Sorting in Photos

Sorry-- we were each saying "title" and meaning different things. Photos does not sort by file name-- it will sort by title. You can't change the file name, but you can change the title. I use titles that have a date and description and maybe counter. As I mentioned earlier, the beta (and free) program called Photos Workbench can batch change titles even though that option is not found in Photos. Below you can see a screenshot of Workbench. Circled is the command Change Titles, and I've included an example that makes the title the File Name with or without the extension. With this non-Apple program you can add date, your own description, counters, and other options.

If there are weird things with your file names, extra spaces, etc., then you can edit those separately by using the Info Window.

jmj20 wrote: is there an app to convert the file names to titles?

You're right that, without an explicit title, "sort by title" sorts by date. Unfortunately bulk titling isn't built into Photos. There are some Apple Scripts that will help that Old Toad (a helper on here who may be along later) has available. The link might be this: Script: Batch Changing the Title to the Capture Date, 2018 There is also a program (I think léonie suggested it) called Photos Workbench that lets you give titles with the inclusion of dates or counters if you choose. I've been using that some, but it's a Beta version and you may have to hunt for all the features.

Within Photos, you can select a bunch of pictures and then, in the Info Window (command-I) type in a title like "22 11 03 Tennis Match" and that title will be added to all you selected. Then you can go picture by picture and add a number at the end, so you get "22 11 03 Tennis Match 01" and so on.

You can also just grab pictures and move them around in an album to put them in any order you like. I have albums with this manual sorting that have lasted a couple of years, but there's always the possibility that you accidentally hit the wrong button and lose the order and you can't get it back.

You can also use external programs like GraphicConverter to add titles before they are imported to Photos. I do that when I can.

It depends on what view you're using to view your images. This screenshot shows the different sort options for the different views in a Photos library: