A Simple Bash Script to Download and Organize Photos

Productivity Sauce
When it comes to dowloading photos from a storage card and organizing them in the process, Rapid Photo Downloader is just the ticket. But if you prefer to do that from the command line, here is a simple Bash script cobbled together by yours truly.
#!/bin/bash SOURCE_DIR="/media/NIKOND5000/DCIM/100D5000" WORK_DIR=TMP TARGET_DIR=Photos cp -R $SOURCE_DIR $WORK_DIR cd $WORK_DIR exiftool -r -d ../$TARGET_DIR/%Y%m%d/%Y%m%d-%H%M%S- '-FileName<$dateTimeOriginal$MyShutterCount.NEF' -ext NEF ../$WORK_DIR rm -rf ../TMP
The script copies photos from a mounted storage device like an SD card to the TMP folder, organizes the photos into folders by date, and then renames each photo using the data pulled from the photo's metadata. Photos are renamed using the YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-ShutterCount.EXT format, so the resulting file name looks something like this: 20102019-135547-3375.NEF.
There are two things required for this script to work. First of all, you need to install the exiftool package which the script uses to extract relevant metadata, arrange photos, and rename them. exiftool is available in the software repositories of many mainstream Linux distributions, so you can install it using your distro's package manager. On Ubuntu, you can do this by executing the command below:
sudo apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perl
You also need to create the .ExifTool_config file in your home directory, and put the following function in it:
%Image::ExifTool::UserDefined = ( 'Image::ExifTool::Composite' => { MyShutterCount => { Require => 'ShutterCount', ValueConv => 'substr("$val", 0)', }, }, ); 1; #end
Adding the .ExifTool_config file is required only if you want to include the shutter count value in the file names. In case you use another renaming rule, you can skip this step.
Before you start using the script, specify the correct SOURCE_DIR value and the file format (e.g., RAW, CR2, or JPG).
That's all there is to it. Insert the card with photos, run the script, and it will download the photos, arrange them into folders, and rename them.
Sources:
http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/exiftool/forum/index.php/topic,2320.0.html
http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/config.html
comments powered by DisqusIssue 272/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
News
-
An All-Snap Version of Ubuntu is In The Works
Along with the standard deb version of the open-source operating system, Canonical will release an-all snap version.
-
Mageia 9 Beta 2 Ready for Testing
The latest beta of the popular Mageia distribution now includes the latest kernel and plenty of updated applications.
-
KDE Plasma 6 Looks to Bring Basic HDR Support
The KWin piece of KDE Plasma now has HDR support and color management geared for the 6.0 release.
-
Bodhi Linux 7.0 Beta Ready for Testing
The latest iteration of the Bohdi Linux distribution is now available for those who want to experience what's in store and for testing purposes.
-
Changes Coming to Ubuntu PPA Usage
The way you manage Personal Package Archives will be changing with the release of Ubuntu 23.10.
-
AlmaLinux 9.2 Now Available for Download
AlmaLinux has been released and provides a free alternative to upstream Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
-
An Immutable Version of Fedora Is Under Consideration
For anyone who's a fan of using immutable versions of Linux, the Fedora team is currently considering adding a new spin called Fedora Onyx.
-
New Release of Br OS Includes ChatGPT Integration
Br OS 23.04 is now available and is geared specifically toward web content creation.
-
Command-Line Only Peropesis 2.1 Available Now
The latest iteration of Peropesis has been released with plenty of updates and introduces new software development tools.
-
TUXEDO Computers Announces InfinityBook Pro 14
With the new generation of their popular InfinityBook Pro 14, TUXEDO upgrades its ultra-mobile, powerful business laptop with some impressive specs.