Avoid Duplicates When Importing

It seems that Iphoto 11 doesn't ask you if you want to import duplicate photos as it used to do in Iphoto 9. I used to get a a prompt which asked me whether I wanted to ignore the import if the photo number was the same. Does anyone know how I can reenable that feature?
Thanks

Are you importing from a camera or the Finder. I don't import from a camera so can't comment on that method but importing from the Finder does give you the prompt.
If you don't get the prompt with either method close iPhoto, delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your Home/Library/Preferences folder, launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding the the Option key. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.

Similar Messages

How do I avoid duplicates when importing sequences?

We're doing lots of collaborative editing at our company and just switched from FCP7 to premiere. We're able to import sequences into projects just fine, but a HUGE problem arises with duplicates. Each sequence we import brings in new master clips in the Project window, even though all that media already exists in the project. If I delete it, the media disappears from the sequences that use it.
WHY!!!!?
I assume this is user error. We're still learning the software and collectively agree that this can't possibly be how Premiere is designed to operate. What are we doing wrong, and how can we avoid balooning our project files each time we want to consolidate our editors' work?

While I'm *really* looking forward to seeing the reality of Adobe Anywhere, it currently poses more questions than we have answers for, including how much horse power the server and central storage systems are going to need. Even for a small shop with 3 edit bays I can see the server becoming pretty sluggish rendering all the frames that need to be sent to the clients, especially once effects are added. And... what happens when some one decides it's time to export with some plugins that take all the CPU/GPU time up?    And then.... is this going to be included in the next Production Premium or is there going to be a massive premium added on top making it uneconomic for smaller shops?
Until we know more.... we'll just have to keep editing individually and merging projects as needed.
-- back on topic ---
As I said above, if you are importing projects from other editors it would not normally duplicate the footage. If it's still doing it then there may be some path issues in the copied project. In order to 'fix' those issues you can open the copied project they sent first (as a project, not as an import), reconnect all the media to your local media (this is usually just one or two clicks) then save it.   Now go back to your master project and import the sequence as before. Because your copied project is now already connected to your local media it should not need to duplicate them.
If it's STILL duplicating footage than perhaps you need to give us more specifics.....

Avoid duplicates when importing with Home Sharing?

I have an iMac which hosts my iTunes library. I have home sharing turned on so everyone else in the family (both on the iMac and on laptops) play things at home from that library.
But for when I'm not at home, I like to use the import feature to put local copies of music or movies on my macbook pro (local) iTunes library. The problem I run into is if I inadvertently import a song I already imported once before, I'll end up with two copies of the song. This happens if I want to just import a whole new playlist that contains songs I happen to already have locally. Instead of just over-writing the existing file (which is what I want it to do), it imports another copy of the song into the same folder with a "-1" appended to the filename.
Finally the question: is there a way to make iTunes not create duplicates of songs? Ideally it the import function should be skipping over songs that already exist, but an alternatively acceptable behavior would be to just over-write the existing files.
Thanks

Are you importing from a camera or the Finder. I don't import from a camera so can't comment on that method but importing from the Finder does give you the prompt.
If you don't get the prompt with either method close iPhoto, delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your Home/Library/Preferences folder, launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding the the Option key. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.

IPhoto 6 failure to detect duplicates when importing

When importing from camera iPhoto 6 refuses to recognize duplicate photos. I can import a roll, switch the camera off and quit iPhoto, and a few minutes later just repeat the import. iPhoto duly creates a new roll and imports the same batch of pictures all over without the expected warning dialog and using exactly the same file names.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Version of iPhoto is 6.0.5.

hippocrene:
Welcome to the Apple Discussion. I don't import directly from the camera but when importing from a folder on the HD I do get the duplicate warning. First try deleting the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that's in your User/Library/Preferences folder. A damaged pref file can cause a number of seemingly unrelated problems. If that doesn't help see if importing from the desktop will do that. I prefer to upload to a folder and then import from that folder. Avoids some issues of a potential aborted upload due to battery drain, etc.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application, iPhoto dB file backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. You can download it at Toad's Cellar

How do I avoid duplicates when using "Automatically Add to iTunes"

I recently consolidated all my music and then created a new library in iTunes. Now I'm using the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder when I find more music from my archives.
However, unlike when importing from a CD, iTunes doesn't seem to compare to existing library and detect duplicates in songs in this folder; it just adds them to iTunes. So I am ending up with dups. Is there any way to avoid this?
Specs: Mac Mini running OSX 10.8.5; iTunes v. 12.0.1.26

See this Apple support document.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751
B-rock

What criteria does AP use to determine a duplicate when importing?

