Remove duplicate photos

I'm not sure how this happened but it did. I have thousands of photos in iPhoto that are duplicates of other photos. Is there a way to have iPhoto scan through the photo library and delete all of the extra copies of photos?
thanks,
- Ernest

As Terence mentioned, if you're looking at the library via the Finder or Spotlight you'll see a minimum of two versions of every photo in the library, the original and a thumbnail. If the photo is a portrait oriented photo from a camera with the auto-rotate capability or if you've edited a photo there will be an addition version of it in the Modified folder. *You cannot run iPhoto without them.*
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) 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 created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), 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. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.≤br>
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

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Removing duplicate photos in photoshop elements 4

is there a easy way to remove duplicate photos in Photoshop elements 4, i have over 20,000 photos but really only 5000-6000 and 3-4 duplicates of each and i think they have been renamed and haven't found a duplicate photo/file remover that will do it any suggestions

johnrellis wrote:
I don't remember is PSE 4 has the Automatically Suggest Photo Stacks command, but if it does, see this recipe:
http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Find_and_delete
John,
I have PSE 4 on an old laptop so I took a quick look and my conclusion is no v4 does not have Suggest Photo Stacks.
Find with Visual Similarity is in v4 and I did do a Catalog > Recover with the build Similarity Index choice as preparation for using that Find feature. However using Visual Similarity on any signficant number of photos would seem very tedious. Of course it could be done systematically on a few photos each time over an extended number of days - but still tedious.

How can I find and remove duplicate photos in iPhoto?

What is the best way to find and remove duplicate photos in iPhoto?

Are you seeing these duplicates in iPhoto or via the Finder? If it's in the iPhoto window then you can use one of these applications to identify and remove duplicate photos from an iPhoto Library:
iPhoto Library Manager - $29.95
Duplicate Cleaner for iPhoto - free
Duplicate Annihilator - $7.95 - only app able to detect duplicate thumbnail files or faces files when one library has been imported into another with iPhoto 8 and earlier.
PhotoSweeper - $9.95 - This app can search by comparing the image's bitmaps or histograms thus finding duplicates with different file names and dates.
I also prefer iPLM as it is more than just a dup finder. It's a the most versatile iPhoto utility available.
OT

How can I find and remove duplicate photos from my computer?

How can I find and remove duplicate photos from my computer?

Terence,
Yes, the duplicates appear in the iPhoto window. I have folders with same name occuring two or even three times sometimes with exactly the same set of photos (ie photos with the same ID) and sometimes with a limited set of photos. Other folders appear only once.
I normally take my MacBook with me if I'm shooting a lot of photos, such as on holiday, and then want to transfer them to my iMac when i get home. Other times I transfer the camera's memory stick directly to my iMac.
I have great difficulty transferring the photos from my MacBook to my iMac. I don't want to store my photos on my iDisk due to the length of time it takes to upload them.
Thanks again.
Simon

Find and remove duplicate photos

I recently copied or imported a large number of photos from external drives to iphoto, but the process seems to have peppered many duplicates of photos throughout my collection. Usually I iphoto asks if duplicates should be deleted, but it didn't in these instances. Is there a way for iphoto to search and identify duplicates and then delete those extras?

léonie:
Here's a more up to date list of the potential dup removal apps with the results of some of my testing:
These applications will identify and help remove duplicate photos from an iPhoto Library:
iPhoto Library Manager - $29.95
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.
OT

My previous programme to remove duplicate photos from iPhoto will not work in Photos. I feel I was tricked into buying a remove duplicate app from Apple which, after purchase, indicated it is only for iPhoto. Does anyone else have this problem. Does

Remove duplicate photos.

There is no Apple provided duplicate remover application. You must have bought a third-party application. Which application is it?
Photos is very new, and there are only a few apps, that have been updated to handle Photos Libraries are:
For example, these new apps claim to work with Photos:
Power photos: Fat Cat Software
Duplicate annihilator: Brattoo Propaganda Software - Products
PhotoSweeper: http://overmacs.com/photosweeper.html

Any tips for removing duplicate photos?

