IPhoto merge and duplicates

Hello,
I have read posts on this issue but I am left with two questions. First, my scenario: I have backed up three iPhoto Libraries on an external hard drive over the past couple years. Unfortunately, the second transfer between the xHD and my old iBook went wrong (because I had broken the golden rule and extracting files from inside the folders of the Library......which meant some of what I copied back to the iBook were thumbnails, not the full res photos).
In any case, by the time I cleaned up the second library and backed it up properly to my new MB (just drag-and-drop), and then backed THAt library also onto the xHD (but did not overwrite the original) it has left me with three libraries, each with different sets of photos but also many 'duplicates' that are actually different sizes (e.g. I will have two identical images but one will be 500kb and one will be 2MB).
So, finally, here are my questions:
1. Does the IPhoto Library Manager merge function handle duplicates--or does it simply import photos from one library to another (which I can do manually my selecting 'import' into my MB library from the xHD library, right?)
2. If PLM does not handle duplicates, is there an easy way to sort my library so that pictures that look the same but are different sizes are somehow distinguishable? Or will it simply come down to manually checking each duplicate with the 'info' button to see their sizes before deleting one?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

As it merges the libraries iphoto library manager will ask you what you want to do with duplicates. However, remember files with different sizes are not duplicates. Also importing one library to another is not a good idea. You'll get a mess of different versions of files treated as new imports, so that's no way to merge.

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IPhoto libraries and duplicates.

When opening iPhoto for the first time it asks to create a library. Will it duplicate my pictures folder? At one time I had a problem and ended up with multiple copies of my photos because of something iPhoto did (don't ask what happened because I forgot) and I had to delete thousands of pictures manually. I stopped using iPhoto because of this. Does anyone know why this happend? As far as I know Picasa does not do this, nor Canon ImageBrowser.

Let's see. You did something some time that caused some duplication but Yu are not sure what you did, when you did itbor what happened and you want total strangers to explain it. No No one knows
However iPhoto does not duplicate anything so you can safely use it
LN

I have 2 iphoto libraries and duplicates of everything

I set up my macbook pro wrong 2 years ago and am suffering for my stupidity. I have 2 iphoto libraries, both with different photos in them. Last week I imported photos from one library into the other and now I have 56,000 photos, most of which are duplicates. I have deleted about 20,000 - folders were duplicated several times. New folders contain 'face' photos (just heads, from the face identity bit of iphoto but now as an individual photo). What I want to do now is to restore my iphoto to how it was 10 days ago because i can't cope with the number of duplicates i have.
I have selected folders and chosen duplicate from the drop down menu but this just gives me MORE duplicates, it doesn't get rid of them. I have bought photo sweeper app which is meant to show duplicates but this has made no difference to the library.
Can anyone help me either restore my library, get rid of duplicates or anything else?
I am not great with the compuer, so I need simple mac speak please
Thanks

To merge libraries use iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - or Aperature
To find duplicates within an iPhoto library use iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ -
Photos that are not in an iPhoto library can be imported telling iPhoto not to import duplicates (an imperfect procews) and then IPLM can find the duplicates
As to keeping seperate libraries - only you can do that - IPLM can move photos between libraries for you but only you can know which photos should be in which library
LN

Iphoto 6 and my HD space ! It's eating it all up !?

Hello. I am trying to free up space on my MBPro as whenever I get down to 5GB HD space it grinds to a slow pace of a glacier. I think the problem lies with Iphoto 6.0.6 and the 13000 photos I had, and that IPhoto always duplicates ORIGINAL photos into in a folder called MODIFIED.
I backed up all my photos on an external drive, deleted all of them from Iphoto and recovered 30gb of space on my HD. I then edited the originals on the ext.drive by name and filed them better in folders for the years they relate to. I then re-imported them to Iphoto. So far so good. They appear in the Iphoto Library folder correctly, not quite as I filed them by year as I guess I photo does something "intelligent" by looking at the date of the photo (modification date) and overrides my filing system by the year in which the photo was taken. OK I can handle that ! At least in Iphoto my listing by ROLL appears with the title I want, not some arbitrary roll number assigned by Iphoto.
BUT THEN... Iphoto goes and duplicates ALL the ORIGINAL photos once again into another "MODIFIED" folder, when I have not used Iphoto to modify a single photo !
Hence I am back to square one - little free HD space and a slow MBPro and duplicates of all my photos in two folders.
Is there a solution to this ?

