# Needing to delete jpegs from jpeg/raw files for space



## Knabber (Jun 23, 2017)

I hope this isn't too long, as I have multiple problems but here goes... have been using Lightroom for a few years not really knowing what I was doing. I finally took a course that taught about developing in LR, but little else. It was suggested that I get an external hard drive to back up my photos, which I did, a 4 TB. I was told at the store, it's simple, just drag and drop, and yep, that's what I did. I now know, big mistake. In the meantime, I also was shooting jpeg/Raw for a few years. Now both my PC and laptop are out of space. I have no room. None. So I was told from a computer repair/enhance place just delete the jpegs from the PC/laptop. This time I did some research and found that is NOT what I should do, I need to do it through LR. So I think my first priority (after I changed my camera to only shoot Raw) is to delete the Jpegs so I have some space on the computer, and then learn how to load all photos onto a couple of external hard drives, through lightroom on import. Unless I need to do something else first, UGH!
    So I guess my main (or first) question is how do I delete the jpegs in LR, but please know that I have limited computer and LR smarts. I need step by step instructions. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jun 23, 2017)

The problem with helping clean up a mess is it's hard, not being there, to know what the mess really entails.

Simple example: If you have ALL your raws, and the JPG's are all duplicates, deleting all the JPG's (though lightroom, then double checking outside) is fine.  But what if some JPG's are images you got in another way, either shooting only JPG, or you edited the JPG and not the raw, or someone gave you JPG's and you want to keep them. Such a mass cleanup will of course delete those as well.

It also depends on how you had the setting (under preferences) "Treat JPG next to raw as separate photo" set, since if it was set to not-checked, then your JPG's are partially hidden behind the raw in Lightroom.  But the biggest issue is really how you are going to know if it's OK to delete a given JPG -- is it just duplicative, or is it gold?

On a related note, depending on the camera and its settings, it is unlikely you will get a whole lot of space back from deleting JPG's.    A typical JPG is likely to be only 20% the size of a raw image, so even if every single raw had a JPG, deleting all the JPG's may not free up much space.  So you may want to think about a plan B as well, like asking whether you have culled adequately -- are all the images you keep ones you really need?

Finally, when you started dragging and dropping images onto the external drive, did they move off the internal, or just make copies?   (How you do the drag/drop matters there, by default it should have copied).  If it copied, you could just start over on that process and wipe the external drive first, but be very sure it didn't move the files and the external drive has the only copies.   In newer versions of Lightroom there's a "Find missing photos" that can help confirm this. I do not know when that was added; your profile shows a very old 4.x copy, but look under the Library menu.  This will show if you've broken the links in some fashion and photos are in the catalog but not found on the drive.  A Synchronize will also do that.

(Really) Finally, if you are literally out of space, you should clean up some other things first to get enough space you can do some of these functions; the windows cleanup tools may help there. 

But provide some more info, and try to narrow down one aspect of this that we might help with at a time.  The key though is to really, really understand each step so in cleaning up you do not delete something you need.


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## Knabber (Jun 23, 2017)

I understand the need to see the mess to know what it entails, and how I complicate it by not totally grasping all of what Lightroom can do and where things are in LR. I'm hoping I can get a starting point. Overwhelmed doesn't begin to describe how I'm feeling lol.  
   So if I first start with culling my images and deleting what I don't want to keep, should I do that through LR or just delete them in explorer? I'll go through each file and do what must be done if I need to, to start cleaning this up. I just need someplace to start. I know I have some photos that I'll never print and don't need to keep, probably many. 
   I checked under preferences and there was nothing checked. I've checked it now, but have already changed the setting in my camera to raw only.  
  When I dragged and dropped the folders were copied, not transferred, But I have since backed up catalogs from LR onto the external. Will I need to check to make sure that all the LR catalogs are indeed on my PC and/or laptop? Paranoia that I may delete things I want to save! 
  Yes, I have the 4.4 version of Lightroom. I clicked find missing folders and have 1 missing folder on my laptop. I haven't checked my PC yet, but know there are more folders missing on that. Right now it's updating and taking forever, sigh. The synchronize option is not lit up on my laptop so I can't use that  on the missing folder, possibly because I do not have the external hard drive connected right now. I will check that soon, after errands are run.  
   I have run windows clean up tools and unfortunately still have issues with space. Hopefully culling some of the images will help. So would you agree that is a good place to start??


