Is there a way for LR to recognize duplicates in import when just the file name differs?

[Jeena22389650a1ho]

Well, here I am again folks. I am finally organizing images from years ago and my god is it fun...

So, in todays episode, I've got folders of many files in different places on my hard drive that I am trying to consolide into one lightroom catalog. The issue is that I suspect their are duplicate image files spread across many folders, where the only thing that differs is the file name. Am I correct in my deduction that if even one single character in the file name differs between two otherwise identical images, LR will not recognize that they are duplicates?

If so, is there any way that I can do some sort of more advanced image duplicate detection upon import (or elsewhere if necessary), such as by setting parameters such as creation date/time metadata, GPS metadata, etc. So for example, I could ask lightroom to cross reference the import files with any pre-existing files in the catalog that have identical creation date/time as well as GPS metadata.

[dj_paige]

Am I correct in my deduction that if even one single character in the file name differs between two otherwise identical images, LR will not recognize that they are duplicates?

Maybe, maybe not. It depends. Here is the LrC documentation  stating how duplicates are determined.

Ignore duplicates when importing

Lightroom Classic determines a photo is a duplicate of another file in the catalog if it has the same, original filename; the same Exif capture date and time; and the same file size. You can instruct Lightroom Classic to disregard duplicate files when importing.

Note that it says "original file name". So if the original file name is stored in the file, even though you have changed the file name, LrC could still recognize the photo as a duplicate, assuming the other conditions are met as well. You will have to try it to find out.

Also, the advice is to eliminate duplicates before you import into LrC. Tbere are Windows and MAC programs that will look through your computer and determine duplicates for you, based on a lot of criteria. I have no experience with these program, and so I leave it up to you to search the internet and find them and try them.

[Jeena22389650a1ho]

Ah I see, thank you very much for that info @dj_paige. And jeez, good catch on the "original file name" verbage. I never would have picked up on that distinction.

Still, I dream of a future where Lightroom gives us some controls over its suspected duplicates capabilities! It's a wonderful tool as is, but at least in my case, if I had some ability to tweak it , it could speed up my workflow tremendously. Thousands of these files don't share an original file name with their duplicates/ don't have the original file name stored. This alone has caused lightroom to not catch that they are dupes. I've been forced to go about things manually as I cannot figure out a better way to automate the process with LR or any other software as of writing this post 😕

[dj_paige]

Don't do this in LrC. Do this in some 3rd party program before you import the photos into LrC.

[JoelOlofsson]

Do you have some recommendations for programs that can do this?

[JoelOlofsson]

It would be great if it was possible to specify what data the duplicate detection tool was using when filtering images. I could see this implemented as a few extra checkboxes where you could toggle detection based on image content, filename, and metadata. If the tool could also tell the user why each image has or has not been filtered out, then all the better.

This would be super useful to me as I have some duplicate directories that I want to merge where the filenames or metadata differs slightly between duplicates but the actual images are identical. As it is, the import tool chooses to import both when I only want one. This feature would also be useful when checking old backups prior to discarding.

[Jao vdL]

This (not free) plugin is apparently able to find duplicates based on visual similarity: https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyvision.htm#find