Automatically titling photos as date captured

You did not say what computer or iPhone you are using or what operating systems they're running, so it's a bit hard to be specific.

So, to be clear--by titles do you mean filename? When I import pictures to Photos, they generally have filenames like DSC_1234, or something. There is also a Title field that you can see in the info window in Mac Photos, and that is generally empty. The Title field does not show on an iPhone or iPad. We usually use the word Title to be different from filename, so I'm not sure what you mean.

When looking at the thumbnails in Photos on a Mac, the Title, the stuff in the title field in the Mac's Photos Info window, appears beneath the picture. If the Title field is empty, then the filename appears, but this is not what's in the title field-- it's a temporary substitute.

Photos does not allow you to change the filename. If you want to change the filename, you need to do this outside of Photos--maybe export the pictures and re-import them after the change. On a Mac, Matti and I (and lots of others) would use Graphic Converter to batch change the filenames. But, again, this can't be done while pictures are inside Photos.

On a Mac, I use the Title Field in Photos to record the date and some detail. This shows below the Thumbnail, and you can export the pictures using the Title for the filename if you choose. The title is included in the IPTC metadata.

I use the 3rd party app Photos Workbench ($30) to add titles in batches. Photos Workbench has options like this:

I have it record the year-month-day and index number with a text description. There are many options-- you can have it include the original filename, for instance. There is also a find and replace function for titles, so I can fix my mistakes.

To send jpgs to others, I export the picture using the Title field for the filename, like this:

So one way to change filenames with Photos could be to use PhotosWorkbench to add titles, and then export with the title for the filename.

Use some 3rd party tool like GraphicConverter, A Better Finder Rename, exiftool etc to copy the file creation date to the filename (2024-0726-0927-00.png for example but you can use your own date pattern). Then import to Photos and choose View > Metadata > Titles so the date is shown below the images.

You can do that with one of these user developed AppleScripts:

1 - Batch Changing the Title to the Capture Date 2018

2 - Batch Change Title to Capture Date-Description-Padded Sequential Numbers

3 - Batch Change Title to Capture Date-Location-Description-Padded Sequential Number

These and many other scripts can be found in Léonie's Thematic Index to Photos for Mac related User Tips.

That is not a feature currently offered. If you want to suggest to Apple that it would be a useful option, you should use their official feedback channel:

Feedback - Camera - Apple

They are very unlikely to respond directly, but we have been assured that there are personnel assigned to read comments made through that channel and pass them along to decision makers as appropriate.

Alphabet5 wrote:

For research, I take photos and screenshots in my Photos app, and then I upload them to Google Drive folders based on content. Currently, the titles generate as image number (e.g. IMG_1179.PNG). But the file titles need to be the date they were captured (e.g. 20230917.PNG for a photo captured on Sept. 17, 2023). Rather than spending valuable research hours manually correcting the title for every single photo/screenshot (which can be dozens of files from many different dates for any given batch), I'm wondering if it's possible to set the titles to automatically read as date captured rather than image number. Any advice?

If you're on an iPhone or iPad the answer is no. However, if you're on an Mac the answer is yes and it's easy.

I want to get the real time and date on some pictures

As long as the Photos were taken by a digital camera and not scanned the date and time taken will be in the Info pane for it in the Photos library.