I had over 12,000 photos, with batches of photos in directory structures similar to folders like:
/NewEvent
/NewEvent/OriginalJPGs
/NewEvent/ProcessedForWeb
/NewEvent/ProcessedForPrint
/NewEvent/ProcessedForScreenDisplay
Now, I have multiple photos ... is there any way to easily remove duplicate photos in iPhoto? Other Suggestions? I'm switching from PC to Mac, and have just gotten started with iPhoto.
Thanks,
Richard

Well, they are duplicates, as far as I'm concerned, they mess up my orgami slide show by seeing the same photo plastered to the screen three times ... and they were duplicates before I imported them into iPhoto ... but yes, I processed the Nikon NEF file to a proof first image, then to a print optimized second image, then to a web browser optimized third image ... etc ... all BEFORE I imported them into iPhoto ...
So, now, I was wondering if there was a way to delete duplicte (meaning photos that look alike) eventhough they are different sized ...
Are you saying that if my source folders had multiple copies of the exact same file, then iPhoto would have only imported one of these files, and skipped the second?
thanks for your help
Richard

Removing duplicate photos in iphoto

how do I remove duplicate photos in iphoto? easily.

I have the most recent copy of IPLM (3.8.6) but can't find a way to mark/remove duplicates using it.
That's not the most recent version of iPhoto Library Manager The current version is 4.0.2. I believe the ability to deal with duplicates came with v4.

How do I remove duplicate photos on my iMac

HOw can I remove duplicate photos I seem to have done something wrong and have 5 duplicates of everything

The best option in that case is to restore your iPhoto library from your backup.
If your backup is not current it will be a lot of work and a risky operation, even with tools like iPhoto library Manager or Duplicate Annihilator.
Before you start deleting duplicates make a backup copy of the current state, so you have a fall back option in case you delete accidentally too much.
Old Toad has posted a list of tools to identify duplicates here: Re: eliminating iphoto duplicates

Is there a way to remove duplicate photos from my iphoto library?

Can anyone tell me how to remove duplicate photos from my iphoto library?

Go to the source and post here:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/iphoto
where the iPhoto experts are.

How can I find & remove duplicate photos fast?

How can I quickly find & remove duplicate photos?

For dealing with duplicates in iPhoto check out iPhoto Library Manager Duplicate Annihilator Decloner or iPhoto Duplicate Cleaner

How to remove duplicate photos on iPhone5?

Need help with removing duplicate and triplicate photos in iPhone5

Where are they duplicated? In the Camera Roll? In Photostream? In an iTunes synced album?
For the first two, just select them and delete them. For the third, correct the error in the parent album on your computer, then re-sync from iTunes.

Remove duplicate photos from photos

I upgraded to OS 10.10.3 which then allowed me to move my library of 10,000+ photos from iPhotos to the new Apple Photos program. After I moved the library I noticed I had some duplicates in my library. These duplicates are not from the upgrade. They were there before the move.
A year ago I used Duplicate Annihilator, a third party app, to remove the duplicates from iPhoto. It went through the iPhoto folder on my hard drive, identified the duplicates and allowed me to remove them. I cannot use this program/app now because there are no folders on my hard drive for Photos. They are all stored in iCloud.
Any suggestions on how to identify and remove duplicates on iCloud in Photos without going through my library of 10,000+ photos individually?

Not yet, but there should be one soon called PowerPhotos.

Iphoto Library confusion- removing duplicates - photo appears too small now

I have a massive mess in my Iphoto library so please excuse the confusion of this question but I can't simplify it any more
1) I had many duplicate photos so I recently started deleting duplicates manually through the Iphoto window.
2) I also have two photo libraries. I made a new library awhile back on the advice of this forum as I had Question Marks instead of pictures. I never removed the old library and now not sure what to do with it. Should I trash it?
3) After deleting duplicates and rebuilding thumbnail cache as it prompted me, now when I look at some of the photos they appear very small in the Iphoto viewer window and others appear fully. When I try to make them bigger in the Iphoto window they become fuzzy..
4) However, when I look at the actual files in the library in the Finder, I see I still have these photos in quadruplicate plus I have backups on other drives..
5)When I look at each copy of the same exact photo all of them appear in Preview as the same size as they do in the Iphoto library window. All except one - this one appears full screen...and very clear. The one that appears clear is actually visible in the finder menu where as the others all just have the jpeg icon...
6) How do I get my photos to appear as there full size in the iphoto library...Thank you....

