File Tools

The File Tools menu (tab DVD Addin → group File and Print) collects the commands that work on files and folders outside Excel: build the folder skeleton for a dossier, list and rename files in bulk, dump a folder tree onto a sheet as an index, shrink site photos, pull images back out of a workbook, and unlock protected sheets.

This is the document controller's toolkit: anything that would take hundreds of right-clicks in Windows Explorer is prepared as a table in Excel and then applied in one pass.

Commands in this group

Command	What it does
File List	Write a file listing to the sheet with path, extension, date modified and size
Rename Files	Bulk rename from a two-column old name → new name table on the sheet
File Tree	Dump subfolders and files onto the sheet as an indented tree
Create Hyperlink	Turn cells holding text paths into clickable links
Folder Tree	Same as above but folders only, no files
Create Folder	Read a list from the sheet and actually create that folder tree under a parent
UnDiacritics Folder	Rename every file and subfolder to its accent-free form
Resize Images	Batch-shrink JPG/PNG by longest edge into a ResizeOutput sub-folder
Export Images	Extract every embedded image from a closed workbook into a media <filename> folder
Transcribe Audio	Turn a recording into text with AI
Unprotect Sheet	Remove sheet protection and workbook-structure protection from an external file

Building and handing over an electronic dossier

1. Type the folder skeleton on a sheet from row 2 downwards (column A = level 1, column B = level 2, and so on), run Create Folder, pick the parent folder — the whole tree is created on disk.
2. File the documents into it. For phone photos, run Resize Images and enter the longest edge you want (the box is pre-filled with 800 px); the shrunk copies land in the ResizeOutput sub-folder and the originals are untouched.
3. Run File List, press Pick files…, tick the columns you need (Filename, Path, Extension, Date modified, Size), switch on Show column headers and press Apply — the register is written from the active cell down.
4. Use that filename column as the left column, type the standardised names in the right column, then run Rename Files: drag over the two-column body (skip the header row) → pick the folder → the files on disk are renamed to match.
5. If the dossier goes to a public portal or onto a disc, run UnDiacritics Folder on the root so every path is plain ASCII.
6. Run Create Hyperlink over the path column so reviewers can click straight through to each file.
7. Finally, open an empty sheet and run File Tree (or Folder Tree if a folder-level index is enough) → print it with the electronic handover record.

Example

Standardising four inspection photos before filing them. The mapping table sits in B3:C6, the files in D:\Dossier\Inspection_Photos:

Old name (column B)	New name (column C)
IMG_2841.JPG	IR-501_beam_gridline-A.jpg
IMG_2842.JPG	IR-501_beam_gridline-B.jpg
IMG_2843.JPG	IR-502_slab_S1.jpg
IMG_2844.JPG	IR-502_slab_S2.jpg

Select B3:C6 → Rename Files → point at the photo folder: the four files on disk take their new names. Then run Resize Images at 1200 px and insert the copies from ResizeOutput into the site diary.

Tips and caveats

• File Tree and Folder Tree erase everything on the active sheet before writing (there is a confirmation prompt) — always run them on an empty sheet. Create Folder overwrites cell A1 with the parent path.
• In Rename Files, both columns must carry the full extension; a new name that already exists is skipped rather than overwritten, and only files sitting directly in the folder are processed — subfolders are ignored.
• UnDiacritics Folder breaks every hyperlink and formula reference that points at the old paths — run it before creating hyperlinks, never after.
• The File List window is modeless: it writes to whichever cell is active each time you press Apply, so check the cursor first. Save options remembers the configuration for next time.
• Resize Images only handles .jpg, .jpeg and .png, never enters subfolders, and skips images already present in ResizeOutput — delete that folder before re-running at a different size.
• Export Images and Unprotect Sheet both require the source workbook to be closed; Unprotect Sheet edits the original file in place, so back it up first and only use it on files you own or are allowed to edit.
• File Tree, Folder Tree, Create Folder, Transcribe Audio and Unprotect Sheet need a current DVDAddin account (Standard or PRO) and are fully available during the trial; the rest of the menu is free to use.
• Most commands here rename or overwrite for real on disk and cannot be undone with Ctrl+Z; on large trees you can hold ESC to stop midway (File Tree, Folder Tree, Create Folder).

See also

• Insert Pictures — bring the resized photos into Excel forms.
• Transcribe Audio — the transcription command in the same File Tools menu.
• PDF and OCR — assemble the PDF dossier once the filenames are standardised.
• Merge to Word — generate documents in bulk, then tidy their names with Rename Files.