Custom File Names & Save Folders: Organise Photos as You Shoot

Two decisions are made in the moment you press the shutter and are almost impossible to fix later: what the file is called and which folder it lands in. Get them right and a phone with 4,000 photos is still searchable; get them wrong and every handover becomes a manual sorting session.

TempoAI Camera handles both with two settings — Custom file name and Custom folder — powered by a template of name segments and an app-managed folder list. This guide covers how they work, the exact rules behind them, which parts are free and which belong to the optional VIP features, and the caveats worth knowing before you build a naming convention for a team.

Quick answer: the Custom file name setting builds each file name from an ordered list of segments joined with underscores — date and time, weekday, sequence number, app name, watermark type, time zone and Plus Code are available to everyone, while the custom names, coordinates, address and note segments belong to the VIP feature set. The Custom folder setting manages the sub-folders your photos and videos are saved into: adding, renaming, deleting and selecting folders is a VIP capability, the built-in default folder can never be renamed or deleted, and changing folders never moves or deletes the files you already have.

Custom File Name: A Template, Not a Setting

The screen works like a small editor. It shows your segments in the order they will be written — left to right — you drag them to reorder, toggle each one on or off, and watch a preview line update as you go. When it looks right, you confirm; a reset returns the pattern to its default.

The parts are joined with an underscore, and each segment is cleaned before it is written, so the result is always a valid file name. A typical pattern produces something like:

20260920_104112_Mon_0012_By TempoAICamera_Shanghai_Tower.jpg

The Segments You Can Use

The rules behind the name

• Order is literal. What you see left to right is what appears in the file name, and segments are separated by underscores.
• Characters are sanitised. Anything a file system would reject is removed, which is why the time appears as 104112 rather than 10:41:12, and why a time zone becomes Asia_Shanghai.
• The template applies to new captures. Changing it does not rename the files you already have — that is what the gallery’s rename action is for.
• Location segments follow your watermark data. Latitude, longitude and address come from the same GEO values stamped on the photo, so overriding the location also changes the name.
• Keep it reasonably short. A long pattern plus a long address can approach file-name limits, so choose the segments you actually search by.

Custom Folder: Where New Files Land

The folder setting keeps a list of folders and one “current” selection. The screen shows the current folder and how many folders exist, and from there you can add, rename, delete and select a folder for new captures.

In practice, photos are written under the app’s own album — Pictures/TempoAICamera/<your folder>, with Default as the built-in folder — and trimmed video exports land in the app’s video album (Movies/TempoAICamera). Because the gallery also has a folder filter, the folder you choose at capture time becomes the filter you use later when you are building a report (see gallery management).

Free vs VIP: The Honest Split

VIP itself is unlocked by subscription or temporarily by watching a rewarded ad, and it also covers the app’s other optional capabilities — AI cutout, the doodle tool, saving a copy with an invisible watermark, saving custom watermark templates, custom Quick GPS points, custom text/time/GPS/weather/logo elements, decorations, a custom camera preview, saving originals alongside watermarked photos, and removing the promo badge.

Three Naming Conventions You Can Copy

1. Site inspection

• Segments: date and time → custom name 1 (project) → sequence → note (inspector)
• Result: 20260920_104112_SiteA_0012_LiWei.jpg
• Why: sorting by name gives you a chronological record per project, and the note tells you who took it.

2. Delivery / proof of handover

• Segments: date and time → custom name 1 (order) → custom name 2 (unit) → watermark type
• Result: 20260920_153001_Order-88213_Unit-12B_watermark.jpg
• Why: the file name alone answers “which order, which unit, and is this the stamped copy?”

3. Travel and creative work

• Segments: date → custom name 1 (place) → weekday, with folders per trip
• Result: 20260920_Sunset-Beach_Sat.jpg
• Why: readable at a glance when you are browsing an album, and the folder filter keeps trips apart.

Rolling it out to a team

• Agree on the segment order once, then have everyone set the same pattern — file names become comparable across phones.
• Use one folder per project or per site, not per person; the person belongs in the note segment.
• Pair the folder with a watermark template of the same name, so photos, report pages and folders all line up.

Caveats Worth Knowing

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I choose the file name pattern for my photos?

Yes. The Custom file name screen lets you switch segments on and off, reorder them, preview the result and confirm it. Segments are joined with underscores, so a pattern reads as one predictable file name.

Which name segments are free?

Date and time, weekday, sequence number, the “By <app name>” segment, watermark type, time zone and Plus Code. The custom name segments, coordinates, address and note belong to the VIP feature set, as does removing the app-name segment.

Will changing the pattern rename photos I already took?

No. The pattern applies to new captures. For existing files, use the rename action in the gallery.

How do custom save folders work?

You keep a list of folders inside the app and pick the one new captures go into — for example one folder per site, client or trip. Adding, renaming, deleting and selecting folders is a VIP capability; the built-in default folder is always available and cannot be renamed or deleted.

If I rename or delete a folder, do I lose my photos?

No. Those actions change the app’s folder list and the destination for future captures. Files that were already saved stay exactly where they are.

Why did my folder name lose its spaces?

Folder names are normalised automatically so they are valid on every file system — spaces are removed. Use hyphens or underscores if you want readable separation.

Can the file name include the GPS coordinates or the address?

Yes, with the VIP segment set: latitude/longitude and address segments pull the values from the same GEO watermark data that is stamped on the photo.

Do file names and folders help with reports?

Considerably. Because the gallery can filter by folder and select everything in the current filter, a folder per project plus a consistent name pattern turns “find the photos and build the PDF” into two taps — see the PDF report workflow.

Set It Once, Benefit All Year

Naming and folders are the cheapest organisation you will ever buy: a few minutes in settings, then every photo files itself. Start with the pattern that matches how you search — date first for chronology, project first for clients — and add folders as the work grows.

1. Install TempoAI Camera: TempoAI Camera on Google Play
2. Open the settings and set up Custom file name, then Custom folder
3. Shoot with the matching watermark template — see the template guide and the complete watermark camera guide

Related reading: gallery management for filtering and renaming, and invisible watermarks when you need a traceable copy.