> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://photocli.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Rename Photos as Sequential Numbers Using photo-cli

> Use photo-cli copy to rename every photo to a padded sequential number ordered by taken date, while keeping the original subfolder hierarchy unchanged.

This example renames every photo to a padded sequential number while preserving the original subfolder hierarchy. Photo-cli orders files within each folder by their EXIF taken date before assigning numbers, so the sequence always reflects chronological order rather than the original file names.

## Command

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash Long form theme={null}
  photo-cli copy \
    --process-type SubFoldersPreserveFolderHierarchy \
    --naming-style Numeric \
    --number-style PaddingZeroCharacter \
    --input photos \
    --output organized-albums
  ```

  ```bash Short form theme={null}
  photo-cli copy -f 2 -s 1 -n 2 -i photos -o organized-albums
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Key arguments

| Argument         | Value                               | What it does                                                                                                                |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--process-type` | `SubFoldersPreserveFolderHierarchy` | Keeps the original folder structure intact in the output.                                                                   |
| `--naming-style` | `Numeric`                           | Names every output file with a sequential number instead of a date or address.                                              |
| `--number-style` | `PaddingZeroCharacter`              | Pads numbers with leading zeros so that all names within a folder are the same character length (e.g., `01`, `02`, … `12`). |

## 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}
├── 1.jpg
├── 2.jpg
├── Italy album
│   ├── 01.jpg
│   ├── 02.jpg
│   ├── 03.jpg
│   ├── 04.jpg
│   ├── 05.jpg
│   ├── 06.jpg
│   ├── 07.jpg
│   ├── 08.jpg
│   ├── 09.jpg
│   ├── 10.jpg
│   ├── 11.jpg
│   └── 12.jpg
├── photo-cli-report.csv
└── Spain Journey
    ├── 1.jpg
    ├── 2.jpg
    └── 3.jpg

2 directories, 18 files
```

## What you see in the output

Numbers are scoped per folder. The root level has only two photos (`DSC_5727.jpg` and `GOPR6742.jpg`), so they become `1.jpg` and `2.jpg` with no leading zero. The **Italy album** folder has 12 photos, so photo-cli pads to two digits: `01.jpg` through `12.jpg`. The **Spain Journey** folder has three photos, producing `1.jpg`, `2.jpg`, and `3.jpg`.

Photo-cli also writes a `photo-cli-report.csv` file at the root of the output folder. This CSV maps every original file path to its new path so you can trace back any numbered file to its source.

<Tip>
  Sequential numbering is a good choice when you want to anonymize a batch of photos before sharing them or when you need a simple, predictable sort order in software that orders files alphabetically. Because numbers are assigned by taken date, the sequence is always chronological even if the original file names were not.
</Tip>