New dupes but with different names, how to delete one set

Question

I imported a set of CR2, converted them to dng and removed the cr2 from the catalog.  Yes, there are better ways to do this.  I failed to notice that I had checked the rename box with original name, which I left blank.  So every photo begins "untitled".  But no two have the same file name, so "untitled-2-92" and "untitled-2-93" are the same shot.  Any way to filter for odd or even numbered file names?  Take delete and try again?  Any idea what happened?  I only did the one import. 

Answer 1

There are a couple of options for handling this. By far the easiest is to delete the LR catalog file, restart Lightroom and allow it to create a new catalog. Then you can just start over with a fresh import. This is dependent upon you having your original CR2 files available. If not or you have other photos you have already stored in Lightroom, this is not the the option for you. If you do, use the Copy As DNG option. This would also be a really good time to create a file renaming template. This is done using the File Renaming panel which is located in the right-hand panel during import. Set up your options and then save it as a new template. You will then have it whenever you do an import. It is really very flexible and I am sure you can configure it to give you what will work for you.
Okay, so what to do if you can't just start over? You will have to work within Lightroom to remove the photos you do not want. In Library mode, you have a filter bar available. If you don't see it, use the slash (\) key to toggle it back on. Select the Text option. Right below the filter bar will be two drop down boxes and a search text box. Select Filename from the Text drop down and leave Contains all in the second drop down. In the search field, enter something common to what you want to delete such as "untitled-2-". This will show only files that contain the text "untitled-2-" anywhere in the filename. Next, select each of the files you want to delete. Once everything you want is selected, use the Photo/Remove Photo... menu option to delete them (or you can also just hit the <DELETE> key). Lightroom will prompt you to delete them from just the catalog or from both the catalog and delete the actual file from the disk. If you want the dups to be gone for good, select the option to delete them from the disk as well.
A variation on the above is to use the <x> key to flag the photo as a reject. What this will do is dim the photo in both the film strip at the bottom of the screen as well as in the grid. This gives you a chance to change your mind before removing them. To use this approach, simply select the photos in either the grid or the film strip and press the <x> key or use the flag keys from the toolbar which are between the sort parameter and the color labels. The one with the 'x' on the flag will set the rejected flag (you can also use the menu item Photo/Set Flag). A photo will stay flagged as rejected until you unflag it. What this does for you is uncouples the selection of the photos and the actual removal of them from your system. When you reach the point where only photos not dimmed are the ones you want to keep, you can proceed with the removal of the rejected photos. For this, use the Photos/Delete Rejected Photos menu option.As above, Lightroom will ask whether to also remove the files from the disk as well.
One last comment on how the filters work. Filters are applied only to the photos being displayed in the grid. For example, if you allowed Lightroom to import photos into dated folders, Lightroom will create a folder for each date it finds during the import. So, if you went on a three day trip and took photos on each of the three days, Lightroom would create three folder, one for each day, and populate them with only the photos you took on that day. In Library mode, the left hand side of the screen will show you your folders. If you are at the top level, Lightroom will show you all of your photos and that is what the filter will be applied to, However, if you are positioned on a sub-folder, the filter will be applied only to the photos that live within that sub-folder and any sub-folders contained within it. This can be an advantage if you want to clean up in smaller chunks but it means you need to keep track of what has been cleaned up so you don't miss anything.
Finally, Lightroom has an option which can be found on the right hand side of the Import screen that is used to tell Lightroom what to do with duplicate files. You can import them which will give you a -x (where x is a number) appended to the name if the same name already exists or you can tell Lightroom to Not Import Suspected Duplicates. If this is checked, Lightroom will not import an photo it thinks is already imported. Lightroom really doesn't know if the file is a duplicate of not. It looks at file attributes such as file name, capture date, file size and such to make that determination. It is still possible to get duplicate files imported so you will get the occasional photo with the -x suffix but many fewer than if you re-import a stream of photos a second or third time.
Lightroom does have the ability to delete the original file when you do a conversion from RAW to DNG. As each photo is validated and converted to DNG, the old RAW file is removed but you have to set the option as part of the conversion. This is useful if you do your RAW photo import and then convert to DNG later.