Does it use the Version name, the exact date and time, a unique identifier, the original sequence name? I would like to be able to import in one or two goes a large number of mixed old pictures some of which have previously been imported. Can I do this safely by using the avoid duplicate import function?
Thanks, Floor

It goes by file name I believe. It's not overly sophisticate, and it's not perfect. Mostly it's designed to prohibit duplicates when you import twice from the same card to the same project.
I don't think it will work for your use case -- trying to avoid dupes when you merge two projects or lots of things from lots of places.

Aperture Not Recognizing Duplicates When Importing From iPhone. PhotoStream is Involved.

Apple makes great software. Aperture is not some of it.
Here's my setup:
'11 MacBook Air OS X Lion
Aperture 3.2.2
iPhone 4 ios 5.0
1.5 TB External Drive. Aperture Masters and Library reside there, separate from each other.
I keep my photos in a structure such as: Aperture Masters > Year > Month > Date > original_photo_name
I'm running into trouble with Aperture not recognizing what photos are duplicates when it comes time to import photos. My workflow is that I'll import photos every so often, leaving them on the iPhone, and delete them twice a year.
ISSUE 1 (The Annoying One):
Aperture is showing a lot of photos that have already been imported even if I select "Don't Import Duplicates". Aperture has done this for a long time. I know that when it comes time to importing them, it doesn't import the duplicates, but this is just a sign that something doesn't work very well. (Maybe it's because I switched to an iPhone 4S and then back. I synced all my photos, and then back again to my iPhone 4, so the sequential number of the photos remained intact. I don't think that's the problem though.). This is just a minor annoyance that shows that Apple can suck at software (remember MobileMe?).
ISSUE 2 (The serious one):
short version: Some photos on my iPhone won't sync to my Aperture library because it thinks they've been synced through PhotoStream. They are not in my Aperture Library or in my Aperture Masters in the filesystem. How can I fix this. What bloody file do I have to delete for Aperture to stop being confused?
longer explanation: When iOS 5 came out, I was excited by PhotoStream. I had enabled it on my MBA, through iPhoto (I hadn't installed Aperture on it yet, as I was using an iMac to manage my Aperture Library). I believe it synced a bunch of photos from my iPhone, but then I stopped using it on my mac. Left it on on my iPhone. Installed Aperture. I initially enabled PhotoStream but swiftly disabled it once I was not sure how it would deal with photos being uploaded from my mac etc - just seemed like too much magic was going on. I then proceeded to sync my iPhone, not importing duplicates, and it synced a bunch of photos, but didn't sync some of them, displaying the following message:
Any tips on how to fix this and be able to import those images would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. - I thought that iPhoto might be causing the problem. I checked there and there were some images imported through PhotoStream, but not some of the ones which were not imported on Aperture. Putting that another way: the iPhoto library accounted for some of the images that were not imported, but not all of them. I deleted the iPhoto Library and tried reimporting with Aperture. Still no luck.

I have precisely the same problem. Very annoying. Worked fine with iPhoto, borked with Aperture 3.

False Duplicates when importing

Maybe I'm being dense but I keep having hassles when importing photos in iPhoto.
Sometimes when importing from my Konica Minolta Dynax 7D (an old but supported camera) iPhoto prompts me that a duplicate is being imported and asks if I'd like to replace it with the new image.
The strange thing is that the image it displays is completely different to the image proposed to be imported.
Is this an issue as simple as the files having the same name or something similar - seems a bit daft to me though if that's the only criteria being applied by iPhoto to determine duplicates!
It does tend to happen with batches of photos rather than just single shots on a card.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Message was edited by: Big Dug because I can't type well today and it was full of typos!