Hi Larry
Thanks for the reply. But here's the strange thing.
I wanted to start from scratch and make my MAC think that it is importing photos for the first time (as if from my camera, but in this case from my external HD).
ALL my photos including those that have ever been edited, (cropped, rotated, renamed etc) are stored in individual folders on my ExtHD, ready to be imported to Iphoto. All my photos are stored a file for each event - eg: "Wedding", including those I modified together with those originals that I liked that required no editing. Any original photos that I did modify were trashed ages ago after I finished the lengthy selection and filing process on my ExtHD to remove duplicates of the same image in any file.
Given the above, with only the photos I actually want to have in IPhoto waiting on my ExtHD, this is what I did :
(1) Having deleted any and all "PHOTO LIBRARY" folders from my MBPro, I emptied the trash and recuperated 37GB of space.
(2) Then I opened Iphoto, and logically as there's no library, it asks me to CREATE or CHOOSE Library. I decided "CREATE" library and it creates me an empty library in the "Pictures" folder.
(3) From IPhoto I then click FILE>Import to Library, and selected just one file from the many folders from my ExtHD, (eg: "Wedding" that has 192 photos in it) and click IMPORT and wait.
(4) Once imported I go and look in PICTURES>IPhoto Library, and in the ORIGINALS folder are my 192 photos .... BUT then there's also a new MODIFIED folder in which are...10, yes ten, not 192 photos ?!, none of which I have ever modified using Iphoto in this import process and none of which are in fact any different. THIS IS MY PROBLEM
When I actually import my 13000 photos in this manner, about 10000 of them end up duplicated, in a new folder called MODIFIED, BEFORE I've even used Iphoto to do any editing, once again gobbling up my HD space !
Any suggestions ?

I have several iphoto libraries i would like to merge and delete duplicates

i have several iphoto libraries i would like to merge and delete duplicates

The only way to merger libraries is to use the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager . The paid version also has a duplicate finder feature that can identify duplicates.
If you have the latest versions of iPhoto AND Aperture you can merge libraries with Aperture.
These additional applications will identify and help remove duplicate photos from an iPhoto Library:
iPhoto Library Manager - $29.95 (also mergers libraries).
Duplicate Annihilator - $7.95 - only app able to detect duplicate thumbnail files or faces files when an iPhoto 8 or earlier library has been imported into another.
PhotoSweeper - $9.95 - This app can search by comparing the image's bitmaps or histograms thus finding duplicates with different file names and dates.
DeCloner - $19.95 - can find duplicates in iPhoto Libraries or in folders on the HD.
DupliFinder - $7 - shows which events the photos are in.
iPhoto AppleScript to Remove Duplicates - Free
PhotoDedupo - $4.99 (App Store) - this app has a "similar" search feature which is like PhotoSweeper's bitmap comparison. It found all duplicates
Duplicate Cleaner for iPhoto - free - was able to recognize the duplicated HDR and normal files from an iPhone shooting in HDR
Some users have reported that PhotoSweeper did the best in finding all of the dups in their library: iphoto has duplicated many photos, how...: Apple Support Communities.
If you have an iPhone and have it set to keep the normal photo when shooting HDR photos the two image files that are created will be duplicates in a manner of speaking (same image) but there are only twp apps that detected the iPhone HDR and normal photos as being duplicates: PhotoSweeper and Duplicate Cleaner for iPhoto. None of the other apps detected those two files as being duplicates as they look for file name as well as other attributes and the two files from the iPhone have different file names.
iPLM, however, is the best all around iPhoto utility as it can do so much more than just find duplicates. IMO it's a must have tool if using iPhoto.

How do you merge iphoto libraries without duplicates and maintaining events?

I have a few iphoto libraries on my computer that I need to merge, without duplicates, and maintaining the seperate events. Does anyone know how to do this efficiently?

