
    try:
        # Typical EXIF date format: "YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS"
        date_obj = datetime.strptime(date_str, '%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S')
        return date_obj.strftime('%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S')
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error formatting date string {date_str}: {e}")
        return None

def rename_photos_by_date(folder_path):
    """Rename all photos in the folder by their date taken."""
    supported_extensions = ('.jpg', '.jpeg', '.png', '.tiff', '.heic')  # Add more if needed
    for filename in os.listdir(folder_path):
        if filename.lower().endswith(supported_extensions):
            full_path = os.path.join(folder_path, filename)
            date_taken = get_date_taken(full_path)
            if date_taken:
                formatted_date = format_date(date_taken)
                if formatted_date:
                    # Prepare new filename
                    extension = os.path.splitext(filename)[1].lower()
                    new_filename = f"{formatted_date}{extension}"
                    new_full_path = os.path.join(folder_path, new_filename)
                    
                    # Handle duplicates by appending a counter
                    counter = 1
                    while os.path.exists(new_full_path):
                        new_filename = f"{formatted_date}_{counter}{extension}"
                        new_full_path = os.path.join(folder_path, new_filename)
                        counter += 1

                    os.rename(full_path, new_full_path)
                    print(f"Renamed '{filename}' to '{new_filename}'")
                else:
                    print(f"Could not format date for file: {filename}")
            else:
                print(f"No date found in EXIF for file: {filename}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    folder = input("Enter the folder path containing photos: ")
    rename_photos_by_date(folder)

Explanation:

• get_date_taken(): Opens the image and reads the DateTimeOriginal EXIF tag, which usually holds when the photo was taken.

• format_date(): Converts the EXIF date string from YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS to a filename-friendly format YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS.

• rename_photos_by_date(): Iterates over supported image files, renames them using the date, and handles duplicate names by appending a counter.

• The script prompts you for the folder path where the images are stored.

Notes:

• Some images may lack EXIF data or the DateTimeOriginal tag, especially screenshots or images downloaded from the web.

• You can extend the script to use file creation or modification time as a fallback if no EXIF date is found.

• This script currently supports common photo file extensions; add or remove extensions as needed.

If you want, I can help you modify the script to include fallback methods or to handle videos too!