Today’s Question: I know you can batch rename photos in Lightroom Classic, but the process involved seems cumbersome when I only want to rename a single image, such as to add a bit of text to the end of the filename. Is there a simpler way to rename a single photo?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes! You can rename a single image in Lightroom Classic by updating the File Name field in the Library module.
More Detail: While the Rename Photos command can be tremendously helpful (and flexible) when it comes to renaming multiple selected images, I agree that it can be a little cumbersome for a situation where you want to make relatively minor changes to the filename for a single image. For example, you might want to append “-BW” to the end of a filename to indicate this is a black and white version of a color original.
Fortunately, you can very easily change the filename for a single selected image by editing the text in the File Name field in the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module.
You can make any changes you’d like in that field, including completely changing the base filename if you want to. Just be sure not to edit the filename extension, which is includes the period after the base filename and the additional characters (typically three or four characters) that appear after the period. The filename change will take effect as soon as you change the focus to another field, such as by pressing the Tab or Enter/Return key on the keyboard or by clicking on another metadata field.
