3 Useful and Free Photo-file-show Utilities

I wish I knew of all three of these fine-and-free programs before I started to process several hundred snapshots from two cameras after our recent vacation in Spain. In the end, however, each has proven useful and will be in my kit bag for the foreseeable future. . . . .

Bulk Rename Utility:

http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Download.php

It is a versatile renaming utility that let's you rename and number files in large numbers, in many ways, and over several steps--handy for photos. Read the info file that comes with it so as not to be intimidated by all the options. It will also insert itself in Windows so that when you right click on a folder the utility comes up as an option. (This is actually a bug in the current version. It should work as well at the file level as it did in earlier versions and presumably will in future versions.)

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NameEXIF:

http://www.digicamsoft.com/softnamexif.html

Since Bulk Rename Utility as of now loads only limited EXIF data from the files that came from your camera, this little gem is a great first step. It will convert the date/hour/minute data in those files into file names--before you go to work on them with Bulk Rename Utility.

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ArtSee:

http://www.xworks.ca/artsee/

This is just another photo and slide show viewer, but it does not have to be installed in order to run. You can put it right in a folder with photos to tailor the slide show for those photos. More importantly, if you wish to share the photos with others on a CD, DVD, thumb drive, ..., you can conveniently include a standard means to view them.