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Linking files

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I have a library with processed images. Unfortunately the file names have changed. Is there a way to link the files without having to do this file by file (more then 1000 images)

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FotoVerbekeAuthor

Participant

I always do the original renaming in lightroom. The question is, do the recovered new files contain the original name ? And how can I link the files based on the original name ?

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dj_paige

Legend

I always do the original renaming in lightroom. The question is, do the recovered new files contain the original name ? And how can I link the files based on the original name ?

By @FotoVerbeke

Hi, so you did the renaming in LrC? Then you should not have to re-link the files at all. So I am confused, what is the problem?

What "recovered new files" are you talking about in the context of this topic? This is the first time you have mentioned "recovered new files", please explain this further.

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FotoVerbekeAuthor

Participant

The files got renamed by mistake by an external tool. The wrong path was passed to a renaming tool 😒

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L

Lumigraphics

Legend

Have you tried a Synchronize Folder operation? This will remove old entries and add files that aren't in the database.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/create-folders.html

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dj_paige

Legend

I would definitely avoid synchronize folders. The photos in the catalog that don't exist in the folder, because the file names have changed (which is all photos), will be removed from the catalog, and their edits and user-provided metadata will also be gone. I don't see how this helps. It sounds to me like this makes things worse.

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L

Lumigraphics

Legend

I write all changes to XMP, and of course any changes to files with internal metadata are already in the files. The OP would lose collections and such but not core file data.

There is not AFAIK any file checksum or other data written to the database, this would take forever and use a huge amount of disk space.

OP, I guess it depends on what you mean by processed photos. Are these RAW files? DNGs? PSD files? What kind of processing? Do you have a backup (Time Machine maybe?) with the original files?

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dj_paige

Legend

If the file names were changed outside of LrC (in your operating system, or via some other third party software) then there really is no other way than file by file.

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Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

Is it possible you can again rename them to their original filenames? - Using Finder or a Mac rename app. (Perhaps the original camera filename is embedded in your re-named files).

Do you have backups of the camera originals that you can copy and paste over the renamed files?

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Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.6, Photoshop 27.8, ACR 18.7, Lightroom 9.4, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .

J

JanVerbeke

Participant

When I imported them into lightroom, I renamed them with a counter trailer, so it's in fact completely arbitrary.
Doesn't Lightroom keep a hash of the photo in his catalogue (that maybe is used to avoid duplicates )? If yes then I could write some scripting to - based on that hash - rename the 'new' ones programmatically

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