Hard Link Duplicate Photos.

Problem:

You have a folder that has a ton of duplicate photos that are scattered all over the place!

Solution:

I created a python script that will delete all your duplicate photos but leave the filenames and directories as is, using the magic of hard links.

How does it work?

1. Find all images that are the same size.

2. Create a checksum of those images to find which are duplicates regardless of the filename.

3. Delete all duplicate images and hardlink the duplicate files to the original file.

FAQ

1. What the hell is a hardlink? A hard link is merely an additional name for an existing file on your computer.

2. What if I edit a photo and reupload? The newly uploaded photo would be unique and not a duplicate.

3. Can I remove the "original file" or remove hard link files and not break things? Yes, the "original file" is just an easier way to explain. It actually links to data on the disk where the photo is stored, not a file.

4. Can I run this multiple times? Yes, the script will find all duplicates and hardlink to original file every time it runs.

5. Anything you would do differently? I would use the linux inotify utility to run a script when any new file or modifcation is detected. That would remove duplicates in real time.