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09/16/2011 10:49:23 AM · #1 |
I thought I'd throw this one out there as it's a perennial problem in my family (especially my dad). He backs up his pictures perfectly... and then renames the working copy--leaving those who come after him to struggle through the duplicates & triplicates of his pics (under different names) scattered all over his drive...
I found a little program that helps locate (& get rid of) exact copies irrespective of the name, and irrespective of the folder you've got them hiding in. For the techies among you (if I understand it correctly) it generates hashes of all the files, and compares the results of the matches...
My purpose in posting here is to see if others have the same problem because the developer originally built the program only for macs, then made a version for PC's, which is now discontinued for lack of interest (???)--ummmm like that's wierd from my perspective, because most people seem to need such a program, although I know we only ever need it on rare occasions...
Any thoughts?
Here's a link to the program in it's mac incarnation:
Find Duplicate Files
Personally, the only other way I know to get rid of duplicates is by re-importing pics according to their date & then visually comparing the results... Or maybe I'm missing something-- |
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09/16/2011 12:24:51 PM · #2 |
The only instance in which I have exact duplicate files is when I want them. I don't mess with my originals except to open them and once I have done the slightest of editing I rename it and put it in another folder.
I generally have three folders for a shoot:
1) The original folder titled something like S110910AirForceBall. 'S' identifies which camera I used, 1109010 is yymmdd, and then something to remind me at a glance what the shoot was about.
2) Within that folder I always have a folder titled "ed". This is my folder in which I place unfinished edits, usually edits completed with the first program in my workflow which is Nikon Capture NX2.
3) The final folder within the original folder is titled "done" and as the name implies, it is where my finished files are located.
4) Sometimes I'll create another folder (again, within the original folder)so that I can have different sizes of images and I'll name them appropriately something like "72dpi", "20x30", "watermarked", etc.
My image names make sense (at least to me). For example, 2173x3v1b tells me that image (number 2173) is my third version from processing in Capture NX2 (x3), once in CS5 (v1), and that version was slightly altered one more time (b) and that it is a second very similar version to 2173x3v1.
So, I will have a lot of different files, but almost no duplicates. |
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09/16/2011 01:07:10 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by yakatme:
My image names make sense (at least to me). For example, 2173x3v1b tells me that image (number 2173) is my third version from processing in Capture NX2 (x3), once in CS5 (v1), and that version was slightly altered one more time (b) and that it is a second very similar version to 2173x3v1.
So, I will have a lot of different files, but almost no duplicates. |
I would need a secret decoder ring to figure this one out. |
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09/16/2011 01:46:44 PM · #4 |
| LOL, my method evolved over time so it makes sense to me. |
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09/20/2011 09:07:52 AM · #5 |
Any other thoughts?
I know for myself that duplicate files prove to be a recurring problem.
Maybe I can pose the question the other way round: Given the scenario that you've downloaded a few CF cards of raw images, imported them into lightroom, and re-named them... What do you do if for some reason, you need to revert back to the original files you've backed up under different names?
Thoughts?
Eg. I had a client contact me three weeks ago for extra images. Usually I would say that they're too late, but the case was different... Given that I had already deleted them from my working drive, when I recovered the backups I had, I ended up with tons of re-named duplicates of files I had already processed. It might have been a simple process to eradicate duplicates if I had a program, but the only process I could think was by sorting by exif date & doing a manual visual comparison... |
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09/20/2011 09:12:47 AM · #6 |
| I discovered that programme a couple of months ago and found it to be very useful indeed. I wanted to "tidy" up my files following a copying snafu. I am a mac user though, so it's still current. I would imagine it's very useful also for the pc users. Despite being pretty organised with my files, once in a while I muck things up and I found this to be a very quick way to fix the problem. |
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09/20/2011 11:41:37 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Medoomi:
Maybe I can pose the question the other way round: Given the scenario that you've downloaded a few CF cards of raw images, imported them into lightroom, and re-named them... What do you do if for some reason, you need to revert back to the original files you've backed up under different names?
Thoughts? |
Same answer. See post #2.
It doesn't matter if they are renamed in Lightroom or any other program. I rename using Adobe Bridge, but the file still stays as original from the camera except for the name change.
Once I have edited a file I save it using my renaming method that I described which leaves the original (except for the renaming during download) completely unedited. Again, the original file remains unedited and what remains is this unedited file and the edited file with the new, new name. |
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09/20/2011 12:22:31 PM · #8 |
I usually only copy shots off my card when there's a full moon. As soon as they've copied, I rename them using this format:
random_greek_god+phase_of_moon+my_secret_number+how_rubbish_this_shot_is+how_long_before_I_delete_it+my_estimated_dpc_score.jpg
For example;
dionysusfull3.14159very1hour4.2.jpg
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09/20/2011 12:28:45 PM · #9 |
My big issue is in LR3 using Topaz or Nik suite software. I start with image.CR2 file. This gets exported to image.TIFF. I then go into Topaz DeNoise and the output is image-EDIT.TIF. I then go into Detail and the output is image-EDIT-EDIT.TIF etc etc. Ultimately I export as JPEG to post to web.
Literally, for one image, I can have 3-4 associated TIFF files and a JPEG file on top of my original RAW file.
Drives me absolutely nuts!! After editing 10 images, I may have close to 30 obsolete files that I need to go back and delete. One of the things about LR3 that is pushing me to CS5. |
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09/20/2011 12:40:01 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by gcoulson:
...After editing 10 images, I may have close to 30 obsolete files that I need to go back and delete. One of the things about LR3 that is pushing me to CS5. |
This is not a function of Lr 3, it's a function of the Nik software's need to create an intermediate file. Lr itself *never* needs to create an intermediate file, as all the "edits" are stored as a sidecar file, with the original never touched.
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09/20/2011 12:54:46 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
This is not a function of Lr 3, it's a function of the Nik software's need to create an intermediate file. Lr itself *never* needs to create an intermediate file, as all the "edits" are stored as a sidecar file, with the original never touched. |
True, it's not a function of LR3....directly. However, since LR3 doesn't do layers there is the need to create the intermediate files. Irrespective of origin, the continuous generation of files makes keeping a neat and tidy database more work than it should be. |
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09/20/2011 01:40:56 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by gcoulson:
True, it's not a function of LR3....directly. However, since LR3 doesn't do layers... |
Yep. Horses for courses. Ps is the place for multi-layer image manipulation, not Lr. Lr is not intended to do that job. You are almost certainly better off doing your native Lr adjustments, exporting to a PSD (or right-clicking and selecting "Edit in"). Apply the Nik and topaz stuff in Ps.
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09/20/2011 02:05:14 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by gcoulson:
True, it's not a function of LR3....directly. However, since LR3 doesn't do layers... |
Yep. Horses for courses. Ps is the place for multi-layer image manipulation, not Lr. Lr is not intended to do that job. You are almost certainly better off doing your native Lr adjustments, exporting to a PSD (or right-clicking and selecting "Edit in"). Apply the Nik and topaz stuff in Ps. |
This is good to know. I have just started using LR, and this is the way I've been operating. But since I'm teaching myself, I'm never sure if I'm using the best process. |
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