Quick guide
Usage Running the plug-in require only 2 steps:
- Select the images in Lightroom you want the plug-in to work on
- Choose Menu -> Library -> Plug-in Extra -> Find Similar File names
Choose "Find similar file names"
Result
The result of the search for images is stored in 3 Collections in Lightroom, see screenshot below
- Source files
This collections holds all images you selected as input for the search operation.
- All_files_found
This collections stores all the images found, inclusive the selected images.
- Different_from_Source
The difference between the 2 collections = all images found exclusive the selected ones themselves.
Typical workflow removing all files found except for the selected originals
Below I describe a typical workflow you could use to find and delete all derivative files. Of course, you can do also other things to these files.
Step 1 - Select the original photos
In this first step you select all original photos whose derivative file you want to find.
The Metadata filter can help to give you more information on these photos.
Step 2 - run the Find similar files plugin
In this step you search for all photos in your Lightroom catalog which have a similar name as the originals you choose.
Menu => Library => Plug-in Extra => Find Similar File names => "Find similar file names".
The result of the search is stored in three collections:
- Source files
This collections holds all images you selected as input for the search operation.
- All_files_found
This collections stores all the images found, inclusive the selected images.
- Different_from_Source
The difference between the 2 collections = all images found exclusive the selected ones themselves.
Step 3 - analyze the search results
In this step you analyze all photos found. Again the metadata filter can help a lot. Apart from the first column "File type" you can choose for the other colums other information that can help.
First the "All_files_found" contains all photos found, both the originals and the derivative.
My this example it is easy to see that the derivative files are JPEG files.
Most interesting of course are the photos in "Different_from_Source" collection for these contain the files you wanted to find.
Step 4 - mark as "rejected" all photos for removal or deletion
Review all photos you found and mark as "Rejected", by pressing the X key, all photos which you want to delete or remove from your Lightroom catalog.
 Step 5 - Deleting of photos marked as "Rejected"
In a Smart collection it is not possible to delete photos. For this we first go to "Catalog" panel and select the "All Photographs".
Next we select "Delete all rejected photos" from the "Photo" menu.
Now all "rejected" photos will appear, catalog wide!
This gives you also the change to check whether other photos you previously marked as rejected should also be deleted or removed.
Press cancel if you want to do a little more checking...
And again use the "Metadata" filters to help you.
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