Scan Lightroom Catalog to Purge Similar and Duplicate Pictures

If you are a photographer or a creative individual who regularly uses editing tools, you might be familiar with the term Lightroom Classic catalog. If not, allow us to brief you. The Lightroom catalog is like a database that contains records for each photo that has been added to Adobe Lightroom.

Scan and delete your duplicate and visually similar photos with PictureEcho.

Every time we make changes to photos, for example, edit them, add keywords to them, or simply rate them, these changes are stored in a catalog. These catalogs are usually filled with thousands of photos. Users are often found to be complaining about how messy and confusing their catalog has become.

The prime reason why these catalogs become huge is because they contain several similar or duplicates. If you get rid of these similar or duplicate photos, you will notice a significant improvement in your catalog. While there are many tools that help users find and delete duplicate photos, only a few are compatible to work with Lightroom Classic catalogs. In this guide, we will brief you about using PictureEcho, a simple software program that helps you get rid of unwanted similar or duplicate pictures.

Using PictureEcho

PictureEcho can be downloaded for free from its official website (pictureecho.com). Once you have downloaded and installed the tool, follow the simple steps given below:

1. First up, go to the Scan Mode drop-down and select the Lightroom Classic option. Please note if you do not have Adobe Lightroom Classic installed on your computer, this step will give you an error.
   
   

   Choosing the correct scan mode

    

2. Now click Add Catalog and load the catalog you wish to clean.
   
   

   Catalog loaded up

    

3. You can either search your catalog for exact matches or for similar matches. In this case, it is advised that you use Similar Match since your catalog will probably consist of several highly similar (and not so useful) pictures that were created while you were making edits. If you opt for Similar Match, you can also set a Similarity Threshold using the slider.
4. When you’re done applying the settings, hit Start Search and let PictureEcho do its magic. The scan will be over very soon, and throw up a results pop-up. Click OK to view the duplicates, along with their previews and other details like name, location, size, etc.
5. Now you have to decide which images you want to retain and the rest will be processed (Permanent Delete/ Move to folder). You can manually select the duplicates or use the Select Duplicates button. The Select Duplicates option, you can directly apply a rule to filter out the detected duplicates. The rules are basically filters based on different features like file size (smallest or largest), resolution (lowest or highest), or date of creation (oldest or newest).
6. After selecting the duplicates, hit Select Action. Now, you can either choose to move all the duplicates to a different location so that you can review them later or you can directly permanently delete them. Both actions can be performed with a single click.

With just these simple steps, you can clean up all the mess in your Lightroom Classic Catalog. Cleaning your catalog with PictureEcho is the first and foremost step towards an organized catalog. Trust us when we say this, this is going to make your life a lot easier!

Raza Ali Kazmi

Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms.