Paper Renamer

Easily rename your academic paper file to more readable name using the title of the paper.

Paper Renamer for MacOS

Paper Renamer is a dedicated MacOS application that transforms the pdftitle Python script into a native MacOS app using Platypus. It packages the script into a MacOS application bundle, complete with an executable that runs the script.

Installation

Available packages

• Download the newest DMG file from the releases page here.

• Open the DMG file by double-clicking it, which will display a Finder window. Drag the app icon to your Applications folder to install.

Manual build and installation

A Platypus profile is provided to save the configuration settings necessary for building the app. You can find the Python script, pdftohtml tool, and icon files in the Resources directory.

• First, install Platypus.
• Open the Paper Renamer.platypus profile by double-clicking, or load it in Platypus via the menu (Profiles → Load Profile...).
• Press "Create App" to build the application.
• Transfer the Paper Renamer.app into your Applications folder.

Usage

Launch Paper Renamer.app to start renaming your PDF files. You can rename files by dragging and dropping them into the app’s window or by selecting files through the menu.

For a quick rename, right-click a PDF file, choose "Open With," and then select "Paper Renamer" to automatically rename the file based on its title.

Notes: Python 2 Installation on macOS

With macOS 12.3 and later no longer supporting Python 2 natively, Paper Renamer requires a manual installation of Python 2. Follow these steps:

1. Install pyenv via Homebrew:

   brew install pyenv

2. Use pyenv to install Python 2.7.18:

   pyenv install 2.7.18

3. Modify the shebang line in the Resources/script file within the Paper Renamer project or /Applications/Paper Renamer.app/Contents/Resources/script to:

   #!/Users/atom/.pyenv/versions/2.7.18/bin/python2.7
   

   Adjust the path to match your installation location of Python 2.7.18.

Credits

Special thanks to Uwe Dauernheim for developing the pdftitle tool, Sveinbjorn Thordarson for creating Platypus, and Sindre Sorhus for the create-dmg tool which simplifies DMG creation.

Acknowledgements

• poppler (pdftohtml), a PDF rendering library.
• FreeType, a freely available software library to render fonts.
• Fontconfig, a library for configuring and customizing font access.
• libjpeg, a free library for JPEG image compression.
• libpng, the free reference library for reading and writing PNGs.
• LibTIFF, a library for reading and writing TIFF.

License

The code is available under the BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" License. The icon, created by phatplus from www.flaticon.com, is licensed under CC 3.0 BY.