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

What causes duplicates when importing from my iPhone?

For some time i have had many duplicates from syncing my iPhone to my iPhoto library. When importing I specifically say no to importing duplicates
I have to use duplicate annihilator to rid dups, but appears I still have many duplicates left
I want to clean up the library before moving photos to aperture

that does not happen to me - try renewing the iPhoto preference file - A good general step for strange issues is to renew the iPhoto preference file - quit iPhoto and go to "your user name" ==> library ==> preferences ==> com.apple.iPhoto.plist and trash it - launch iPhoto which creates a fresh new default preference file and reset any personal preferences you have changed and if you have moved the iPhoto library repoint to it. This may help
This does not affect your photos or any database information (keywords, faces, places, ratings, etc) in any way - they are stored in the iPhoto library - the iPhoto preference file simply controls how iPhoto works - which is why renewing it is a good first step.
LN

Duplicates when importing photos from iPhoto to Aperture 3

I have recently purchased Aperture 3 & am trying to import my events from Iphoto to A3 but each event I import has duplicates of EVERY image. Even if I have never edited the photo in Iphoto it always shows 2 photos of every shot? Any solutions to avoid this as it will be too hard to go thru each event & delete the duplicates. Too many!!

When I check my system info it reads that I have 2 memory slots x 2GB (don't really know what that means) and I am running MacOS 10.7.4 yes. I have 63GB of 499GB free so nowhere near 30%. Explains why it is running slow I guess :-)
So you have 4GB RAM, that should do if you do not run many applications in parallel, and you really need to free some disk space! There is a nice utility in the Applications > Utilities folder: Activity Monitor. Launc it and look at the runtime and memory usage. That will tell you if your system is running low on RAM. My MBP profited considerably from an upgrade to 8GB.
I am trying to back up on a WD external drive USB. I don't understand what a firewire port is?
Firewire is a fast connection to external devices, and many external disks offer a firewire cable connection; the port usually is marked by a Y-Symbol:
Leonie, I have read something about duplicate annihalitor (or something like that). Would it pay to run that on my Iphoto first and delete duplicates? Have u used that programme?
I have never used it myself, but Terence Devlin recommends it frequently. It will find exact duplicates, if you imported the same image twice or made copies, but it will not remove the original masters of a version, afaik. Check it out here:
Duplicate Annihilator:
Can I store my library on my external HD and just access it each time I enter Aperture so that my Mac HD doesnt get overloaded?
There is a better way in Aperture:
What I do on my MBP with limited space is to keep the Aperture library on the System volume, but (most of) the original master image files on an external drive. This is what is called a referenced Aperture library. I set the Aperture preferences to enable the creation of Previews. THis way I can browse my images, tag them, and rate them with stars even if I am on the road. The images can be accessed from the Media Browser and used in other iApps or the screen saver. Only when I want to edit an image I need to connect the external volume and to mount it.
To turn an image into a referenced image select it (or select several images at once) and from the main menu bar select: File -> Relocate master(s). Then select a location where to store your masters on the external volume.
I usually import the new images as managed (stored inside the Aperture library) and relocate them to the external volume when I am through with editing. Perhaps this kind of workflow will be suitable for you too. Bt do not forget to backup the master images on the external volume as well.
Regards
Léonie
Thanks again for your patience with me and time in answering Leonie.
You are welcome! My pleasure

How can I avoid duplicates on importing ics files

I'm a new Mac user and would like to start using the Mac for everything including my diary.
For a while I will be working in parallel with another calendar (I'm using the Lightning add-in to Thunderbird).
Scenario as follows:
Export events from Lightning in ics format.
Import into iCal - works fine.
The Lightning calendar is updated - events added and updated and then re-exported.
When I import again into iCal, instead of updating events previously imported, duplicate events are created.
This appears to be because iCal is assigning a new UID to every event that it imports. If iCal used the UID defined in the input stream, it would work fine.
The iCal standard (RFC2446 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2446 ) states:
CUAs must persist the following component properties: "UID", "RECURRENCE-ID", "SEQUENCE", and "DTSTAMP".
If iCal is not persisting the UID, then it would appear to be breaking the iCalendar Transport-Independent Interoperability Protocol as defined in the referenced RFC.
Is there a workaround or any hope that iCal might be fixed to comply with the standard?
Thanks

