# Lightroom 3 duplicating and triplicating imported photos



## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

This is crazy and I don't know why it's happening. I noticed that  during the latest import Lightroom 3 was duplicating and even  triplicating imported files, ie; a 20120608-IMG_3354 appears in the  import box again as 20120608-20120608-IMG_3354 and even as  20120608-20120608-20120608-IMG_3354.
I've never seen this before. 
I've  deleted the folder from the hard drive, removed the folders from the  Lightroom and re-imported, even with the 'do not import suspected  duplicates' box checked and the same thing keeps happening.
Why is this happening and how do I stop it?

Thanks, Bob


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## Kiwigeoff (Jun 10, 2012)

Bob, for sure it is operator error somehow!!
Can you post a screen shot of your Import Window showing the settings in the right panels...


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## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

Here you go.


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## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

*Maybe the culprite with duplicate import*

Here's something odd I just noticed. On this second screen shot, under the import folders panel on the lower right side of the import screen, two folders appear that have been deleted from both the hard drive  AND from Lightoom catalogs. But they appear in this section. Maybe that's the reason? These two folders are selected. Should I un-select them?

Never mind, this folder screen appears to be a description of what folders the images will be imported TO.  Why does LR create two separate folders for shots done on the same day?


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 10, 2012)

No that's not odd, it is as expected. Above that section you have chosen to "Organise by Date" using the format yyyy/yyyy-mm-dd, and so Lightroom is now showing you *what will be the result of the Import*. The fact that those two sub-folders are shown in _*italics *_means that *they don't currently exist**, and that this particular import process setting will result in them being created.* 

So if that is what you intend, no need to change anything.


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## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

yeah, I noticed that after I posted, but here's the crazy part. On this screen shot, you can see the duplicate images because you'll notice the duplicate dates right on the import screen. This can't be normal.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 10, 2012)

Well, that tends to indicate that the problem is happening *before* importing into Lightroom. Do you use any form of pre-Lightroom processing which involves your camera/cards? That screenshot indicates that the files on the import source (is that direct camera or card reader?) *are already named *20120608-201206098-IMG_xxxx.CR2, so we need to find out what you are doing to make that happen. Any thoughts?


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## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

OK, I'll have to check and see what settings I put on the camera; Canon 60D. It's possible during the shoot I might have spun something in the menu. I see you have a Canon Jim, is it possible to change the naming of images already on the card or once Canon assigns a number, you have to live with it? I'm glad it's not LR though.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 10, 2012)

I can't recall if you can have the camera create a different file name, but I very much doubt that it would create a name with a double- or triple-barrelled date prefix. Something else is going on, but I can't figure out what just yet. Can you give me a screenshot of an Explorer view of your card, using the "List" view format, as per this example?


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## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

Here it is. I don't think this is in camera naming because when I reviewed the LR import screen, I do indeed see the same image 3 different times with three different names, including the IMG_XXXX, year/date_XXXX and doubleyear/date_XXXX-3. I also included where the date jumped from 06/08 to 06/09 even though they were all shot on 06/09.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 10, 2012)

I've been racking my brain, trying to think up a way to create the situation that you seem to have on your import card. I can get close, but I can't completely replicate it, so I guess that isn't actually what's happened.

For now, I suggest you run the import, but making absolutely certain that you only select the real original files (i.e. the ones starting with IMG_xxxx.CR2), and make absolutely certain that your destination folder (i.e. My Pictures) is selected correctly.

Once that's done, if you have another card handy I suggest you rattle of a few test pics and try to import those, checking carefully to make sure nothing similar is happening.


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## bestremera (Jun 10, 2012)

I unchecked everything but the originally #'d files, ie, the IMG_XXXX files. Import is going as expected. I'll do a test shoot and upload again soon and see if it happens again. Thanks for the help Jim. This was a weird one.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 10, 2012)

Can you clarify? I thought the previous imports and sub-folders had been removed? If they haven't, and you try to import again, Lightroom should simply not let you. If you have removed them then there should be no issue (and you can rename on import as you were setup to do).

If you're not sure, don't try importing yet, and instead give me a screenshot of the Folders Panel in the Library Module with the 2012 year folder expanded.


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## bestremera (Jun 11, 2012)

Per your earlier suggestion, I imported only the IMG_XXXX files and unchecked all the dubplicate and triplicate files that already appeared with dates in the import window. Upon completed import, the dates were added to the name as normal after import. So I'm good with the import but as you suggested, I'll make a bunch of test shots and see if this happens again. But my last import, with some intervention, was good. Thanks for the help and I'll keep you posted on next attempt. On this thread.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 11, 2012)

Thanks for letting us know.


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## Kiwigeoff (Jun 11, 2012)

It certainly looks like you've imported those files more than once. In fact that is the only explanation. Now the question is where did you copy/move them too in the first and second import instance.
I'd start by searching by file name in lightroom for in the first instance one with the single date name (2012XXXXXX.) and second for the same file with the double date file name (2012xxxx-2012xxxx)
I suggest they may be in that Lightroom folder in My Pictures.:surprised:


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## bestremera (Jun 11, 2012)

*Importing duplicates and LR creating 2 different folders.*

Thanks Kiwi,

I agree that somehow, I must have done a duplicate import. I'm going to do a test tonight and import again and I'll bet everything is OK. I'll update this post.
One other question I have, frequently, when I do a shoot all on the same day, during import, LR creates 2 folders, with two different dates. That happened with this last import also.  I shot everything on Sat, 06/09 but LR made a folder for 06/08 AND 06/09. Why does it do this?



