Looking For a Duplicate (Image) File Finder for MAC. Free would be nice.
August 9, 2013 2:16 PM Subscribe
Software for Mac OS X that efficiently handles thousands of RAW, JPEG, etc. images files-- and any other file types-- with a nice, big viewer for the image files; but please keep in mind, the software should primarily be a duplicate file finder.
Software that efficiently handles thousands of RAW, JPEG, etc. images files-- and any other file types-- with a nice, big viewer for the image files; but please keep in mind, the software should primarily be a duplicate file finder.
I realize there are many to be found online; I merely would like suggestions from others who have used these programs.
I would also offer that I am aware that programs like Lightroom and Bridge offer similar features, but that is not what I am after.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Software that efficiently handles thousands of RAW, JPEG, etc. images files-- and any other file types-- with a nice, big viewer for the image files; but please keep in mind, the software should primarily be a duplicate file finder.
I realize there are many to be found online; I merely would like suggestions from others who have used these programs.
I would also offer that I am aware that programs like Lightroom and Bridge offer similar features, but that is not what I am after.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Gemini isn't free (iirc about $5), but it has a demo and a built in image viewer. I'm not sure about RAW files, but it handles my TIFF, PNG, etc files beautifully, as well as PDFs and entire folders.
posted by angst at 2:23 PM on August 9, 2013
posted by angst at 2:23 PM on August 9, 2013
I looked around for something free, including one I found in the AppStore called iPhoto Duplicate Cleaner. After deciding I'd wasted more than enough time I ended up spending ~$10 for PhotoSweeper, which worked pretty well for me. It was pretty fast to scan my 20+ GB photo library, and the UI made reviewing the duplicates and tweaking the stringency relatively quick and easy.
As I recall it works with both files in the filesystem, and photos in iPhoto.
posted by Good Brain at 5:07 PM on August 9, 2013
As I recall it works with both files in the filesystem, and photos in iPhoto.
posted by Good Brain at 5:07 PM on August 9, 2013
I did a lot of this recently with images as well as with other types of files. I didn't find a free app that appealed to me, but Araxis Find Duplicate Files worked very well for a free weeklong trial. After that it's $10 to buy. The UI is not very slick and the viewer is rudimentary, but I found this app handled a massive number of files very well and the interface turned out to be flexible and easy to work with after I got the hang of it. It works on all kinds of files and it can be set to only scan certain types of files.
I know you want a good viewer for comparing images, but if you're dealing with a large number of photos you soon realize that visually comparing each set of duplicates will take way too long and you can't tell if two images are *exact* duplicates just by looking at them. This isn't necessary if you let an app like Araxis FDF do its job. Each file you scan is checksummed and given a unique hash. So even if two photos are identical in every way except for a single pixel being different, their checksums won't match and the app should not identify them as duplicates. It took me a while to really trust this process, but I never saw any mistakes.
Be VERY careful if you are deleting duplicates from an iPhoto library. If you don't use iPhoto to do the deleting (e.g. if you go into the finder to delete files or if you aren't careful with your deduplicater app of choice) you are in danger of corrupting your library database. This isn't a problem with iPhoto Library Manager, which might be a good choice if you are primarily scanning an iPhoto library. It allows you to delete photos from the library without screwing up the database. It also does some other useful things. I only did a trial of this since I think it costs $30. It looks like Araxis also can delete photos from a library, but it doesn't seem like it's recommended.
posted by theory at 2:36 AM on August 10, 2013
I know you want a good viewer for comparing images, but if you're dealing with a large number of photos you soon realize that visually comparing each set of duplicates will take way too long and you can't tell if two images are *exact* duplicates just by looking at them. This isn't necessary if you let an app like Araxis FDF do its job. Each file you scan is checksummed and given a unique hash. So even if two photos are identical in every way except for a single pixel being different, their checksums won't match and the app should not identify them as duplicates. It took me a while to really trust this process, but I never saw any mistakes.
Be VERY careful if you are deleting duplicates from an iPhoto library. If you don't use iPhoto to do the deleting (e.g. if you go into the finder to delete files or if you aren't careful with your deduplicater app of choice) you are in danger of corrupting your library database. This isn't a problem with iPhoto Library Manager, which might be a good choice if you are primarily scanning an iPhoto library. It allows you to delete photos from the library without screwing up the database. It also does some other useful things. I only did a trial of this since I think it costs $30. It looks like Araxis also can delete photos from a library, but it doesn't seem like it's recommended.
posted by theory at 2:36 AM on August 10, 2013
Oh, and of course BACK UP all your data BEFORE doing any deleting!
posted by theory at 2:40 AM on August 10, 2013
posted by theory at 2:40 AM on August 10, 2013
I have Decloner and Singlemizer. I like both, but like Singlemizer better in some ways. It has an iPhoto mode that will open iPhoto to do the actual deleting. It’s on sale today at Macupdate too.
posted by bongo_x at 9:33 PM on August 11, 2013
posted by bongo_x at 9:33 PM on August 11, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by holgate at 2:23 PM on August 9, 2013