On your Mac, for duplicates, switching Contacts off then back on in System Preferences > iCloud may prevent duplicates.
On the iPhone / iPad tap Settings > iCloud. Make sure Contacts and Calendars are swtiched on.
Try restarting your Mac and your iOS devices when items won't sync as they should.
To restart an iOS device: Hold the On/Off Sleep/Wake button down until the red slider appears. Slide your finger across the slider to turn off iPhone. To turn iPhone back on, press and hold the On/Off Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

Unrequested file duplicates when importing from D700

When I start to import directly to AP from my D700 I immediately get a duplicate of every file (with (1) added to the file name) appearing in the import browser window. This happens regardless of what type of file I have shot (jpeg, RAW, etc.)
It's possible, of course, to just select the first copy of each pair to import but that's an extra (nuisance) operation. Surely there's a way to not have these duplicate versions presented in the first place. Am I missing a setting of some kind?

I had the same issue with my most recent import from my D300. It was also my first import since updating to 10.5.6 and the most recent camera raw update. I also made sure that "do not import duplicates" was selected in the Aperture import window.
-Scrags

Duplicates when importing from iPhoto

When i imported pics from iphoto got a lot of duplicates Why does this happen and how can I prevent it?

Using both Organizer and iPhoto will create duplicates on your hard drive. You need to stick to one app for managing your photos although you can set up the Elements Editor as your external editing tool in iPhoto preferences.
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/photoshop-elements-iphoto-mac-os.html

How do I avoid duplicates when adding MP3 folders

I have a folder filled with MP3 songs that I have added to iTunes via the "File > Add Folder to Library" function.
I frequently buy and add additional MP3 songs to that folder (My Music/MP3) and then re-add that folder to iTunes so it adds the additional songs to my library.
Usually, iTunes recognizes that I already have most of those songs and just imports the new ones. However, if a song that has already been imported before is changed in iTunes (say, for example, you change the artist name from "The Beatles" to "Beatles", then the next time I re-add that same folder to pick up the new songs it also thinks the songs I changed in iTunes are different, new songs and I get a duplicate.
Is there a better way of doing this that results in no duplicates? I suppose I could keep creating and adding new folders every time I add new songs, but that would get messy fast.
Thoughts?

The default path for the iTunes library folder is C:\Users\<User>\Music\iTunes.
The default path for the media folder is C:\Users\<User>\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media.
Both can be edited; the media folder via Edit > Preferences > Advanced, and the main library path by holding down shift as you start iTunes and using the choose or create library option.
Ideally you want the iTunes Media folder inside the iTunes folder as this puts the library in the portable shape that is easy to move between drives, migrate between computers, and backup.
You can use Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Reset to reset the media folder to the default path inside the library folder, or click the change button if required.
When you change the media folder iTunes should offer to consolidate the library. This makes iTunes make a new copy of any track currently located outside of the media folder inside the media folder and connects the database to that new copy. Once complete it is up to the user to do the house keeping of cleaning up the originals. Alternatively I have another script called ConsolidateByMoving whose purpose should be obvious.
There is another option that controls the internal structure of the library. With new libraries it should be set correctly, but a library that has been migrated from iTunes 8 or earlier might still be in the old shape. If you go to File > Library > Organize Library and find the "Rearrange files..." option is not greyed out then you should tick this and click OK.
See also Grouping tracks into albums.
tt2

How do I stop iPhoto 11 from making duplicates when importing whole library from an older MAC?

I just bought a Mac Mini, and i tried to import the iphoto library from my PowerMac G5 (iPhoto 6). It duplicates many of the photos so that there more than twice as many photos in the new machine. I was looking at the photos and some of the duplicates are just resized photos. I guess older versions of photos.
Is there a way to just import the latest versions of photos?
Thanks,
Tony

No it's not a good idea.
Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things, deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Don't use copy and paste, try drag and drop.
If that still fails then rebuild the Library to the new location:
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Avoid Duplicates When Importing

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