Search for duplicates
The duplicate search offers various setting options and the starting dialog is divided into the following sections:
- Find in: Here you can specify whether you want to search in the entire database, the current view, specific folders and collections, or based on specified source and destination folders. In the latter case, duplicates will be searched for the photos of the source folders in the destination folders. Here you can specify whether you want to search in the entire database, the current view, specific folders and collections, or based on specified source and destination folders. In the latter case, duplicates will be searched for the photos of the source folders in the destination folders.
- Duplicate type: In the second step you can specify the type of duplicates. Exact duplicates are photos that are not only visually the same, but are also binary the same file. Thus, the binary hash representations of these files are identical. It should be noted that a search takes longer due to file access and hash calculation. Near duplicates are photos that are visually similar. The degree of similarity can be set from very strict to very loose. Here, very strict represents a high degree of visual similarity. We recommend this mode as the default setting. In the third mode you can find duplicates that are elements of image series and whose shooting dates differ only slightly. The time interval of these photos can be adjusted by a slider.
- Filter: For the search for duplicates, various filtering options are provided. For example, folders and collections can be specified that should be excluded from a search. Or format endings of photos that should also not be considered. The filter options are completed by the minimum and maximum edge length that photos should have so that they are taken into account in a search.
After a performed search, a user can switch either to the results view or to the flagging assistant. This Assistant can be used for automatic assignment of flags, where a user can decide whether the selection or rejection flag should be assigned. There are several options available for this process. A user can either select an action from the predefined default settings or use the numerous options from the advanced settings. The latter offer numerous setting options that cover numerous use cases. All elements of the dialog are equipped with so-called tooltips, so that when a mouse pointer is moved over the corresponding dialog element, a help text appears.
After a duplicate search, the individual duplicate groups are displayed in the result view. As you are used to from the main view, you can make various filter settings here and also expand the individual groups if you want to view a group completely. A button in the filter bar can also be used to open the flagging assistant to set automatic selection or rejection options. Deleting photos with a rejection flag is also possible via a button, but a user is asked beforehand if he really wants to perform this deletion action.
