ITunes changing filenames during photo sync?

Like others in this forum I've been struggling with sorting photos on my IPad 2 (IOS 5.01). My situation is complicated by the fact that I am reordering photos on my PC to get them in the order I want (sourced from two different cameras so filenames are different, and we reorder by subject in part). To preserve that new order across environments I rename the photos - for example, EG_10001, EG_10002,.... and so forth.
When I synced via Itunes the order was almost random, following no rule I could guess. I use PhotoShack Pro so I can sort by filename, but that did no better. Sort by timestamp, though, worked fine in PhotoShack Pro... Thanks to some really top-notch tech support from the PhotoShack Pro folks I was able to find out how to see the actual filenames on the IPad, and to my great surprise they had nothing to do with the originals. Instead, they were named IMG_0001, IMG_0002, and so on -- but they weren't in any particular order, or at least none I could fine. PhotoShack Pro was actually sorting them by filename just fine - but the filenames were different, and wierd, to say the least.
Acting on a suggestion from PSP tech support I copied the pictures to the DCIM directory on an SD card and then imported them to the IPad using the camera connection kit. Voila! Files came across with their names intact, and PSP sorts them perfectly by filename, timestamp, whatever. The IPad Photos app, of course, still scrambles them in some perverse fashion...
So - if you too are having file sorting issues, and if you can check the filenames on the IPad, it would be interesting to know if they are the same as the originals.
A couple related facts: there are 1238 photos in this particular set, and my laptop is running Vista...

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Originally Posted by dpotter

Like others in this forum I've been struggling with sorting photos on my IPad 2 (IOS 5.01). My situation is complicated by the fact that I am reordering photos on my PC to get them in the order I want (sourced from two different cameras so filenames are different, and we reorder by subject in part). To preserve that new order across environments I rename the photos - for example, EG_10001, EG_10002,.... and so forth.
When I synced via Itunes the order was almost random, following no rule I could guess. I use PhotoShack Pro so I can sort by filename, but that did no better. Sort by timestamp, though, worked fine in PhotoShack Pro... Thanks to some really top-notch tech support from the PhotoShack Pro folks I was able to find out how to see the actual filenames on the IPad, and to my great surprise they had nothing to do with the originals. Instead, they were named IMG_0001, IMG_0002, and so on -- but they weren't in any particular order, or at least none I could fine. PhotoShack Pro was actually sorting them by filename just fine - but the filenames were different, and wierd, to say the least.
Acting on a suggestion from PSP tech support I copied the pictures to the DCIM directory on an SD card and then imported them to the IPad using the camera connection kit. Voila! Files came across with their names intact, and PSP sorts them perfectly by filename, timestamp, whatever. The IPad Photos app, of course, still scrambles them in some perverse fashion...
So - if you too are having file sorting issues, and if you can check the filenames on the IPad, it would be interesting to know if they are the same as the originals.
A couple related facts: there are 1238 photos in this particular set, and my laptop is running Vista...

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Footnote: I looked into my results some more, and after the camera kit import the standard Photo app shows the pictures ordered chronologically, which makes sense. The only thing I can think of is that ITunes is messing with the file names...

The iTunes photo sync doesn't care about names, and it does not keep them when syncing the photos. The chronological order is default and can not be changed.

To get the kind of control you want you will have to use a third party app. The most popular (or at least most mentioned here) apps are Photo Manager Pro, Photo-Sort, and Photo Shack Pro. Only the last one will work with (share) the same photo library as the Photos app. The others maintain their own library.

There are a great many photo portfolio/managing apps in the App Store. Shop around. You'll probably find one that does (almost) exactly what you want.

You said, "The iTunes photo sync doesn't care about names, and it does not keep them when syncing the photos." You mean this is by design? Apple just decided that file names aren't important and can be arbitrarily changed?
Sheesh. Well, at least I know now...

It's just not what the Photos app was designed to do. It's very limited. The photo syncing part is little more than a quick digital photo wallet, or a resource for other apps to use.

Apple can't write every app as a full featured solution for every need. Some only have basic features. That is why there is an App Store (well, and making money). There are tons of other apps.

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Originally Posted by twerppoet

It's just not what the Photos app was designed to do. It's very limited. The photo syncing part is little more than a quick digital photo wallet, or a resource for other apps to use.

Apple can't write every app as a full featured solution for every need. Some only have basic features. That is why there is an App Store (well, and making money). There are tons of other apps.

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Okay, got it, and I already use PhotoShack Pro and some other apps. But for getting photos onto the IPad with their original file names intact --I.e., without using ITunes -- FileBrowser? PhotoSync? Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks....

Ah, that will take someone else to chime in. My experience with the third party apps is limited to what others have said. I don't remember anyone saying anything about file names, or which apps would preserve the metadata either (which you might find useful). Photos does what little I need, so I haven't experimented. Sorry.

I do have PhotoSync, but there is no way for me to tell if the file name is preserved, since I can't see file names in Photos.

GoodReader will preserve file names when downloading attachments, but it makes a poor photo organizer.

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Originally Posted by twerppoet

Ah, that will take someone else to chime in. My experience with the third party apps is limited to what others have said. I don't remember anyone saying anything about file names, or which apps would preserve the metadata either (which you might find useful). Photos does what little I need, so I haven't experimented. Sorry.

I do have PhotoSync, but there is no way for me to tell if the file name is preserved, since I can't see file names in Photos.

GoodReader will preserve file names when downloading attachments, but it makes a poor photo organizer.

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Sorry to say Photosync does not preserve names -- seems to work the same as ITunes in this respect, changing a filename like G0001 to IMG_1298. And FileBrowser... Well, I'm still working with it. Think it preserves the names but doesn't put the pics where I need the, but maybe there's a way... Maybe...

I'm sure there is. Perseverance. And when you find a solution please let us know, for the next unfortunate soul.

Did you ever look at the Photo Manager Pro and Photo-Sort apps? Because they bypass the Photo library all together they are far more likely to preserve file names when importing.

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Originally Posted by twerppoet

I'm sure there is. Perseverance. And when you find a solution please let us know, for the next unfortunate soul.

Did you ever look at the Photo Manager Pro and Photo-Sort apps? Because they bypass the Photo library all together they are far more likely to preserve file names when importing.

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Okay, I've tried both Photo Manager Pro and Photo-Sort. Both change filenames on a straight import, but both can act as FTP servers, and if FTP is used for file transfers (not Itunes, not Import from Photo Library) then the filenames come across intact. But at that point the apps diverge dramatically. Despite its name, Photo-Sort does not sort photos, so its usefulness is limited. Photo Manager Pro, on the other hand, allows flexible sorting, so it comes closer than anything else to meeting my needs.

On the other hand, Photo Manager Pro does not play nicely with pics imported via the Camera Connection kit, which is what I'd ideally like. Oh, it'll import them just fine, but it'll rename them in the process of doing so. I am looking for a workaround of some sort, but short of renaming the files as I go I can't think of much...

All for now. If I learn more I'll post more...