I have a massive mess in my Iphoto library so please excuse the confusion of this question but I can't simplify it any more
1) I had many duplicate photos so I recently started deleting duplicates manually through the Iphoto window.
2) I also have two photo libraries. I made a new library awhile back on the advice of this forum as I had Question Marks instead of pictures. I never removed the old library and now not sure what to do with it. Should I trash it?
3) After deleting duplicates and rebuilding thumbnail cache as it prompted me, now when I look at some of the photos they appear very small in the Iphoto viewer window and others appear fully. When I try to make them bigger in the Iphoto window they become fuzzy..
4) However, when I look at the actual files in the library in the Finder, I see I still have these photos in quadruplicate plus I have backups on other drives..
5)When I look at each copy of the same exact photo all of them appear in Preview as the same size as they do in the Iphoto library window. All except one - this one appears full screen...and very clear. The one that appears clear is actually visible in the finder menu where as the others all just have the jpeg icon...
6) How do I get my photos to appear as there full size in the iphoto library...Thank you....

Easy way to remove duplicate photos? Many of my photos suddenly have 4 or more duplicates.

Does anyone know of an easy way to clean up duplicate photos on iPhoto? Suddenly have many, amany duplicates.

What did you just do? Did you by anychance change systems and import an old iPhoto library into the new one? NEVER do that - if you did drag the bad iPhoto library to the desktop and drag the old library to the pictures foldr of the new machine and launch iPhoto
In general use Duplicate Annihalitor or DeCloner to handle duplicates in iPhoto
LN

PSE10 Remove Duplicate Photos

I am running PSE10 on Win 7, and have found myself with a bit of a mess I'd like to clean up. My Catalog has many hundred duplicate photos. These are pairs of items that point to the same physical photo via a different path. All follow the pattern of C:\Documents and Settings\Chris\My Documents\... and C:\Users\Chris\Pictures...
I have tried using the Search for duplicate photos function, which does identify the duplicates, but it also finds tons of false positives, photos that merely look alike but are not actual duplicates. Sorting through these is not feasible.
I could perhaps identify the My Documents versions by deleting the shortcut to My Documents in the OS and seeing which images need to be reconnected. However my tags are all attached to the C:\Documents and Settings versions.
I'm looking for a good way to identify actual duplicate photos in the catalog, rather than merely similar ones.
The workflow I imagine is: identify duplicate photos | transfer tags to C:\Users version | delete C:\My Documents version.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Chris
PS I'll note that I am experienced with databases and sql, on the off chance the catalog is really a simple sqlite database that I can manipulate.

99jon wrote:
I would have thought there may possibly be a database tool which could extract the details into a table.
Unfortunately I don’t know one.
If the table could be sorted it may be possible to delete all the lines with Documents & settings/My Documents and then resave the file. Then replacing the existing db file with the newly saved version.
It’s worth a shot.
That's pretty much the approach I'm leaning toward right now.
The complicating matter is the tags and album data. Chris will have to give us the details, but if the "incorrect" file location data is the only data that has tags and albums, there will be some fancy SQL footwork needed to attach the tags and albums to the "correct" file location data.
In general, the procedure would be to:
Create a temporary table and populate it with the "incorrect" file location data (which contains correct reference keys to tags and albums) from the main media table.
Use that temporary table to attach the tags and album reference keys to the "correct" file location data in the main media table.
Use that temporary table to delete the "incorrect" file location records references from all the other tables.
Use that temporary table to delete the "incorrect" file location records from the main media table.
Delete the temporary table.
That can be done without creating a temporary table, but the subsequent SQL queries would contain somewhat hellish WHERE clauses. All this can be done in a straightforward manner using SQL queries in Database.Net.
Ken

Remove duplicate photos

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