PictureRetitle’s name tells you what it does. Initially, though, it isn’t any quicker at renaming photos than similar apps or even a right-click and Rename. Given time, though, PR can save you considerable effort, especially with large folders of shots sharing certain traits.

PR’s primary feature is its Static and Active dictionaries, which act like the suggested queries that Google’s search menu offers as you type in its field. For example, I opened a folder of 98 photos taken in Estes, Colo., in PR, which uses three stages. In Stage 1, you select photos to rename. In Stage 2, you enter Free Text to rename each photo. This is where the dictionaries come in. After typing Shannon in car for my first photo, PR stored the entry in the Active Dictionary. Thereafter, typing any related character, such as S, displayed a drop-down menu of options, such as Shannon, Shannon in, etc. From there, I could select an entry and edit it appropriately, saving me from repeatedly retyping the same words.

The Active Dictionary stores 500 entries for a current work session, while the Static Dictionary stores up to 100,000 entries entered over time. You can clear an Active Dictionary at any time, configure how many entries are stored and displayed, and use key combinations to edit entries, such as CTRL-L to uncap a word. A Same button conveniently enters the last entry typed, and thumbnail and full screen previews provide visual guides.

In Stage 3, you can universally apply a prefix, suffix, numbering scheme, and date/time (including EXIF data) elements to photo names. There are also buttons to Test & Preview, Keep Voice Files Synchronized, and Force Uniqueness, which adds sequential numbers when necessary to keep photo names unique. Renaming my 98 photos took less than 10 minutes. A different folder of 130 photos went even quicker.

PR’s biggest negative is its cluttered interface, which isn’t especially intuitive. Additionally, some of the English translations read a bit rough. Positively, PR saves changes automatically when you close it or there’s a power failure. Although it lacks some professional polish, PR is good at what it does and is an inexpensive option for quickly renaming dozens of photos in one sitting.

by Blaine A. Flamig