Reference Rules
Decide which copy to keep, once, in plain rules.
Screens
What it does
When a picture exists three times, which one should stay? Reference Rules let you write the answer down as stages. Every copy starts as a candidate and each stage keeps only the copies it prefers, until one is left. A stage that cannot tell the copies apart passes them all on.
How it works
Conditions
Run a stage only when it applies: when the file types include HEIC and JPEG, when the resolutions are the same, when a metadata tag such as Rating is present, or when copies sit in a particular kind of folder.
Preferences
Prefer the highest or lowest resolution, image data, file size, capture date or amount of metadata, within a tolerance; a file type order; copies that carry a tag; or folders by type, logical name or label.
Image data, not file size
Sizes compare the picture itself. Embedded thumbnails, previews and metadata blocks are left out, so a bigger file is not mistaken for a better one.
Preview before applying
See which groups would get a different reference copy before anything changes, then apply the rules to an open or a saved search.
Explained in every group
Each duplicate group shows the stage that chose its reference copy, and the expanded group lists what every stage decided.
Good to know
- One rule set in use at a time
- Rule sets are shared by all your libraries
- A built-in order settles any remaining tie
- Folders are matched by type, name and label, never by path