Manual

PhotoRname is an all-in-one tool for portrait photographers. Import a name list from Excel, automatically match photos to people based on timestamps, review the results via thumbnails and send the photos by email — all from one application.

Quick start in 5 steps

• Create a new session and give it a name.
• Load an Excel file with names (and optionally email addresses).
• Confirm people one by one — the app records the timestamp.
• Load or monitor the photo folder; photos are automatically assigned to people.
• Review the thumbnails, rename the photos and/or send them by email.

Camera time

PhotoRname matches photos to people based on timestamps. You no longer need to sync your camera clock by hand: as soon as the first photos come in live while shooting, PhotoRname detects the difference between your camera clock and the computer itself and corrects it automatically. With a large deviation (e.g. the wrong timezone on the camera), it can take the first few photos before the matching is fully accurate.

A session stores all your work: the name list, the timestamp log, the photo folder, and thumbnail ratings. You can save multiple sessions and load them later.

Creating a session

• Type a name in the 'Session name' field.
• Start confirming people — the session is saved automatically.
• You can also manually click 'Save' to save in between.

Loading a session

• Choose a session from the dropdown list.
• Click 'Load session'.
• All previous data is restored, including photo ratings.

Deleting a session

Select a session from the dropdown and click 'Delete session'. After confirmation, the session file is permanently deleted.

PhotoRname reads names from an Excel file (.xls or .xlsx). The app automatically detects which columns contain text data.

Preparing your Excel

Make sure your Excel file contains at least one column with names. Optionally you can add a column with email addresses — these are used by the PhotoMailer.

• Click 'Load Excel' and select your file.
• Choose which column contains the names in the dropdown.
• Click 'Confirm Column' to activate the name list.

Supported formats

Supported: .xls (old Excel format) and .xlsx (modern format). CSV files are not directly supported; save them as .xlsx first.

Also suited to product photography

The column doesn't have to contain people's names — a product name or SKU works exactly the same way. Confirm a product name before you photograph it, and the rest of the workflow (matching, renaming, sending) works identically. Two example files to get started:

Example: portraits (.xlsx)  ·  Example: products (.xlsx)

When you confirm a person, the app records the exact timestamp. This timestamp is later used to automatically match photos to the correct person.

How it works

• Choose a name from the dropdown (populated from Excel) or type a name manually.
• Optionally enter an email address.
• Click 'Confirm Person' — the timestamp is recorded.
• All photos taken after this timestamp (and before the next confirmation) are assigned to this person.

How timestamps work

The app compares the EXIF timestamp of each photo with the confirmation moments in the session log. Photos are assigned to the person whose confirmation is closest before it. So make sure to confirm a person just before you start photographing.

Camera time

PhotoRname corrects the difference between your camera clock and the computer automatically, based on the first photos that come in live while monitoring. Manual syncing is no longer needed. Loading a whole card at once instead (no live monitoring)? Sync the clock by hand beforehand, then automatic correction has no live photos to base itself on.

Load a folder with photos to rename them based on the session log, or export the data as CSV.

Thumbnail display (JPG / RAW / Both)

The display mode button lets you choose which file type is shown in the thumbnail panel. This only affects the display — when renaming, the matching file (RAW or JPG) is automatically copied with the same number.

• JPG Only (default): shows only JPG/JPEG/PNG. When renaming, a matching RAW file with the same name is automatically copied.
• RAW Only: shows only RAW files. When renaming, a matching JPG is automatically copied.
• Both: shows all files separately. When renaming, files are renamed individually.

Renaming photos

• Load a photo folder and make sure there are people in the session log.
• Optional: use thumbnails to approve or reject photos.
• Click 'Rename Photos' — approved photos are copied with the person's name as filename.
• Check 'Delete originals' if you want to remove the source files after renaming.

Supported extensions

JPG, JPEG, PNG and RAW files from all major camera brands: CR3 and CR2 (Canon), NEF and NRW (Nikon), ARW (Sony) and RAF (Fujifilm). RAW files require exiftool to be present in the app folder.

CSV Export

Click 'Export CSV' to save an overview of all photos with associated person names, email addresses and ratings.

The thumbnail panel shows a visual overview of all photos in the monitored folder. Rate photos as approved or rejected.

Monitoring a folder

• Click 'Monitor Folder' and choose a folder.
• Thumbnails are loaded in the background — progress is visible in the status bar and progress bar.
• The app scans the folder every second for new photos.
• New photos automatically appear as thumbnails.
• Click 'Stop' to stop monitoring.

Rating

Click on a thumbnail to open the preview slideshow. Use the buttons or keyboard shortcuts to approve or reject photos.

Keyboard shortcuts in preview

Filter and bulk actions

Use the filter dropdown to filter by person. With 'Approve all' and 'Reject all' you can process all visible photos at once.

Deleting photos

Each thumbnail has a 'Delete' button to delete the photo directly from disk. The matching file (CR3 for JPG or vice versa) is automatically deleted as well.

With 'Delete rejected' you can delete all rejected photos and their matching files from disk at once.

Configure your SMTP server to be able to send photos by email from the PhotoMailer tab.

Setting up SMTP

• Go to the 'Email Settings' tab.
• Enter your sender email address.
• Enter the SMTP server and port (e.g. smtp.gmail.com, port 587).
• Enter your username and password.
• Click 'Save Settings'.

Common SMTP servers

Gmail: smtp.gmail.com (port 587) — use an app password.
Outlook: smtp-mail.outlook.com (port 587).
Own domain: consult your hosting provider for SMTP details.

Test email

Click 'Send Test Email' to send a test message to your own sender address. This way you verify that everything is correctly configured before sending the real emails.

The PhotoMailer tab matches names from an Excel file with photo files in specified folders.

Excel requirements

Your Excel file must contain columns with names and email addresses. After loading the Excel you can select the correct columns via the dropdown menus.

Photo folders

• Photos (required): the main folder with photos.
• Extra 1 (optional): folder with additional versions (e.g. black & white) with the same filenames.
• Extra 2 (optional): folder with additional versions (e.g. social media format) with the same filenames.

Matching works on filenames: the app compares the name from Excel with the photo filename (fuzzy matching). Make sure the photos are renamed to the person's name.

The matching engine compares names from the Excel with photo filenames and shows the results in the overview.

Fuzzy matching

The app normalizes names (lowercase, no spaces/hyphens) and compares them with a threshold of 80%. This means small typos are not a problem, but the names must be recognizably similar.

Manual linking

• Select a row in the overview.
• Click 'Link Photo (Manual)'.
• Choose the photo type (photo, Extra 1, or Extra 2).
• Select the photo file in the file dialog.

Sending emails

• Check that all desired rows are set to 'Approved' (green background).
• Use 'Toggle Approved' to switch the status.
• Click 'Send Emails' and confirm the number.
• Watch the progress in the log below.

PhotoRname is developed by Bryze Development, for portrait photographers who seek an efficient workflow for sorting, renaming and sending portrait photos.

License

PhotoRname runs in demo mode until you activate a license. In demo mode you can rename or match a maximum of 5 photos at a time. After activation you have full access to all features.

Your license is tied to your computer. Want to use PhotoRname on a different computer? Deactivate the license first on the current computer, then activate it on the new one.

Contact

Do you have questions, suggestions or problems? Get in touch via the contact page.