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olliedale Author

Level 1

11 points

Automate files into folders by month

I'm running 17 time lapse cameras. Each camera takes a photo every 15 minutes, and uploads it into a Dropbox folder so my client can see / access.

I'd like to run an automator script that puts files into different folders depending on the filename:

20220304071500.JPG

(2022 03 04 07:15:00)

So I'd like the script to be able to read the 5th and 6th characters which will be the month on every file I have, and put them into a folder of the same number

If it could create that folder, even better... there are 599,000 images for me to sort and the project is ongoing :-|

Any help would be appreciated

iMac Pro

Posted on Jul 6, 2022 4:15 AM

Top-ranking reply

MrHoffman

Community+ 2024

Level 10

125,823 points

Posted on Jul 6, 2022 8:52 AM

Use a zsh shell script, such as zsh with zmv (use zmv -n to start!) to move the files:

… https://benfrain.com/batch-rename-nested-files-and-folders-on-macos-with-zsh/

… https://blog.smittytone.net/2021/04/03/how-to-use-zmv-z-shell-super-smart-file-renamer/

Or use Finder’s batch-rename support:

… https://tidbits.com/2018/06/28/macos-hidden-treasures-batch-rename-items-in-the-finder/

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Automate files into folders by month

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