Kiwigeoff said:


> It certainly looks like you've imported those files more than once. In fact that is the only explanation. Now the question is where did you copy/move them too in the first and second import instance.
> I'd start by searching by file name in lightroom for in the first instance one with the single date name (2012XXXXXX.) and second for the same file with the double date file name (2012xxxx-2012xxxx)
> I suggest they may be in that Lightroom folder in My Pictures.:surprised:


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 11, 2012)

Bob, are you still using 3.0 as per your profile? If so you need to (free) upgrade to the latest LR3 version, 3.6. There were a few bugs in earlier releases in which Lightroom messed up the automatic folder date creation by incorrectly adding your system time offset (versus UTC/GMT) to the camera's capture time. For example, if your PC is set to a +3 time zone, and you take some pictures on 06/08 before 2100, and then some more on the same date but after 2100, Lightroom in error adds the three hour offset, so it thinks the shots taken after 2100 were in fact shot after midnight, i.e. the next day.

Currently I think the bug only exists when you try to import directly from the camera, and only effects dated folder names. The LR3 bug, IIRC, affected filenames (if you used the date token) as well as folder names, and possibly even the recorded capture time in the EXIF data.


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## bestremera (Jun 12, 2012)

I do have LR 3.6 64 bit. Well, just tried to import again with 17 test shots this morning. Before the import attempt, I deleted the 0608 and 0609 folders from the hard drive (once emptied of photos) AND from the catalog. Check out the screen shot, not only does it show the new (blank) imported images, it also lists, with duplicate date names, files that had already been successfully imported the day before. And thanks, I will do the upgrade.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 12, 2012)

Bob, the problem is that all those duplicates/triplicates *are on the actual memory card*. Now I have no idea how they got there (I thought I did, but I can't completely replicate the filenames, so I guess not), but you really need to get rid of them. Until you do you'll keep running into the same issue.....you have taken 17 test shots, yet there are over 400 images still on that card, which Lightroom will try to import because you've deleted the folders that they were in.

Suggestion.....cancel that import, it's just making matters worse. Instead, outside Lightroom, copy the entire contents of that card to a temporary folder on a hard drive. Then, using Explorer, weed out all those duplicate/triplicate files (you only want originals that start with IMG), either delete them or move them out of that folder. Then run the Lightroom import again, select that temporary folder as the import source, use Copy as normal, with normal destination folder, and this time you should only get the correct files imported.

Once they are imported, run your normal image file backup, *then reformat (in camera) that card.* Then you can start testing the import process to see if you can nail down where that duplication is happening.

Does that make sense?


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## bestremera (Jun 12, 2012)

That would be odd Jim because I thought I had cleared the card, ie; erased ALL images. I'll have to double check but I'm sure that in the menue I 'deleted all images' after I was sure that the new images were safely on my hard drive.
I'll confirm if somehow I left some remaining images on the card when I get  home.
And I DID cancel that import. It was just a test to see what appeared on the import screen.



TNG said:


> Bob, the problem is that all those duplicates/triplicates *are on the actual memory card*. Now I have no idea how they got there (I thought I did, but I can't completely replicate the filenames, so I guess not), but you really need to get rid of them. Until you do you'll keep running into the same issue.....you have taken 17 test shots, yet there are over 400 images still on that card, which Lightroom will try to import because you've deleted the folders that they were in.
> 
> Suggestion.....cancel that import, it's just making matters worse. Instead, outside Lightroom, copy the entire contents of that card to a temporary folder on a hard drive. Then, using Explorer, weed out all those duplicate/triplicate files (you only want originals that start with IMG), either delete them or move them out of that folder. Then run the Lightroom import again, select that temporary folder as the import source, use Copy as normal, with normal destination folder, and this time you should only get the correct files imported.
> 
> ...


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## bestremera (Jun 13, 2012)

That was it! But this never happened before. When I clicked my camera to the view photos, it said 'no image'. But it was odd that it also showed that I only had 295 images to shoot when it is usually around 600 (16mb). I plugged the card into the reader and saw that it was actually 60% full.  With a bit of navigating on the card, I found folders on the card that were on my hard drive???  How the heck did that happen?  Anyway, I found a folder called 'imported on 06/08' that was filled with the 385 images.  I deleted this entire folder so it zeroed out the card then reformatted it just to be sure. I have no idea how any of this happened but sorry to have bothered you all with a problem that was not even LR related. But I have to say Jim, that when you highlighted the words in your previous comment, " . . . are actually on the memory card" it reminded me of the horror movie with the baby sitter who was being told by the detective that the last phone call from the killer was, "coming from inside the house!"  Thanks for all the help everybody.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 13, 2012)

Thanks for clearing that up.....but I fear it was probably a "user error". 

Folders with the name "Imported on...." are actually created by Lightroom when you use the "Make Second Copy" option in the Import Screen (the idea being to make a quick copy of the card contents *to a hard drive* which then allows the import card to be reformatted/reused before the imported files have been gathered up by the 'proper' backup system). So in this situation it's seems that you have inadvertently chosen that option, but with the target drive being the card reader! As you will have gathered, that's not a good idea, lol.

Actually, I was on the right lines, I had been testing to see if I could create your scenario by having the card reader set as the prime Destination folder, but the file-names weren't quite the same.....never considered the "Make Second Copy" option. 

Anyway, glad the mystery is solved, but do make sure you correct that "Make Second Copy" destination for your next import as it can be 'sticky'.


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