A Simple Bash Script to Download and Organize Photos

Productivity Sauce
When it comes to dowloading photos from a storage card and organizing them in the process, Rapid Photo Downloader is just the ticket. But if you prefer to do that from the command line, here is a simple Bash script cobbled together by yours truly.
#!/bin/bash SOURCE_DIR="/media/NIKOND5000/DCIM/100D5000" WORK_DIR=TMP TARGET_DIR=Photos cp -R $SOURCE_DIR $WORK_DIR cd $WORK_DIR exiftool -r -d ../$TARGET_DIR/%Y%m%d/%Y%m%d-%H%M%S- '-FileName<$dateTimeOriginal$MyShutterCount.NEF' -ext NEF ../$WORK_DIR rm -rf ../TMP
The script copies photos from a mounted storage device like an SD card to the TMP folder, organizes the photos into folders by date, and then renames each photo using the data pulled from the photo's metadata. Photos are renamed using the YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-ShutterCount.EXT format, so the resulting file name looks something like this: 20102019-135547-3375.NEF.
There are two things required for this script to work. First of all, you need to install the exiftool package which the script uses to extract relevant metadata, arrange photos, and rename them. exiftool is available in the software repositories of many mainstream Linux distributions, so you can install it using your distro's package manager. On Ubuntu, you can do this by executing the command below:
sudo apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perl
You also need to create the .ExifTool_config file in your home directory, and put the following function in it:
%Image::ExifTool::UserDefined = ( 'Image::ExifTool::Composite' => { MyShutterCount => { Require => 'ShutterCount', ValueConv => 'substr("$val", 0)', }, }, ); 1; #end
Adding the .ExifTool_config file is required only if you want to include the shutter count value in the file names. In case you use another renaming rule, you can skip this step.
Before you start using the script, specify the correct SOURCE_DIR value and the file format (e.g., RAW, CR2, or JPG).
That's all there is to it. Insert the card with photos, run the script, and it will download the photos, arrange them into folders, and rename them.
Sources:
http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/exiftool/forum/index.php/topic,2320.0.html
http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/config.html
comments powered by DisqusIssue 41: Linux Shell Handbook 2021 Edition/Special Editions
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Apple M1 Hardware Support to be Merged into Linux Kernel 5.13
Linux users will be able to install their favorite distribution on Apple’s M1-based hardware.
-
KDE Launches the Qt 5 Patch Collection
To support and maintain a stable Qt 5 for KDE Gears and Frameworks, KDE will maintain a patch collection.
-
Linux Creator Warns Next Kernel Could be Delayed
Linus Torvalds has issued concern about the size of kernel 5.12 and possible delays for its release.
-
System76 Updates its Pangolin Laptop
System76 has released a much-anticipated AMD version of their most popular laptop, the Pangolin.
-
New Debian-Based Distribution Arrives on the Market
TelOS is a new Debian-based Linux distribution with a customized, touch-screen-ready KDE Plasma 5 desktop.
-
System76 Releases New Thelio Desktop
One of the most ardent supporters of open source hardware has released a new desktop machine for home or office.
-
Mageia 8 Now Available with Linux 5.10 LTS
The latest release of Mageia includes improved graphics support for both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.
-
GNOME 40 Beta has been Released
Anyone looking to test the beta for the upcoming GNOME 40 release can now do so.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 4.2 has Arrived
The latest stable version of OpenMandriva has been released and offers the newest KDE desktop and ARM support.
-
Thunderbird 78 Ported to Ubuntu 20.04
The Ubuntu developers have made the decision to port the latest release of Thunderbird to the LTS version of the platform.