Flash Renamer is a software utility that, on the surface at least, appears to reinvent the wheel. After all, why would anyone pay for an application that renames files and folders when the Windows operating system can do it at no extra cost?

Well, the answer is that the basic rename facility in Windows is limited. Even Windows XP, with its ability to rename groups of files, is woefully lacking: it does little more than apply the same label to all selected files, differentiating them only with a sequence of bracketed numbers.

Digital cameras generally name pictures with numbered abbreviations ('IMG0001.JPG', 'IMG0002.JPG', 'IMG0003.JPG' and so on) and renaming such sequences in Windows is tedious.

However, with Flash Renamer the task can be carried out quickly, and with plenty of flexibility. You can, for example, select a group of files and insert a number, character or phrase at any point of the file names.

As you tap in your requirements, a 'live' preview is displayed of how the labels will read. In other words, you can spot mistakes before committing to the process. And the program really does live up to its name, re-labelling lists of files in the blink of an eye.

New in this latest version is the ability to batch process the time and date stamps of files, and also copy the content of selected files directly to the Windows Clipboard.

The program can also display a thumbnail view of a folder containing digital photographs, edit MP3 tags and apply targeted sequential numbering to files in ways that simply aren't possible with Windows alone.

Contact: RL Vision (no UK number)
www.rlvision.com

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