"Terence Devlin" does not work for Apple, for the makers of Library Manager and has no beneficial interest in whether or not you use or purchase this or any other app. If "Terence Devlin" did have such an interest the terms of use of the Forum would require that he add such information to the post. No, Aperture cannot merge iPhoto Libraries. Aperture can convert them to Aperture Libraries and merge them, but that would be of no use to an iPhoto user, as iPhoto can't open an Aperture Library.
And the fact remains that the paid version of Library Manager is the only way to merge Libraries
Regards
"TD"

How do you combine mutable iphoto libraries and clean up duplicates

how do you combine multiple iphoto libraries and clean up duplicates

If not the only answer is the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager -http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - and maybe duplicate annihaliator -http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/18748/duplicate-annihilator
You must have IPLM as stated - you may also need DA depending on how thing go with the merge
LN

I have multiple iPhoto libraries w/ duplicates in several. How can I consolidate and find the dupes? Some photos are versions of the original.

I have multiple iPhoto libraries w/ duplicates in several. How can I consolidate and find the dupes? Some photos are versions of the original. On my iMac, I also have many folders containing some of the same photos. My computer is used for both personal and business purposes. My libraries should be separated, one for each.

To merge libraries use iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - or Aperature
To find duplicates within an iPhoto library use iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ -
Photos that are not in an iPhoto library can be imported telling iPhoto not to import duplicates (an imperfect procews) and then IPLM can find the duplicates
As to keeping seperate libraries - only you can do that - IPLM can move photos between libraries for you but only you can know which photos should be in which library
LN

Merge and remove duplicates

I would like to use a utility or 3rd party app to go through my two 90gb libraries of photos (iPhoto libraries) and merge them while also removing duplicates and potentially trimming it (the library was originally but in iPhoto 08 or 07, probably)
How can I merge these libraries and soft out duplicates? The majority of the libraries are identical contents FYI, but there might be a thousand unique.
Thanks experts!

If you have Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later you can merge libraries with Aperture. You can then use one of the many duplicate finders to sort out the problem.
Otherwise the only way to merge Libraries while avoiding duplicates is with the paid ($20) version of iPhoto Library Manager

I'm trying to merge (unify) my Aperture library with my iphoto library and have doen the merge and consolidate functions in Aperture. I have found that this process increased my Aperture library form 30 to 39 gigs and duplicated many photos in the proces

I've just merged my Aperture and iphoto libraries and have found that my combined new Aperture library has grown from about 30 gigs (the total size of the Aperture and iphoto libbraries prior to merging) to 40 gigs. Also, in reviewing photos in the Aperture browser I find that photos appaer as duplicated, one photo with no tag (the original) followed by the same photo with a small tag (suggesting edits). HAs the merge process caused an unintended increase in library size? My initial reason do consolidate the libraries was to eliminate the "referenced" portion fo the Aperture library that refernced the iphoto originals. Any thoughts as to how I can get one consolidated non-referenced combined libray inside Aperture with no duplicates. I run a Time Capsule and can access backups of the original Aperture and Iphoto libraries if I need to repeat the process. Thanks for any help. Jim.

My initial reason do consolidate the libraries was to eliminate the "referenced" portion fo the Aperture library that refernced the iphoto originals
One for the Consolidate Masters command.
By importing the Library you brought over everything, lock stock and barrell, and your Aperture library still points to those referenced masters in the iPhoto Library.
Regards
TD

I like to manually upload my photo's to my computer, then import them to iPhoto. My problem with this is that now I have duplicates and it's taking up way to much space on my computer. Is there any way to stop iPhoto from creating duplicates like this?

I always manually transfer photo's from my SD card to a new folder under Pictures, and then import them into iPhoto. After doing this for quite some time I know realize that I have all these duplicate photo's between iPhoto library and Pictures and a ton of wasted space. I want to continue to upload photo's to a new folder so I can organize them myself and then access them anytime through the finder, if I upload them through iPhoto then they're stored in "iPhoto Library" which can only be accessed through iPhoto. Is there anyway to stop iPhoto from duplicating photo's and just use it to catalog photo's from Pictures? Also on a side note, when using multiple SD cards in one folder, my camera often comes up with duplicate names for totally separate photo's, anyone have an suggestions for this?

Yes you can set iPhoto to run in Referenced mode but don't. It makes more work for zero advantage, is unnecessary and only storing up problems for the future.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3062728?tstart=0
has how to do, and why you shouldn't.
Using iPhoto makes the question about the filenames moot too... Other than that you'll need to renae the files.

