Introduction Welcome to Do you really need all 12 shots of that coffee table? helps you organize your photo collections by finding and grouping duplicate or similar photos using powerful comparison settings. It works with photos from Apple Photos, iphoto, Aperture, Adobe Lightroom and Capture One* libraries, as well as photos from your hard drives. Hint: If you re annoyed at a huge number of photos or removing similar photos takes a lot of your time, is a tool you need. If you have questions about or seek solutions, it is the best to contact us by e-mail: support@overmacs.com We are always eager to hear about any requests and suggestions. We would like to thank all users who have helped in the further development of by sending us information and bug reports. * Compatible with: Photos 1.x iphoto 9.x (ilife '11), 8.x (ilife '09) and 7.x (ilife '08) Aperture 3.x Adobe Lightroom 5.x, 4.x and 3.x Capture One 8.x Page 1 of 27
Getting Started uses just one screen for all operations and makes all necessary information accessible from the single place. Browser Shows all added photos. Info panel Preview, histogram and metadata. Toolbar Provides quick access to the most commonly used functions. Compare button Click to start comparing. Page 2 of 27
Steps to eliminate duplicate or similar photos 1. Add your photos Drag and drop a folder with your photos from Finder to the browser. Result: photos from your hard drive are added to the Photo List and displayed in the browser. Add photos from a Photos library: click Media Browser on the Toolbar, add your library and drag and drop photos from the Media window to the browser. Result: photos from your Photos library are added to the Photo List and shown with a green ribbon. 2. Compare photos Click Compare button and select Similar Photos mode. Adjust Time Gap and Matching Level to your needs. Press Start button. Result: A progress window appears and after finishing switches to Results mode where you can see duplicate photos in groups. 3. Mark photos Click Auto Mark on the toolbar, review the marked photos. Result: similar or duplicate photos are marked, but they are still on your hard drive. 4. Remove marked photos Click Trash Marked on the toolbar and confirm removal. Result: A progress window appears and after finishing photos from the hard drive go to the system trash and those from Photos libraries - to the Trash () album. The job is done! Page 3 of 27
Adding photos You can add photos from your Mac and Photos, iphoto, Aperture, Lightroom and Capture One libraries. To add photos from your hard drive drag and drop a folder with your photos from Finder into the browser or press Command+O to show the standard Open panel. All photos inside a folder will be found and added. Page 4 of 27
To add photos from Photos, iphoto, Aperture, Lightroom or Capture One click Media Browser on the toolbar. The Media Browser window appears with previously added libraries, their albums and photos. At the first launch you may need to add your library files to the Media Browser window by using the + button. Drag and drop photos you want to compare from the Media Browser window to the browser. Libraries & Photos Shows all added libraries. Drag and drop a library file from Finder to this area to add a library. Toolbar Add a library, remove the selected or reload content of all libraries. Page 5 of 27
In the browser photos from libraries are indicated with a green ribbon at the top-left corner. from Aperture from iphoto from a hard drive (a file) Warning: Close Photos, iphoto, Aperture, Lightroom and Capture One applications before using in order to synchronize library content. If a library is being changed while is launched, close a native application and press the refresh button on the Media Browser window. To remove photos from the Photo List select them in the browser and use the menu Photos > Remove Photos from List or press Command+Delete. To fast empty the Photo List click Clear List on the toolbar. Hint: The Photo List can be stored between sessions, so you re able to quit any time and return to the program starting with the same photos. Page 6 of 27
Comparison Settings provides powerful settings and allows you to find: Duplicates Files - searches for absolutely identical files. Similar Photos - finds photos which look similar. Time Gap determines an interval between capture dates and you can set its value: from zero seconds to infinity. Matching Level defines a similarity level between photos and can be changed in the Results on the fly. Series of Shots - combines photos into groups based on a time gap between photos. Page 7 of 27
Hint: Comparison of photos can take quite a long time and depends on how many photos you add and what settings you use. While receiving results saves loaded bitmaps and stores them in a cache in order to make the next bitmap loading of the same photos extremely fast. Page 8 of 27
Similar Photos : Advance settings You choose how to compare photos: Bitmaps method compares pixels of size-reduced images, Histograms method compares histograms. Small bitmap size increases comparison speed and reduces memory usage; large bitmap size gets more precise results. Blur Radius allows you to smooth edges on photos. Hint: Bitmap Size 48x48 is usually enough to get satisfactory comparison results. Using bigger bitmaps takes significantly more memory and it s not recommended for a large photo list. Hint: Align Colors preprocessing helps you find duplicate photos even after applying color adjustments such as contrast, brightness, white balance, auto levels, etc. Hint: Using Grayscale color mode significantly decreases comparison time. Page 9 of 27
Reviewing results You can review resulting groups in 3 modes: One by One : one large image is shown. This mode allows you to fast switch between photos in a group to catch difference and mark/unmark a photo with just a click. Back button Switch between modes Matching Level Allows you to regroup photos on-the-fly. Groups view Displays result groups and allows you to select one. Photos in a group To navigate quickly between photos press, keys;, - to navigate between groups. Page 10 of 27
Face-to-Face : two large photos from one group are displayed with more details such as similarities between two photos in percentage, file paths, capture dates etc. Mark/unmark a photo with just a click. Back button Switch between modes Matching Level Allows you to regroup photos on-the-fly. Groups view Displays result groups and allows you to select one. Photos in a group Page 11 of 27