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jun 23, 2017)

Here's what I would do, I think.

First, I think I would uncheck the checked box, so it stays consistent at least for now.  Can you confirm your intention is to get rid of the duplicate JPG's?  That's what you want to do?

Next, if you have inadequate space to actually do things, and have cleaned up Windows as best you can, an option is to delete the preview cache.  This is not normally done, but it can save a lot of space.  The reason it is not normally done is over time it just comes back.  Find your catalog first, let's say it is something like MYSTUFF.lrcat. IN the same folder, there will be another folder called MYSTUFF PREVIEWS.lrdata.  Check if there's a lot of space in it (right click, properties -- this is all in Explorer, not Lightroom).  If it's taking up a huge amount of space, and you are a bit patient, delete it (close Lightroom first).  Lightroom will just recreate it, and browsing photos will be much slower as it creates it on the fly as images are viewed, but it will free up the majority of that space while you work on things.  *Do this only as a last resort *from having cleaned up windows and not found enough space.  *Be VERY clear you do not delete anything with "lrcat" in it anywhere in the name.*

I do think the next step to start is make sure the catalog is consistent with your photos, e.g. all photos are in the catalog, and all photos the catalog knows about can be found and are not showing missing.  Search out any missing, important any that you found were not in the catalog at all (probably ADD not COPY or maybe MOVE).  Once this is completely consistent, then from that point on, where possible, do everything from Lightroom.  This will keep it consistent.

I'm hoping someone will jump in on the JPG issue.  I never use JPG+RAW in the catalog, so I am not quite sure how to get rid of the JPG's that are somewhat hidden.  I'll give it a trial run in a bit, but maybe someone else can suggest.  Those will be the easiest to delete, the ones where you know there was a RAW and it kept them both together, as you know the JPG is superfluous.

In the meantime, you can also delete any images you do not want at all.  There are a couple ways, just make sure you use "Delete from disk" when it prompts, not "remove" from catalog.  One way I like to delete is mark them rejected (just hit the X key in library module).  This marks them rejected, then there is a "Delete Rejected Photos" option in the Photo menu, which will collect them all (be sure to select the right level, probably the very top, in your folders before running it) and you get a last chance to see what's about to be deleted before you confirm.  By deleting it in lightroom both the image and the catalog entry are removed.

NOW ALL THAT SAID.... you mentioned two computers.  There are NO good ways to keep two computers in sync, so not sure if you are doing that manually, or they have different images, etc.  ALl I wrote above is about one.  If you also have a larger issue of trying to merge the two together in some fashion, that discussion is probably needed first.

It also probably merits saying that you really should back up your whole computer before starting any of this, but my take on the situation is you really do not know how to do that, and the (only?) other drive you have may have items you need on it from your early attempts.  But if you do have some way to back up the whole computer, safely, without erasing anything you need, that is a good safety measure.  And when all done, be sure you have backups; lots of threads about those here.


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## Derek Budd (Jul 9, 2017)

Ferguson said:


> The problem with helping clean up a mess is it's hard, not being there, to know what the mess really entails.
> 
> Simple example: If you have ALL your raws, and the JPG's are all duplicates, deleting all the JPG's (though lightroom, then double checking outside) is fine.  But what if some JPG's are images you got in another way, either shooting only JPG, or you edited the JPG and not the raw, or someone gave you JPG's and you want to keep them. Such a mass cleanup will of course delete those as well.
> 
> ...



Hi, Would it make sense, or indeed help to use the Plug-in "Find Duplicates" (or similar), before making the cull?


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## Johan Elzenga (Jul 9, 2017)

Derek Budd said:


> Hi, Would it make sense, or indeed help to use the Plug-in "Find Duplicates" (or similar), before making the cull?



Probably not, because JPEGs next to RAW files are not duplicates. They are different file types and different file sizes, so it's very unlikely that such a plugin would mark them as duplicates. Unless the plugin has a special option to search for JPEG next to RAW.


