for my $file (@list_of_files) { open my $read, '<', $file or die $!; my $count = 0; my $new_name = "$file$count"; open my $write, '>', $new_name or die $!; while (my $line = <$read>) { print $write $line; if ($. % 25 == 0 and not eof $read) { $count++; close $write; $new_name = "$file$count"; open $write, '>', $new_name or die $!; } } }