NameDrop - Smart File Renaming Tool

🎯 New Features

Core Enhancements

• ✅ Drag & Drop Support - Drop files or folders directly onto the interface
• ✅ EXIF Date Renaming - Rename photos by their EXIF datetime metadata
• ✅ Strip Punctuation - Remove all non-alphanumeric characters
• ✅ Customizable DateTime Format - Full control over date/time formatting
• ✅ Smart Duplicate Handling - Automatic increment counters for duplicate names

Complete Feature List

• 4 Renaming Modes:

  1. Title Case (with minor words)
  2. All Lower Case
  3. All Upper Case
  4. Date/Time from EXIF metadata

• Character Replacement:

  • Replace spaces with underscores
  • Strip punctuation and non-alphanumeric
  • Replace special/reserved characters

• Advanced Options:

  • Customizable minor words list
  • Customizable special characters list
  • Customizable datetime format with live preview
  • Preview changes before applying
  • Real-time progress tracking
  • Color-coded debug output

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📋 Requirements

Required (included with Python)

• Python 3.6 or higher
• tkinter (usually included)

Optional (for enhanced features)

• Pillow (PIL) - For EXIF date extraction from photos

  pip install pillow

• tkinterdnd2 - For drag-and-drop support

  pip install tkinterdnd2

Note: The application works without these optional packages, but with reduced functionality.

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🚀 Installation

Windows

1. Install Python (if not already installed)

   • Download from python.org
   • Check "Add Python to PATH" during installation

2. Install optional dependencies (recommended)

   pip install pillow tkinterdnd2

3. Run the application

   • Double-click NameDrop.bat
   • Or run: python namedrop.py

macOS

1. Python comes pre-installed, or install via Homebrew:

   brew install python3

2. Install optional dependencies (recommended)

   pip3 install pillow tkinterdnd2

3. Run the application

   chmod +x NameDrop.sh
   ./NameDrop.sh

Linux

1. Install Python and tkinter

   # Ubuntu/Debian
   sudo apt-get install python3 python3-tk python3-pip
   
   # Fedora
   sudo dnf install python3 python3-tkinter python3-pip
   
   # Arch
   sudo pacman -S python tk python-pip

2. Install optional dependencies (recommended)

   pip3 install pillow tkinterdnd2

3. Run the application

   chmod +x NameDrop.sh
   ./NameDrop.sh

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📖 User Guide

File Selection

Method 1: Drag & Drop (if tkinterdnd2 installed)

• Drag files or folders directly onto the drop zone
• Multiple files and folders supported

Method 2: Buttons (always available)

• Add Files - Select individual files
• Add Folder - Add all files from a folder
• Clear All - Remove all files from list

Renaming Modes

1. Title Case

Capitalizes first letter of each word, with smart minor word handling.

Options:

• ✅ Use minor words - Keeps words like "a", "the", "of" lowercase
• Edit Minor Words - Customize which words stay lowercase

Examples:

the_art_of_war.pdf → The Art of War.pdf
guide-to-python-and-javascript.txt → Guide to Python and Javascript.txt

2. All Lower Case

Converts everything to lowercase.

Mode-Specific Options:

• ✅ Replace spaces with underscores - Converts spaces to _
• ✅ Strip punctuation and non-alphanumeric - Removes all special characters

Examples:

MY_DOCUMENT.PDF → my_document.pdf
HelloWorld.txt → helloworld.txt
My Document.pdf → my_document.pdf  (with "Replace spaces")
file: name?.txt → filename.txt  (with "Strip punctuation")

3. All Upper Case

Converts everything to uppercase.

Mode-Specific Options:

• ✅ Replace spaces with underscores - Converts spaces to _
• ✅ Strip punctuation and non-alphanumeric - Removes all special characters

Examples:

my_document.pdf → MY_DOCUMENT.PDF
hello_world.txt → HELLO_WORLD.TXT
My Document.pdf → MY_DOCUMENT.PDF  (with "Replace spaces")
file: name?.txt → FILENAME.TXT  (with "Strip punctuation")

4. Date/Time from EXIF ⭐ NEW

Renames files based on their date/time metadata.

How it works:

1. For photos (JPEG, TIFF): Extracts EXIF datetime
2. For other files: Uses file modification time
3. Auto-adds counters for duplicates (e.g., 20240115-143025-0001)

Options:

• Edit DateTime Format - Customize the date/time format

Default format: %Y%m%d-%H%M%S → 20240115-143025

Common formats:

%Y%m%d-%H%M%S         → 20240115-143025
%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S     → 2024-01-15_14-30-25
IMG_%Y%m%d_%H%M%S     → IMG_20240115_143025
%Y%m%d                → 20240115
%Y-%m-%d              → 2024-01-15

Examples:

DSC_1234.jpg → 20240115-143025.jpg
photo.jpg → 20240115-143026.jpg
photo2.jpg → 20240115-143026-0001.jpg  (if duplicate)

Character Replacement

This section is available for all renaming modes.

