Double Images

[MarcRJacobs]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom Classic version: 9.3 [ 202005281810-476e492c ]

Operating System

1. macOS 10.15 Catalina
2. iOS

Hi;
I have many occurrences of duplicate images. They have the same file name, one always has a number 2 in the upper left hand corner and a dog-eared corner on the lower left. If I delete either they both disappear. How do I delete one, and what am I doing to cause this to exist?
Thanks,
Marc

 

[MarcRJacobs]

So, these seem to be Virtual Images, I don't really know what they are and how do I delete just the Virtual copy?

Thanks,
Marc

 

[Rob_Cullen]

To delete only the Virtual Copy- select it in Library view (and select only the VC!), press [Delete], done!
The creation of Virtual copies can occur (un-noticed) if you create Collections and have the option set to [make new virtual copies]. And [Delete] in a Collection only deletes a VC from the Collection and not the Folder view!
Be aware that you may have collections (for Books, Slideshows, etc) that only use the VCs. If you see the Collection badge on the VCs this indicates the VC is in a collection, so delete with caution!

Caution: I note that only your Virtual Copy is the 'synced' version- so deleting a synced VC will affect your synced photos synced to the Cloud!

 

[MarcRJacobs]

To delete only the Virtual Copy- select it in Library view (and select only the VC!), press [Delete], done!
The creation of Virtual copies can occur (un-noticed) if you create Collections and have the option set to [make new virtual copies]. And [Delete] in a Collection only deletes a VC from the Collection and not the Folder view!
Be aware that you may have collections (for Books, Slideshows, etc) that only use the VCs. If you see the Collection badge on the VCs this indicates the VC is in a collection, so delete with caution!

Caution: I note that only your Virtual Copy is the 'synced' version- so deleting a synced VC will affect your synced photos synced to the Cloud!

Thank you! All these images came from the cloud, I have just started LRC as a backup mechanism not to long ago. Is there a way to select all Virtual Copy types in order to delete them? And they how to globally turn on syncing for the rest?

Thanks,
Marc

 

[Rob_Cullen]

In my limited knowledge- it is not possible (or practical) to use the Cloud as a backup of your images.
Classic will only sync proxy files (smart Previews) from Collections to the Cloud, not the full-size files.
Without knowing your procedures and workflow in detail, with details of your syncing methods, it is difficult to suggest explanations.

 

[Roelof Moorlag]

So, these seem to be Virtual Images, I don't really know what they are and how do I delete just the Virtual copy?

VC are not real copies of your images so they don't use harddisk space, only a limited amount in the Lightroom database for the instructions they contain to present you another 'look' on the source image.
If harddisk space is your 'trigger' then this is not going to resolve anything.

I think this is an interesting read. It gives a better understanding about VC's: How do I copy metadata or edits between photos? | The Lightroom Queen

 

[Paul McFarlane]

Is there a way to select all Virtual Copy types in order to delete them? And they how to globally turn on syncing for the rest?

In Grid View, select Attribute Filter and then the 'Kind' (right hand side) allows you to filter just on VC's (so can then delete - the message should then say 'Delete nnn Virtual Copies?' which reassures you the selection is correct!) = {age 170 of your Classic book has a screenshot of the filter mentioned.

Your comment on using LrC as a backup isn't making sense - can you explain more what you're trying to achieve?

 

[Jim Wilde]

VCs can be created automatically if the user imports images directly (i.e. not by syncing) into one of the Lightroom cloud apps, and there is a LrClassic catalog which has been sync-enabled. Basically, once they have been uploaded to the cloud, the next time the synced LrC catalog is opened it will connect to the cloud and one of three things then happens regarding syncing those newly imported images to Classic:

1. If the images do not exist in the LrC catalog, the new imports are downloaded in original form and added to the LrC catalog, stored in the specified location, and added to the All Synced Photographs special collection (i.e. they will display the synced icon in Classic).

2. If the newly imported images already exist in the LrC catalog, then:

a) If in Classic they had already been synced as Smart Previews then the only thing that happens is that the cloud replaces the Smart Preview with the original, and Classic is made aware of that change, which can lead to the situation in some circumstances whereby Classic will sync/upload the full original again if that original is physically changed (e.g. by saving XMP to the file).

b) If in Classic the image had NOT been synced, then the new imports are made available to download to Classic. However, Classic's duplicates detection kicks in, recognises that what is being synced is in fact a duplicate of existing images and in that circumstance it simply creates a VC which is added to the catalog, and it's that VC that is the synced image that is added to All Synced Photographs. So in Classic you end up with an unsynced original and a synced Virtual Copy of that original.

Be aware that if you decide to remove the VC from Classic, that will delete the original that's in the cloud (the original in Classic should be unaffected). You can in Classic use the Set Copy as Master option which would make the synced VC the now-synced master, and the current unsysnced original would become the VC. Then you can remove the VC with no affect on the synced files in the cloud. The problem with this approach is that you can only do it one VC at a time.

When I was originally testing Classic catalog migration to the cloud, and then going against advice and re-enabling syncing of the migrated Classic catalog, I did experience some VCs being created as above, though in theory that shouldn't have happened. I don't know if that issue has subsequently been resolved (I doubt it, Adobe's advice has always been to not re-enable syncing of a migrated Classic catalog).

 

[MarcRJacobs]

Thank you, Jim;

Great explanation, and it explains a lot about my issues. It seems that my issue is what you referred to in 2B. But, thanks to Adobe's help here, I may have made things worse. First, I made a smart collection to find all VCs with no edits, flagged them Red, then in All Photographs I filtered on Red and deleted them. There was about 25 out of 73K of those. Then, for the remaining approximately 200 of 73K VCs with edits, I manually deleted them after verifying my master had the necessary edits I wanted. So, I assume that all those 225 masters are not going to be synced anymore. How do I find them now, and get syncing turned back on for those 225.

Thanks,
Marc

 

[Jim Wilde]

How do I find them now, and get syncing turned back on for those 225.

1. Create a new empty collection in LrC, give it a meaningful name.
2. Click on All Synced Photographs in the Catalog panel.
3. Cmd+A to select them all.
4. Then click on All Photographs, just above the ASP collection. Now you will have most of the images still selected, but the 225 unsynced images will also be in the grid but will be unselected.
5. Edit menu>Invert Selection. That will invert the selection so that the selected images (all the currently synced images) are unselected, and the remaining 225 not synced images are selected.
6. Drag from the centre of any of those 225 selected images and drop into the collection you created in step 1.
7. You can now enable sync for that collection, which will sync the images to the cloud as smart previews.
8. If you want originals of those 225 images in the cloud, you would need to import them to the Lightroom desktop app after the smart previews have uploaded.

 

[MarcRJacobs]

Wow, ingenious... glad you were still online...

Thanks Jim

 

[MarcRJacobs]

Hi Jim;

After step 7 completes, can I then delete the collection?

Thanks,
Marc

 

[Jim Wilde]

Sure, if you no longer need it.

 

[MarcRJacobs]

Sure, if you no longer need it.

Thanks