OS X: Batch Rename from GUI

I keep forgetting about this trick, so I thought I’d post it in the event I have to ever do it again.

Part of the problem with a graphical GUI is that it’s very difficult to rename files in batches, for instance, prepending some text to a group of files.  This kind of thing is fairly trivial at the command line.

Apple has a facility to do this, but as it’s not something a regular user does often, it’s not enabled by default.  Here’s how to get all kinds of additional functionality out of OS X.

1) Open /Applications/AppleScript

2) Turn on Show Script Menu in menu bar

3) Optional: turn on GUI scripting, show library scripts, and choose where to show them.

You’ll notice up near the time in the menu bar a black scroll has appeared.

All the batch renaming and filename twiddling stuff is under the Finder Scripts.

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