Replace special/reserved characters

Replaces characters that are invalid in filenames: < > : " / \ | ? *

file:name?.txt → file_name_.txt
report<final>.docx → report_final_.docx

Edit Special Characters - Customize which characters to replace

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Mode-Specific Options

Different renaming modes show different additional options:

Title Case:

• Use minor words (checkbox)
• Edit Minor Words (button)

All Lower Case / All Upper Case:

• Replace spaces with underscores (checkbox)
• Strip punctuation and non-alphanumeric (checkbox)

Date/Time from EXIF:

• Edit DateTime Format (button)

Processing Options

Preview Changes (Recommended)

• Shows exactly what will change
• Color-coded output:
  • 🟢 Green: Files to be renamed
  • 🟠 Orange: Files with no changes
  • 🔴 Red: Errors or conflicts
• No actual changes made

Convert Files

• Actually renames the files
• Shows confirmation dialog
• ⚠️ Cannot be undone!
• Progress bar shows real-time status

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💡 Usage Examples

Example 1: Organize vacation photos by date

Settings:

• Mode: Date/Time from EXIF
• Format: %Y-%m-%d_%H%M%S

Before:

DSC_0001.jpg
DSC_0002.jpg
IMG_1234.jpg

After:

2024-01-15_143025.jpg
2024-01-15_143026.jpg
2024-01-15_150340.jpg

Example 2: Clean up document names for web

Settings:

• Mode: All Lower Case
  • Strip punctuation: ✅
  • Replace spaces: ✅

Before:

My Report (Final Draft).docx
Meeting Notes - Jan 15th.txt
Q&A Document.pdf

After:

my_report_final_draft.docx
meeting_notes_jan_15th.txt
qa_document.pdf

Example 3: Professional document formatting

Settings:

• Mode: Title Case
• Use minor words: ✅
• Replace special chars: ✅

Before:

the-complete-guide-to-python.pdf
notes:from:meeting.txt
quarterly-report-Q1-2024.xlsx

After:

The Complete Guide to Python.pdf
notes_from_meeting.txt
Quarterly Report Q1 2024.xlsx

Example 4: Batch rename code files

Settings:

• Mode: All Lower Case
  • Strip punctuation: ✅
  • Replace spaces: ✅

Before:

Helper Functions.js
My New Script.py
Test Cases & Examples.rb

After:

helper_functions.js
my_new_script.py
test_cases_examples.rb

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🎨 DateTime Format Reference

Basic Formats

Code	Meaning	Example
%Y	Year (4 digits)	2024
%y	Year (2 digits)	24
%m	Month (01-12)	01
%d	Day (01-31)	15
%H	Hour 24h (00-23)	14
%I	Hour 12h (01-12)	02
%M	Minute (00-59)	30
%S	Second (00-59)	45
%p	AM/PM	PM

Month & Day Names

Code	Meaning	Example
%B	Full month	January
%b	Short month	Jan
%A	Full day	Monday
%a	Short day	Mon

Complete Examples

%Y%m%d-%H%M%S              → 20240115-143025
%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S          → 2024-01-15_14-30-25
%Y%m%d_%H%M                → 20240115_1430
%Y-%m-%d                   → 2024-01-15
%b_%d_%Y                   → Jan_15_2024
%Y-%m-%d_%I-%M%p           → 2024-01-15_02-30PM
IMG_%Y%m%d_%H%M%S          → IMG_20240115_143025
Photo_%Y-%m-%d_%H%M        → Photo_2024-01-15_1430
%A_%B_%d_%Y                → Monday_January_15_2024

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⚠️ Important Notes

Duplicate Handling

Date/Time mode ONLY: When renaming files with the same timestamp, auto-incremented counters are added:

20240115-143025.jpg
20240115-143025-0001.jpg
20240115-143025-0002.jpg

Other modes: Duplicate names will cause errors. The preview will show conflicts before renaming, and conversion will skip files with duplicate target names. You'll need to manually resolve duplicates or use different settings.

EXIF Support

• Supported formats: JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), TIFF (.tif, .tiff)
• Requires: Pillow (PIL) library
• Fallback: Uses file modification time if EXIF unavailable

File Extensions

• Always preserved
• Case-sensitive on Linux/Mac
• Example: .JPG stays .JPG, not changed to .jpg

Safe Operation

1. Always preview first!
2. Test on copies of important files
3. No undo - renamed files stay renamed
4. Conflicts are detected before renaming

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🐛 Troubleshooting

"tkinterdnd2 not installed" warning

• Drag-and-drop unavailable
• Use "Add Files" and "Add Folder" buttons instead
• To enable: pip install tkinterdnd2

"PIL/Pillow not installed" warning

• EXIF extraction unavailable
• Falls back to file modification time
• To enable: pip install pillow

Permission denied errors

• Check write permissions on files
• Close files if they're open
• Run as administrator (Windows) or with sudo (Linux/Mac) if needed

Files not renaming

• Check if target names already exist
• Verify file isn't in use by another program
• Look at debug output for specific errors

GUI looks wrong on Linux

Install tkinter:

sudo apt-get install python3-tk  # Ubuntu/Debian

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🔧 Advanced Tips

Custom Minor Words

• Add industry-specific terms
• Include acronyms (e.g., "api", "ui", "ux")
• Remove words you always want capitalized

DateTime for Non-Photos

• Works on any file type
• Uses file modification time
• Useful for organizing downloads, documents, etc.

Batch Processing

• No limit on number of files
• Processes files in order added
• Shows real-time progress

Special Characters

• Default list covers Windows, Mac, and Linux
• Add more for extra safety
• Remove some if needed for your use case

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📝 Version History

v2.0 - Enhanced Version

• ✅ Drag & drop support
• ✅ EXIF date/time renaming mode
• ✅ Strip punctuation option
• ✅ Customizable datetime format
• ✅ Smart duplicate handling
• ✅ Live preview in datetime editor

v1.0 - Initial Release

• Title Case, Lower Case, Upper Case
• Minor words customization
• Special character replacement
• Preview and batch conversion

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📄 License

Free and open source. Use at your own risk.

No warranty provided. Always backup important files before batch renaming.