Lightroom creates duplicates when republishing to Flickr

[Benito Aramando]

When you make any changes to a photo that is included in a set that has been published to Flickr it moves from the "Published Photos" section to the "Modified Photos to Republish" section. When the set is published these are supposed to update the existing image on Flickr (as per this page: How to publish photos from Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC to Adobe Stock and social media), but Lightroom just re-uploads it, creating a duplicate on Flickr (albeit with the updated version of the image). I have just updated to the latest version of LR Classic, 7.2, to no avail.

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

When the set is published these are supposed to update the existing image on Flickr

I don't really see where it says that. But you have to have a Flickr Pro account to be allowed to replace existing photos.

[Benito Aramando]

It isn't explicit, but under the heading "Upload to Flickr", part 2, it says "If prompted, click Replace to update published photos with newer versions", which clearly implies that photos which are being re-published should replace their existing counterparts on Flickr rather than being added again.

However, I think you're right about the Pro account level requirement. This is not well-documented on Flickr's end, and you can replace photos on a free account via the website which is why I thought this should be working, but the API does appear to restrict this to Pro accounts; error code 1 for the photo replacement API is "Not a Pro account": https://www.flickr.com/services/api/replace.api.html

[DClark064]

This is marked as the "Correct answer" but I think this answer is not correct. I have a PRO account and I am finding that edits to photos that get re-published create duplicates, and triplicates, etc, etc.  It's a mess!  Flickr support says they are working with Adobe to correct this problem, and they say the Flickr publish module is Adobe's responsibility.   Why is this not a BUG instead of an item in Discussions?

[dj_paige]

Are you using the Lightroom Classic built-in Flickr publisher? I use the Jeffrey Friedl Lightroom plug-in, and I don't have problems with duplicates being created; in fact it worked correctly yesterday. Lightroom Classic 13.2, Windows 11.

Please provide similar information for your situation.

[DClark064]

Yes, I am using the Adobe Flickr plugin.  Flickr support has verified that the Adobe Flickr publish plugin has problems and Flickr engineers are attempting to work with Adobe.  I say attempting since this seems to be a problem that has been around for a long time and there is no commitment to a fix anytime soon.  I have been trying to find any indication that Adobe acknowledges there is a BUG that needs to be fixed.  I can find reports of duplication of photos that go back a few years but no indication they recognize something is wrong and I see no indication any action is being taken.  For example, the post that started this thread is from 2018!

[stewartr43936066]

I have now started to get this issue. I have a Pro account and have been able to update images with no issues but I am now getting dupes every time I republish. I don't think it started right after the Mojave upgrade but I do't recall it before wither. Anyone have any thoughts as I am at a standstill ATM.

Additional - I have just been back to take  look at some earlier uploads and it was happening before the Mojave update. It seems that any image that is updated creates a new version.

S

[Rogerhollingsworth]

I have the same issue.

[b9dazzle@gmail.com]

I am getting the photos to be republished in Flickr.  There are 55 photos I have not touched in years.  I have a pro account and contacted them, they said it was a bug in adobe.   I talked to adobe tech support  they told tme to edit settings then leave as is.   so this is the second time in a couple months,  I am running the current version of  Lightroom classic and Windows did an update right before this happened.