All photos duplicated after restoring Photoshop Elements 11 catalog

Question

I recently had my computer reformatted and notice that following Photoshop Elements reinstall and catalog restore all my photos have been duplicated in the Adobe/digital photos folder. I have read that this is due to my computer tech restoring all photos in the original folder structure prior to me executing the catalog restore (I should have done my research first). My question is what can I do now to eliminate the duplicates? Do I delete all photos and the Adobe folders or is there an alternative?

Answer 1

Al Markunas wrote:
The duplicates are in the same folder tree structure and, yes, the restore renamed them with a -1 suffix. The pictures with the -1 suffix are the ones I see in the Organizer.
There is no 'smart' way to get rid of the files previously copied on your drive, but I would use the ability of the the Organizer to move folder trees on your drive.
First I would create a new master folder outside of the old tree structure.
Then I would work in 'Pictures' view in the left panel of PSE11.
I would select a branch of the folder tree as a test, and drag and drop it to the new folder. Tip : there must be at least a file in that master folder to make it appear in the left panel. Then, from the Windows explorer, I would check that only the previously copied media files are showing in the moved branch... and delete the branch altogether in the Explorer.
Once you  master the process, you can either move all your remaining folder tree from the Organizer, and delete the remaining duplicates from the Explorer or you can move branches separately.
Be patient! Moving files requires time and you should not abort the move operation to avoid creating more duplicates.
The main penalty of your situation is the renaming of your files with a suffix, but that does not prevent you to use 100% of the Organizer features.