A good image naming convention does three jobs: files sort in the order you shot them, you can tell what a file is without opening it, and nothing ever collides with something else. Everything below serves those three jobs.
The short answer: YYYY-MM-DD_description_IMG_4471.CR3. Date first in ISO format, a short description, then the camera's original number so the file always traces back to the card. No spaces, no special characters.
What an image file name should say
Four pieces of information are worth encoding, in this order of priority:
- When — the shooting date, as YYYY-MM-DD, so alphabetical order is chronological order.
- What — a project, client or event, kept short.
- Which camera — only if you shoot with more than one body.
- Which frame — the camera's own number, so you can always find the original.
Whatever doesn't fit in the file name can live in the folder path or in the metadata (IPTC keywords, ratings), where it is easier to change later.
Four naming patterns, with examples
1. Keep the camera name, put the meaning in folders
2026-09-11/Canon EOS R5/IMG_4471.CR3. Nothing is renamed, so XMP sidecars and
catalog links stay intact. This is the safest pattern for event and sports work with
thousands of frames, and the one most working photographers end up using.
2. Date prefix, original number kept
2026-09-11_IMG_4471.CR3. A light touch: the file now sorts by day even when
it leaves its folder, and the original number is still there.
3. Date, description, number
2026-09-11_wedding-marco-giulia_IMG_4471.CR3. Good for files that travel on
their own — delivery to a client, an upload, an email attachment.
4. Date, camera, sequence
2026-09-11_R5_0001.CR3. Fully renamed with your own sequence. Clean to look
at, but you lose the link to the camera's number, and a renumbering mistake is hard to undo.
Only worth it if one tool in your pipeline insists on it.
The rules that matter
- ISO dates only. 2026-09-11 sorts correctly; "Sept 11" and "9-11-26" don't.
- No spaces or special characters. Use hyphens within a group and underscores between groups. Avoid
& # % /and accented letters. - Zero-pad numbers.
0007, not7, or 10 sorts before 2. - Keep it short. macOS allows 255 characters per name, but older Windows tools, NAS devices and sync clients struggle with full paths over 260.
- Don't separate files from their sidecars. If you rename
IMG_4471.CR3, renameIMG_4471.xmpwith it, or your edits disappear. - Pick one convention and never mix. Two schemes in one archive is worse than a mediocre one used everywhere.
When to rename (and when not to)
Renaming costs you something: it can break sidecar links, it breaks catalogs that point to the old path, and it makes it harder to match a file back to the card it came from. So rename only when it buys you something specific.
- At import: only if it's automated and applied identically to every file. By hand, it doesn't scale.
- At export or delivery: yes. This is where descriptive names matter, because the file leaves your archive.
- Inside your archive afterwards: no. Rename the exports, not the masters.
How ShotGrab does it: by default it keeps the camera's file name and
builds the folder from a template you set once, for example
{DATE}/{CAMERA_MODEL}. If you want the name itself to carry the date, add
the file name to the template — {DATE}/{DATE}_{BASENAME}.{EXT} gives
2026-09-11/2026-09-11_IMG_4471.CR3 — and the same rule applies to every
card. Anything typed into the template is sanitized before it becomes part of a path.
A template you can start from
For most photographers: {PROJECT}/{DATE}/{CAMERA_MODEL} and keep the
original file names. For delivery folders: rename the exports to
YYYY-MM-DD_description_number at export time. That's two conventions, each
with one clear job, and no manual renaming in between.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best naming convention for image files?
Date first, in YYYY-MM-DD, then a short description, then the camera's original number: 2026-09-11_wedding_IMG_4471.CR3. It sorts chronologically, tells you what the file is, and still traces back to the card. If you shoot a lot, put date and camera in the folder path and keep the original file name.
Should I rename photos straight after importing them?
Usually not. Camera file names are already unique within a card, and renaming thousands of files by hand breaks links to XMP and other sidecar files. Rename at the moment it earns something: when you export for a client or publish.
How long can an image file name be?
macOS allows 255 characters per name, but shorter is safer. Older Windows tools, some NAS devices and cloud sync clients choke on full paths over 260 characters. Aim for under 60 characters per file name.
Should file names use spaces, hyphens or underscores?
Avoid spaces. Use hyphens inside a word group and underscores between groups, for example 2026-09-11_marco-and-giulia_IMG_4471. Both are safe in URLs, shell scripts and sync tools.
How do I keep file names unique when I shoot with two cameras?
Add the camera to the path or the name (Canon-R5, Sony-A7). Two bodies that both write IMG_0001 on the same day otherwise collide the moment they land in one folder.