> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://photocli.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Prefix Photo Folder Names With Date Ranges in photo-cli
> Use photo-cli copy to prefix each folder name with the earliest and latest photo dates it contains, and name files with reverse-geocoded address and date.
This example prefixes each folder name with the date range of the photos inside it — showing the earliest and latest taken dates — while renaming every file with its reverse-geocoded address and day. The original folder hierarchy is preserved; only the names change.
## Command
```bash Long form theme={null}
photo-cli copy \
--process-type SubFoldersPreserveFolderHierarchy \
--folder-append DayRange \
--folder-append-location Prefix \
--naming-style AddressDay \
--reverse-geocode OpenStreetMapFoundation \
--openstreetmap-properties country city town suburb \
--number-style AllNamesAreSameLength \
--input photos \
--output organized-albums
```
```bash Short form theme={null}
photo-cli copy -f 2 -a 4 -p 1 -s 9 -e 2 -r country city town suburb -n 1 -i photos -o organized-albums
```
## Key arguments
| Argument | Value | What it does |
| ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--process-type` | `SubFoldersPreserveFolderHierarchy` | Keeps the original subfolder structure in the output. |
| `--folder-append` | `DayRange` | Computes the earliest and latest photo taken date within each folder and prepares that range to be appended to the folder name. |
| `--folder-append-location` | `Prefix` | Places the date range before the original folder name, e.g., `2005.12.14-2008.10.22-Italy album`. |
| `--naming-style` | `AddressDay` | Names each file as `{address}-{yyyy.MM.dd}.ext`, using the reverse-geocoded location and the date the photo was taken. |
| `--reverse-geocode` | `OpenStreetMapFoundation` | Uses the OpenStreetMap Nominatim API to look up an address for each photo's GPS coordinates. |
| `--openstreetmap-properties` | `country city town suburb` | Selects which address fields to include when building the address string. |
| `--number-style` | `AllNamesAreSameLength` | When multiple files in the same folder would get the same name, appends a suffix padded so all suffixed names stay equal length. |
## Before and after
**Before** (`photos/`):
```text theme={null}
├── DSC_5727.jpg
├── GOPR6742.jpg
├── Italy album
│ ├── DJI_01732.jpg
│ ├── DJI_01733.jpg
│ ├── DSC00001.JPG
│ ├── DSC03467.jpg
│ ├── DSC_1769.JPG
│ ├── DSC_1770.JPG
│ ├── DSC_1770_(same).jpg
│ ├── DSC_1771.JPG
│ ├── GOPR7496.jpg
│ ├── GOPR7497.jpg
│ ├── IMG_0747.JPG
│ └── IMG_2371.jpg
└── Spain Journey
├── DSC_1807.jpg
├── DSC_1808.jpg
└── IMG_5397.jpg
2 directories, 17 files
```
**After** (`organized-albums/`):
```text theme={null}
├── 2005.12.14-2008.10.22-Italy album
│ ├── IMG_2371.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-10.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-11.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-12.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-13.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-14.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-15.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-16.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-17.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-18.jpg
│ ├── Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22-19.jpg
│ └── Italia-Firenze-Quartiere 1-2005.12.14.jpg
├── 2015.04.10-2015.04.10-Spain Journey
│ ├── España-Madrid-2015.04.10-1.jpg
│ ├── España-Madrid-2015.04.10-2.jpg
│ └── IMG_5397.jpg
├── Kenya-2005.08.13.jpg
├── photo-cli-report.csv
└── United Kingdom-Ascot-Sunninghill and Ascot-2012.06.22.jpg
2 directories, 18 files
```
## What you see in the output
The `Italy album` folder is renamed `2005.12.14-2008.10.22-Italy album`, reflecting that the earliest photo inside it was taken on 14 December 2005 and the latest on 22 October 2008. The `Spain Journey` folder becomes `2015.04.10-2015.04.10-Spain Journey` — both dates are the same because all dated photos in that folder were taken on the same day.
Files are renamed using their reverse-geocoded address and day. The ten Arezzo photos all share the same address and date (`Italia-Arezzo-2008.10.22`), so photo-cli appends a two-digit suffix (`-10` through `-19`) to keep their names equal length across the group.
Photos without GPS coordinates (`IMG_2371.jpg`) or without any EXIF date (`IMG_5397.jpg`) are kept under their original names and placed inside the renamed folder alongside the other files.
Folder date range prefixes are ideal for travel albums where you want to see the shoot dates at a glance in the folder listing, without having to open the folder or check individual file names. The prefix format `yyyy.MM.dd-yyyy.MM.dd` sorts correctly in any file manager that sorts alphabetically.