Picasa Renaming multiple files

Ror years now I have been irritated by two aspects of Picasa when renaming multiple files.

1. If the the name ends with a number it increments this number and does not just add an incremental suffix
   
   Example if there are 3 photos that end with, say nikon_d80, it makes the files name end with d80, d81, d82 whereas what I wanted was d80-0, d8-1, d80-2
   
   
   
   
2. If the name ends with a none-number letter then it adds nothing to the first, and then increases by one thereafter.
   
   Example if 3 files end with tree, it will be named tree, tree-1, tree-2 and to ensure they are displayed in the correct sequence I have to rename the first file as tree-0 after the bulk rename as a separate step.

By chance I realised that you can combine the two deficiencies to acheive what I want. In the d80 example just make sure the name ends with d80-0, and then Picasa will rename the files as d80-0, d80-1 and d80-2

Picasa - effects of rename outside of Picasa

I reckon that if you change the name of a photo which you had previously edited with Picasa, then the edits which I believe are recorded in Picasa.ini for that folder, are lost, i.e. not applied to the new named photo.

However today I noticed this was not the case. I renamed some files both in Windows File Explorer and in another program (FastStone Image Viewer) and Picasa still recognised the and applied the edits to the newly named photo.

Picasas needs to be open when the files are renamed I believe oherwise it does not reconnect the new name to its original edits.

Processing and cataloguing sequence

It's been some time since I made an entry on this blog, mainly because I have been investigating other resources, namely my own web site and Google Docs.

Method

Like many other people I generate a lot of digital images, so I am always looking for ways to reduce time in processing them. Currently I 

1. Take photos in Nikon D90 and Canon G9
2. I set both to record RAW and JPG
3. After downloading to PC I review JPGs through Picasa, using Picasa to make quick improvements. (Note Picasa does not change original)
4. I grade them by adding star onto better ones
5. Star photos I load equivalent RAW into Photo Shop Elements 6 and edit, saving final JPG at maximum quality.
6.  I merge these "RAW" JPGS with original JPG from step(3) and export to a work folder,
   because I want to review them in FastStone Image Viewer which will not process Picasa edits. Exporting them applies the edits before exporting but again does not change original jpg.
7. Use excellent caparison features in FastStone Image Viewer to select best photo (not always the RAW based one) and to choose between similar photos, deleting ones not required
8. Use FastStone Image Viewer rename facility to create names, keeping original camera sequence number and building up name and finally adding date-time stamp to name.
9. Return to Picasa which I use to add keyword tags.