IPhoto '11 v. 9.2.3 bug when splitting events containing flagged and duplicate versions of same photo in Event.

UPDATE:
Okay, I don't know how to delete this - so I'm just saying that after sending this, I found Terrance's reply to a similar post (3/3/12). I didn't realize iPhoto had been changed so that the "master" controls duplicates. I do understand how to export, et cetera .... and I do use albums also! I just really want the duplicate photos to NOT be in the general Events. Trust me, I have a good reason!
Thank you for your (previous) help!
~h
Okay, when I created this User Name, I didn't foresee this situation. I'm pretty sure this is a real bug - and maybe someone can let the appropriate programmer know....
Essentially, I'm organizing my 2012 iPhoto library and am trying to get around the rule that a photo can only be in one Event. I flagged the photos I want to keep where they are - AND - be grouped separately.
Then in Flagged, I duplicated all. Then I unflag the orginal files.
Then I modified the duplicated (version 2 or version 3) files.
So, in the original events, there are the two versions of some photos.
Opening one of the events, I select a couple of photos and "split".
Split event does get created, but it has no photos.
Photos and duplicated photos remain in original event.
I'm quitting now - before I lose everything.....!
(I'll back up the library and try again later.........!)
and jsut for the fn of it, I'm adding that I find it strange that I'd have to manually click "abc-check" -- that spellcheck doesn't run automatically. --I guess it annoys others?
holly

First Try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your
User/Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder (Snow Leopard and Earlier).
or with Lion and Mt. Lion from the User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto/
Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder
3 - launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: In Lion and Mountain Lion the Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.
If that doesn't help apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
2 - run Option #4 to rebuild the database.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 - click on the Add Library button and select the library you want to add in the selection window..
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option.
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.

Upgrading and Duplicates in iphoto 11

I am having trouble with importing photos and getting duplicates.
I bought a new macbook pro and copied my old iphoto library from my old computer.   I pointed iphoto 11 to my old library and it did an automatic upgrade of the library file.   Next it generated HD thumbnails.    I then went to load some other misc photos from a external drive and I selected everything in a folder and its subfolders, etc.   I was prompted, if I wanted duplicates removed and i checked yes, and do for all future actions.   However, when i do an import it loads all the photos and doesnt remove duplicates before loading into iphoto 11.
Example. If there are 5 files all called IMG3404.JPEG but in various subfolders of the photo folder, it loads all 5 instead 1.    I know, the duplicates are a result of bad file management over the course of years.   Problem is I have over 30,000 photos and the import will make it 5 times that.
Is there a way I can load photos into iphoto 11 and not load duplicates as the example?

They are duplicate files that have been replicated over years of backups, etc.   Now trying to consolidate by importing into iphoto, but it brings in each one and doesnt recognize they are duplicates
Each set of files are the same photo and have the same creation and modification dates
Does that help?

Import to iPhoto Library created duplicate folders and pics?!

I imported all my pics from hard drives into iPhoto Library and now have duplicates of each folder with pictures. How can I quickly clean this up; i.e., 64'000+ pics.

This is where I see it.
I have the pictures already reduced down from 64'000 to 52'000.
From the picture you can see three (3x) "New Folder (17)".........AaargggHHH!
Also, you will see excact duplicates for "Abigail", "New Folder (16)" and "20090915".
I spent 2 days to get it reduced to this point and have only covered 1/8th of the library......(more Aaaarggghhh!!!)

Merging events in iPhoto with pictures named the same in each event? Will I lose the photo or will iPhoto rename the duplicate names?

I am trying to merge 2 events in iPhoto, but i notice that in the first event my photos are named by my camera as DSC_001, DSC_002, etc. But the same is true of the photos in the second event DSC_001, DSC_002, etc. If I merge these 2 events will I lose pictures that have the same photo/file name? Or will iPhoto change the name of DSC_001 from the second event when it merges event 1 & event 2? I am hesitant, I don't want to lose half of my pictures.

With iPhoto 9 and later when merging events the files stay in their original folder inside the library so there's no problem with files with the same file name. It's when you export same named files to the same folder on the hard drive that you may run into a problem.

IPhoto merge and duplicates

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