[YouCanHaveYourPC]

I just started using Automator. Talk about confusing instructions!

I am trying to "rename" NEF photo files in the same sequential order that I shot them in (For example, DSC_2045.NEF, DSC_2046.NEF to be renamed DSC_A2045.NEF, DSC_A2046.NEF).

A. I select all the files in the folder then create a workflow in Automator.
B. I type in "Name" into the search and select "Rename Finder Items" (per Apple's instructions).
C. I go to box #1, "specified finder items", and make sure that the files are in proper sequential order.
D. I select where I want the newly renamed files to go.
E. In box #3, "Rename Finder Items", I select "Make Sequential" and "New Name". I give it a new name of DSC_A and then tell it to start the numbering at 2045.

Results: It renames the files but jumbles the order. The files do get renamed starting with the number I selected, but it does not assign that number to the proper file. If I have 80 photo files in the folder it almost always numbers them in reverse order for the first 10 files. Then it jumbles and puts the files in a totally random order. If I go back and try to fix the problem using Automator again, it won't allow me to use the lowest file number as a starting point.

Am I doing something wrong or does anyone know if there is a bug in Automator?

Sorry for the long explanation but I just wanted to be clear about what is going on.

Thanks

1.25 GHz PowerBook G4
OSX V. 10.4.2
1.25 GB DDR SDRAM
Automator V. 1.0.1 (54)
Available space: 12 GB

[Brad]

This is actually a bug in the Finder, if I understand correctly what you're describing.

Any time you make a large selection by click-dragging or selecting all, you cannot trust that the items are selected in any given order. You have to click one item, then shift-click the remaining items in the order that you want them to be processed.

Yeah, it's a real pain in the ass and it's been like that since Mac OS X 10.0 Public Beta.

I haven't tried this yet, but did you think to add the "Sort Finder Items" action in there before the rename action?

[Brad]

Hmm... actually, I just tried this on a small group of files and it worked perfectly, renaming them exactly in the order as they appeared in the "Get Specified Finder Items" box. Weird.

[YouCanHaveYourPC]

Thanks Brad!
Adding the "Sort Finder Items" into the workflow solved the problem. I was hoping it would be something simple.

[SledgeHammer]

Wish I had come across that solution. I had the same problem the first (only) time I used Automator. I don't remember how I fixed it. I think maybe it worked when I used "specified finder items" as opposed to "selected Finder items" or something like that. In the same operation, I was resizing photos. They were large photos and I was resizing to about 640x480. A few of them worked, but a lot of them ended up only a few pixels wide. I think I ended up resizing them manually in GraphicConverter.