Today’s Question: Occasionally it would be useful to rename a photo that is already in the Lightroom catalog. I simply want to append some descriptive text to the filename for a single photo, while keeping the rest of the filename in place. How is this renaming done?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can most certainly rename a single photo within Lightroom, including the ability to simply append text to the existing filename. The key is to create a new file-renaming template that includes the base filename plus a Custom Text option.
More Detail: To get started select the photo you want to rename. Then, while in the Library module choose Library > Rename Photo from the menu. This will bring up the Rename Photo dialog.
The first time you rename a photo in this way you’ll need to define a template for the structure for the filename. Start by clicking the File Naming popup and choose Edit from that popup. This will bring up the Filename Template Editor dialog.
In the Filename Template Editor dialog choose “Filename” from the Preset popup. This will enable you to start with a simple template based on the existing filename for an image. In the text box below the popup, click your mouse just to the right of the small “Filename” popup to place the insertion point there. You can then type any text you would like to use to separate the existing filename and the new text you’re going to add. For example, you might want to use a dash character here.
Next, click the Insert button to the right of the “Custom Text” label toward the bottom of the Filename Template Editor dialog. This will add a “Custom Text” field at the end of the filename structure you’re defining.
At this point you can save the new template so it can be used to rename your photos. Click the Preset popup at the top of the Filename Template Editor dialog and choose “Save Current Settings as New Preset” from that popup. In the “New Preset” dialog enter a name for this file-renaming template and click Create to save the template. Then click the Done button to close the Filename Template Editor dialog.
You now have a template you can use to append text to the filename for any photo. At the moment the Rename Photo dialog will still be up, so you can type the desired text in the Custom Text field, then click the OK button to rename the photo.
In the future, you can append text to the filename for any photo by selecting the photo in the Library module, choosing Library > Rename Photo from the menu, selecting the template you saved for this purpose, entering the desired Custom Text, and clicking OK.