Face-to-Face mode also allows you to compare metadata information by pressing Info on the toolbar. Different values are displayed with red color. To mark a left or a right photo with keyboard press Shift+ or Shift+, for navigation between photo pairs press Command+, Command+. Page 12 of 27
All-in-One : allows you to see all groups together, but with fewer details. Back button Switch between modes Matching Level Allows you to regroup photos on-the-fly. Browser Displays all photos grouped with headers for groups and thumbnails for photos. Page 13 of 27
Marking photos The browser displays marked photos in red color and with a Trash Bin badge at the bottom-right corner. To mark or unmark photos select them and press Enter key or double-click. A marked photo A unmarked photo The One by One and Face-to-Face modes allow you to mark or unmark with a click. Page 14 of 27
Auto Mark You have an opportunity to mark all photos automatically with just one click: Auto Mark on the toolbar. marks all photos except one in each group, taking into account rules defined in the Preferences window. If you want to skip a rule, uncheck it; to set the rule order drag and drop rows. Page 15 of 27
Other features If you don t like all photos in a group you can mark them by using the rightclick menu Mark Whole Group(s). Often you need to mark all photos from a group with an exception of one or two. For this purpose you can select photos you want to keep and use Mark Group(s) Except Selected Photos in the right-click menu. To quickly unmark all photos you can use the menu Photos > Unmark All. You have an opportunity to select photos which are located in the same place: a containing folder for files from your Mac, an album or an event for photos from Photos, iphoto, Aperture and Lightroom. All you need to do is select one photo and use the menu Photos > Select Photos at the Same Location. Hint: You can mark photos in Photo List mode as well. To switch between Photo List and Results modes press Control+1 and Control+2 or use the View menu. Page 16 of 27
Moving marked photos to Trash To remove all marked photos press Trash Marked on the toolbar and confirm removal. A progress window appears and after finishing photos go to trash. Apple Photos Important: The All Photos album should be pre-selected to let move photos to trash. A window with instructions will be shown before the operation, please follow them to move photos successfully. As a result, photos are in the album named Trash (). All photos are still at their places. To get rid of photos launch Photos, select all photos in the album Trash () and use the right-click menu Delete Photos (it s not the same as removing the album). After it, photos will be deleted from all places and devices, including icloud. Page 17 of 27
iphoto Important: Please make sure that you can launch iphoto on your Mac. Since Mac OS X 10.10.3, Apple forces you to migrate your library to Photos and iphoto application may not be accessible. can launch iphoto application to remove photos from your iphoto library. Don t use iphoto until removal is finished. As a result, photos are moved to iphoto Trash, and to get rid of them empty Trash manually in iphoto. Aperture Important: Aperture application must be closed until removal is finished. As a result, photos are moved to Aperture Trash, and to get rid of them empty Trash manually in Aperture. Page 18 of 27
Lightroom Important: Lightroom application must be closed until removal is finished. As a result, photos are moved to the collection named Trash () and are also marked as Rejected. Next time you launch Lightroom the collection Trash () is pre-selected and to get rid of photos select all of them and, holding Command and Shift keys, use the menu Photo>Remove and Trash Photos. The alternative way is to remove Rejected photos: select the All Photographers catalog and use the menu Delete Rejected Photos. Capture One Important: Capture One application must be closed until removal is finished. As a result, photos are moved to the collection named Trash (), plus a keyword #Trashed is assigned to photos. To get rid of photos, select the All Images section, find all photos with the keyword #Trashed and delete them from a catalog. Page 19 of 27
Advanced features Marked Photos mode You have an opportunity to see only marked photos in a separate mode. Use the menu Marked > Show Marked Photos or press Control+3 to get into the Marked Photo mode. Page 20 of 27
Renaming photos while moving or copying You have an opportunity to set meaningful file names for your photos while moving or copying them by using the menu File > Move to Folder and Rename or File > Copy to Folder and Rename. A window appears where you can specify how photos will be renamed with a live preview for those names. Page 21 of 27
Image Info Sometimes basic information about photos is not enough to decide which one to keep. To show advanced information about a selected photo click Info button on the toolbar. Page 22 of 27
Movies You have an opportunity to compare not only photos but video files. The procedure of getting rid of duplicate movies is the same as for photos, including possibility to add movies from Photos, iphoto, Aperture, Adobe Lightroom and Capture One libraries. In the browser movies are marked with a camcorder badge at the bottomright corner. Warning: finds absolute identical video files only, regardless of comparison settings you choose. Page 23 of 27
Locked photos You have an opportunity to lock photos. Locked photos are used for comparison but they can t be marked for deleting. To lock or unlock photos select them and press Command+L or use the menu Photos > Lock. A locked photo Page 24 of 27
When you add photos you can lock all images from a specific folder automatically using settings in the Preferences window. Page 25 of 27
Searching photos in the browser You have an opportunity to search photos in the Photo List mode by different kinds of criteria. To show or hide the filter panel press Search on the toolbar or Command+F. Page 26 of 27
Filtering photos on adding You can skip small images or files in specific image/video formats using settings in the Preferences window. These options are for photos being added to the browser. Page 27 of 27