diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 2b4459f..a196c07 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import {
   App,
   HeadingCache,
+  ListedFiles,
   MarkdownView,
   Modal,
   Notice,
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ import {
   NameObj,
   path,
   sanitizer,
+  getDirectoryPath,
 } from './utils';
 
 interface PluginSettings {
@@ -157,9 +159,16 @@ export default class PasteImageRenamePlugin extends Plugin {
 		const linkText = this.app.fileManager.generateMarkdownLink(file, sourcePath)
 
 		// file system operation: rename the file
-		const newPath = path.join(file.parent.path, newName)
+		// const newPath = path.join(file.parent.path, newName)
 		try {
-			await this.app.fileManager.renameFile(file, newPath)
+			// get directory part of new path
+			const newPathDirectory = path.directory(newName)
+			// check if directory exists
+			const newPathDirectoryExists = await this.app.vault.adapter.exists(newPathDirectory)
+			// create directory
+			if (!newPathDirectoryExists) await this.app.vault.createFolder(newPathDirectory)
+			// execute rename
+			await this.app.fileManager.renameFile(file, newName)
 		} catch (err) {
 			new Notice(`Failed to rename ${newName}: ${err}`)
 			throw err
@@ -276,12 +285,15 @@ export default class PasteImageRenamePlugin extends Plugin {
 			console.warn('could not get file cache from active file', activeFile.name)
 		}
 
+		const dirPath = getDirectoryPath(activeFile.parent)
+
 		const stem = renderTemplate(
 			this.settings.imageNamePattern,
 			{
 				imageNameKey,
 				fileName: activeFile.basename,
 				dirName: activeFile.parent.name,
+				dirPath,
 				firstHeading,
 			},
 			frontmatter)
@@ -296,14 +308,17 @@ export default class PasteImageRenamePlugin extends Plugin {
 
 	// newName: foo.ext
 	async deduplicateNewName(newName: string, file: TFile): Promise<NameObj> {
+		// confirmed new file path
+		const newFilePath = path.join(getDirectoryPath(file.parent), newName);
 		// list files in dir
-		const dir = file.parent.path
-		const listed = await this.app.vault.adapter.list(dir)
+		const dir = path.directory(newFilePath) // file.parent.path
+		const dirExists = await this.app.vault.adapter.exists(dir)
+		const listed: false | ListedFiles = dirExists && await this.app.vault.adapter.list(dir)
 		debugLog('sibling files', listed)
 
 		// parse newName
 		const newNameExt = path.extension(newName),
-			newNameStem = newName.slice(0, newName.length - newNameExt.length - 1),
+			newNameStem = newFilePath.slice(0, newFilePath.length - newNameExt.length - 1),
 			newNameStemEscaped = escapeRegExp(newNameStem),
 			delimiter = this.settings.dupNumberDelimiter,
 			delimiterEscaped = escapeRegExp(delimiter)
@@ -320,18 +335,20 @@ export default class PasteImageRenamePlugin extends Plugin {
 
 		const dupNameNumbers: number[] = []
 		let isNewNameExist = false
-		for (let sibling of listed.files) {
-			sibling = path.basename(sibling)
-			if (sibling == newName) {
-				isNewNameExist = true
-				continue
-			}
+		if (listed) {
+			for (let sibling of listed.files) {
+				let siblingBasename = path.basename(sibling)
+				if (siblingBasename == newName) {
+					isNewNameExist = true
+					continue
+				}
 
-			// match dupNames
-			const m = dupNameRegex.exec(sibling)
-			if (!m) continue
-			// parse int for m.groups.number
-			dupNameNumbers.push(parseInt(m.groups.number))
+				// match dupNames
+				const m = dupNameRegex.exec(sibling)
+				if (!m) continue
+				// parse int for m.groups.number
+				dupNameNumbers.push(parseInt(m.groups.number))
+			}
 		}
 
 		if (isNewNameExist || this.settings.dupNumberAlways) {
@@ -559,6 +576,7 @@ The pattern indicates how the new name should be generated.
 Available variables:
 - {{fileName}}: name of the active file, without ".md" extension.
 - {{dirName}}: name of the directory which contains the document (the root directory of vault results in an empty variable).
+- {{dirPath}}: full path of the directory which contains the document
 - {{imageNameKey}}: this variable is read from the markdown file's frontmatter, from the same key "imageNameKey".
 - {{DATE:$FORMAT}}: use "$FORMAT" to format the current date, "$FORMAT" must be a Moment.js format string, e.g. {{DATE:YYYY-MM-DD}}.
 
diff --git a/src/template.ts b/src/template.ts
index 3976780..b1f633d 100644
--- a/src/template.ts
+++ b/src/template.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ interface TemplateData {
 	imageNameKey: string
 	fileName: string
 	dirName: string
+	dirPath: string
 	firstHeading: string
 }
 
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ export const renderTemplate = (tmpl: string, data: TemplateData, frontmatter?: F
 		.replace(/{{imageNameKey}}/gm, data.imageNameKey)
 		.replace(/{{fileName}}/gm, data.fileName)
 		.replace(/{{dirName}}/gm, data.dirName)
+		.replace(/{{dirPath}}/gm, data.dirPath)
 		.replace(/{{firstHeading}}/gm, data.firstHeading)
 	return text
 }
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 50c22b1..fefb1ee 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import {
   App,
   Vault,
+  TFolder,
 } from 'obsidian';
 
 export const DEBUG = !(process.env.BUILD_ENV === 'production')
@@ -64,6 +65,17 @@ export const path = {
 		return sp[sp.length - 1]
 	},
 
+	/**
+	 * get the parent directory part of a file or directory
+	 * @param fullpath - full path of a file or directory
+	 * @returns the directory part of a path,
+	 * @example
+	 */
+	directory(fullpath: string): string {
+		const sp = fullpath.split('/')
+		return sp.slice(0, sp.length - 1).join('/')
+	},
+
 	// return extension without dot, e.g. 'jpg'
 	extension(fullpath: string): string {
 		const positions = [...fullpath.matchAll(new RegExp('\\.', 'gi'))].map(a => a.index)
@@ -71,6 +83,16 @@ export const path = {
 	},
 }
 
+/**
+ * get the full path of given folder object
+ * @param tFolder - a folder object
+ * @returns the full path of directory
+ */
+export const getDirectoryPath = (tFolder: TFolder): string => {
+	if (tFolder.parent.name === '') return tFolder.name
+	return `${getDirectoryPath(tFolder.parent)}/${tFolder.name}`
+}
+
 const filenameNotAllowedChars = /[^\p{L}0-9~`!@$&*()\-_=+{};'",<.>? ]/ug
 
 export const sanitizer = {