Photo Mechanic has a powerful find and replace feature that you can use to rename files and replace text in metadata fields. Navigate to Edit>Find and Replace... or use the assigned keyboard shortcut (Defaults: Shift-Command-F on macOS and Ctrl-Shift-F on Windows).
You can use variables and code replacements in the replacement string, and you can save your settings as a snapshot. Because the Replace feature replaces all instances, it's important to be as selective as possible with the fields you choose to replace.
Find Options
In: Selected items/All items: Choose Selected items if you have already selected photos in your contact sheet and are trying to find something specific within that selection. Otherwise, select All items to search through the entire active contact sheet.
Criteria: Optional - select additional criteria for searches that are case sensitive, restricted to whole words, or using Regular Expressions. (Grep.) Regular Expressions are an advanced search method.
Case Sensitive search: Select this when the case of a word differentiates it from another. For example: searching for a name that is also a common noun, such as Daisy and daisy.
Whole words: select this to find a whole word that can also be used as letters making up a longer word.
Example: You want to find the word "book" but not "bookkeeper".
Grep: Similar to the command-line utility, grep searches for text that matches a regular expression.
Searching: Select the desired option to search Filenames, IPTC Metadata, or both. (You must choose at least one)
Treat repeating fields as single string: Repeating fields refers to metadata fields that contain comma separated values, such as the Description Writers, Keywords, and Persons Shown fields. Single string refers to searching for all of the words or characters together as a single phrase, ignoring any commas.
Evaluate variables and code replacements in replacement string: When selected, variables and code replacements entered in the Replace textbox will be evaluated during the replace operation.
Selection:
- Preserve selection
- Deselect changed items
- Deselect unchanged items
When searching Metadata, look through the following fields: Use this area to include or exclude specific IPTC metadata fields.