# Remote shooting and changing file names



## Beth39 (Nov 12, 2019)

Morning, very new here so hoping I'm posting in the right place and that someone can help me out. If not can someone please refer me elsewhere, and thankyou in advance.

I am using a Canon EOS 1300D and a Kaiser copy stand to take photos for a high-throughput phenotypic analysis project. I need the ability to remote shoot, for which we currently use the provided EOS Utility/DPP4, but I also require a preview of the recently taken image (unlimited by time, I need to properly review the image), and optimally delete images that don't meet criteria, and finally save those we are happy with with a unique name that refers to the accession itself. I have barcodes and a scanner with the final names but the current situation of saving all photos (even those that need retaking) with successive numbers and manually creating an excel list to keep track, then curating enormous folders of images and lists before attempting to rename them is time consuming and not ideal.

We formerly used a scanner for a basic image taking (which was very poor quality and not replicable, this camera and copy stand absolutely must be used now), however the software was really ideal in that it provided a preview, and you could either delete, or choose to save which popped up with a "save as" box to type our preferred name into.

Is there a way to force DPP4 to allow any/all of these things to happen? I have had a look myself but I am unfamiliar with cameras and this software, unfortunately we have no one in our team anymore who has any knowledge here. If not, is there a different piece of software anyone is aware of that may be what I'm looking for and work happily with the Canon?


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## LDS (Nov 13, 2019)

In EOS Utility you can customize the file name which will be used when the file is transferred to disk. Click the "Preferences" button and select "File name". You can select Prefix + number and enter the text that will be used before the other data. At least a sequence number of image number is required to avoid overwriting images.

Unluckily you would have to re-set that every time you need a new name. Unlike a single-image scanner, cameras are designed to be able to take series of images. This could be useful if you need to take a sequence of images of the same subject with the same name.

Otherwise In DPP you can use the File -> Save As (or Convert and save) command to save the image you want to keep with a different name (and a different folder, if you wish).

Or you can just select an image and press R to rename it. If you have an handheld barcode scanner with keyboard emulation, once the rename dialog is open you can read the desired name into it.

Press Del to move the selected image to the recycle bin.


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## Beth39 (Nov 13, 2019)

LDS said:


> This could be useful if you need to take a sequence of images of the same subject with the same name.



Not useful for the project I'm currently working on but this has given me ideas for our possible future requirements and will definitely come in handy for those I believe, so thankyou!



LDS said:


> Or you can just select an image and press R to rename it. If you have an handheld barcode scanner with keyboard emulation, once the rename dialog is open you can read the desired name into it.
> 
> Press Del to move the selected image to the recycle bin.



This is so simple and exactly what I needed thankyou. I feel like this was probably extremely simple for you but I truly appreciate the time you took to answer. I chanced upon the second screen option when fiddling around yesterday and these together I think solve my issue perfectly.


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## Don Haines (Nov 13, 2019)

There is also some bulk file renaming software out there that may be of help.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 14, 2019)

I tether my camera using Canon utilities, and only take a photo when I see on my monitor that its right. There is no need to take those which are bad. This saves a lot of time in the long run for me. Its not clear to me if you are tethering and reviewing the shots before you take them, or using Canon utilities to just remotely close the shutter. However, I'm not aware of a easy way to rename it quickly, I can rename each image before shooting, but its not something quick to do. Some photo editors let you setup a list of key words which can be quickly used to tag a photo. Then you might be able to automate adding the tags to the file name.


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## LDS (Nov 14, 2019)

Don Haines said:


> There is also some bulk file renaming software out there that may be of help.



DPP too has a bulk renaming feature (Tools -> Start rename tool, or ALT+R) which allows to quickly rename the selected images using a pattern.


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