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## Derek Budd (Jul 9, 2017)

Many thanks for response. 
I seem to recognise that whilst copying some of the (phone camera), Camera Roll images, into the Lightroom folder, during importing into my MacBook Pro Laptop there may have been duplicates transferred. I was thrown, due to the fact that the iPhone Lightroom wasn't displaying, or sorting images as Capture Time. I am not keen on using Cloud storage, preferring also to sync via the USB cable. Also, being in a remote area there was often no wifi, or phone signal. This is where I think my Collection has been corrupted. I have now backed up images from my Location Laptop. I will next delete the Laptop images and re-import a selection for a smaller Portfolio. Same applies to the iPhone. Seeing all the warning messages stating that deleting, would remove from all devices, had made me very cautious. :(


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## Rob_Cullen (Jul 10, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> Probably not, because JPEGs next to RAW files are not duplicates. They are different file types and different file sizes, so it's very unlikely that such a plugin would mark them as duplicates. Unless the plugin has a special option to search for JPEG next to RAW.


The Teekesselchen Duplicate Finder will indeed locate files with same filename and different file-type/size.
It is all about the options set in the 'Finder'
Teekesselchen: Home

And a great tutorial from Victoria at
How do I clean up duplicate photos? | The Lightroom Queen


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## Richard Varda (Dec 31, 2017)

If you are unable to delete any sort of files. Try LongPathTool. It will help you.


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## PhilBurton (Dec 31, 2017)

Ferguson said:


> NOW ALL THAT SAID.... you mentioned two computers.  There are NO good ways to keep two computers in sync, so not sure if you are doing that manually, or they have different images, etc.



Actually, I have a way to keep LR in sync on two Windows 10 systems. I sync everything except the caches. That includes my production and various test catalogs, my LR settings, plug-ins and presets, and my image folders.  I use the GoodSync file and folder sync utility.  File Sync & Backup Software | GoodSync  I use the paid version on both systems,$50.  If there is interest, I can post details, including the details and screenshots for each sync "job."

(Should I start a separate thread for this post?)

Phil Burton


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jan 1, 2018)

PhilBurton said:


> Actually, I have a way to keep LR in sync on two Windows 10 systems. I sync everything except the caches. That includes my production and various test catalogs, my LR settings, plug-ins and presets, and my image folders.  I use the GoodSync file and folder sync utility.  File Sync & Backup Software | GoodSync  I use the paid version on both systems,$50.  If there is interest, I can post details, including the details and screenshots for each sync "job."
> 
> (Should I start a separate thread for this post?)
> 
> Phil Burton


UP to you, but I think it's worth saying is what you are doing is keeping one computer in sync with another; you just alternate back and forth.

Accidentally doing this: 

- Synch 
- Edit some stuff on A
- Get distracted and forget to sync
- Edit some stuff on B

You have a mess you can fix only by manually figuring out what you did and adjusting accordingly.  If you just sync A->B or B->A it will overwrite the catalog changes on the target.

I think a lot of people do what you are doing, but it is quite prone to human error.  If you are a human with minimal error, it works well, for some of us not so much.


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## PhilBurton (Jan 1, 2018)

Ferguson said:


> UP to you, but I think it's worth saying is what you are doing is keeping one computer in sync with another; you just alternate back and forth.
> 
> Accidentally doing this:
> 
> ...


Ferguson,

My sync process doesn't just apply to Lightroom.  It applies to all my data files and work, including Outlook data files.  I travel a lot for my job, so I have set up my laptop to be a clone of my desktop, as much as is practical.  That means same programs, same partition names, and same data files (within reason) on my laptop as my desktop.  _I never use my laptop for anything at home but web browsing._  Every time I leave for a trip, the very last thing I do is sync systems.  When I return from a trip, the very first thing I do is I sync systems.  It works for me, but I can appreciate how it may not work for other people.  I'm just pointing out my approach as one way to maintain sync between two systems.

When I have not followed my own approach, then I also have lost work.  The GoodSync utility automates the drudgework, and eliminates stupid mistakes.

Phil Burton


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jan 1, 2018)

PhilBurton said:


> It works for me, but I can appreciate how it may not work for other people.


I get it.  I just think it's worth mentioning where it can fall down for people following along at home.


PhilBurton said:


> The GoodSync utility automates the drudgework, and eliminates stupid mistakes.


I own it and use it as one of two backup programs, it's a good tool, regularly updated and well supported.

Linwood


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