OT: Program to delete similar photos

johnmeyer wrote on 11/2/2005, 5:31 PM
I am scanning over 20,000 photos. Since I have access to some negatives, I end up with duplicates when I scan both the negative, and later scan the same picture when I scan the print.

Can anyone recommend a program that can scan thousands of files and then, based on what the picture actually looks like, provide a suggested list of duplicates that can be deleted?

I just downloaded six different programs that do exactly this, and two of them -- Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder and PictureRelate -- both do a pretty good job (better than I had expected, actually), but I've got to think there is a better program.

Anyone have a recommendation based on actual usage?

Comments

fldave wrote on 11/2/2005, 6:31 PM
I guess I could write you one. How long did these programs take to run, and what was the shortcomings? Were they inaccurate?

I must say that comparing 20,000 photos among themselves could be a long process.
johnmeyer wrote on 11/2/2005, 7:28 PM
Here are the programs I've tried so far:

d'peg
Dup Detector
Duplicate Image Finder
Duplicate Image Grouper
Image Comparer 2.2
ImageDupeless_
Omegatron ODIN Professional
Picture Relate
VisiPics
Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder

The three best are (in ranked order):

ImageDupeless
PictureRelate
VisualSimilarity

The others either didn't reliably find duplicate images, or had a really flaky interface. PictureRelate and VisualSimilarity found lots of dups that the other didn't find. Together, they would make a pretty good tool.

Fortunately, ImageDupeless is the clear winner, with very little downside compared to the others. It finds a LOT of duplicates, and even when the picture isn't an exact duplicate, it actually does look like the picture(s) that it supposedly is similar to. The interface is excellent.

I am still open to other suggestions, but I think for the time being, I'll go with this program.
fldave wrote on 11/2/2005, 8:23 PM
Did they flag duplicates where one was cropped and matched it to the original? And did they run a very long time?

Sorry for the questions, I wrote/use a program that finds optimum begin-end frames for loops in .avi videos. I'm pretty well versed in comparing bitmaps/images.

Comparing cropped images and matching them to the originals would be a long, intensive process.

Edited: For $30, go for it.
johnmeyer wrote on 11/2/2005, 10:35 PM
Here's the link to their web site. You can download the application (demo) and decide for yourself:

ImageDupeless

[Edit] After extensive use, I decided this wasn't that great. I tried ThumbsPlus, which has a huge number of other features, and decided that its dup feature is better, although you have to wade through lots of erroneous hits.