# Newbie question: Duplicate photos after Processing **URL:** \ **Category:** Troubleshooting and Bugs\ **Created:** [June 30, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348 "2023-06-30T13:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leighwh](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forums.negativelabpro.com/leighwh/32/3464_2.png) [@leighwh](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/leighwh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348/1 "2023-06-30T13:58:52Z")
Hello - relatively new to NLP but getting the hang of it and some good scans coming through. I’m using VueScan and scanning 35 mm negatives as positive images, then doing the conversion in Lightroom Classic, using NLP. I need to understand why in this workflow NLP is creating a duplicate image, so for each negative I scan and process, I’m getting two TIFF files with same file name but second one appended with a -2. Please advise, as I’d prefer not to have duplicate images stored. Thank you ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forums.negativelabpro.com/nate/32/4_2.png) [@nate](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348/2 "2023-06-30T19:35:52Z")
Hi, Do you have the “make copy” option checked by chance? Or in the advanced section, if you have checked the option “Leave On Positive Copy by Default” that would also do it. If you do not have the “Make Copy” option checked, and it is still making an additional copy, can you please provide more details about where exactly during the process you see the second copy made? -Nate ---
**Author:** ![leighwh](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forums.negativelabpro.com/leighwh/32/3464_2.png) [@leighwh](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/leighwh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348/3 "2023-06-30T20:35:20Z")
Thank you for the speedy and helpful reply. I checked those and followed where this was happening in the workflow and found that it’s because I’m scanning to an external HD, then was using Copy rather than Add, so Lr was creating a duplicate image. Not an issue at all with VueScan or NLP. Many thanks - ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@JohnnyEm](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/JohnnyEm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348/4 "2023-07-01T23:14:35Z")
I abandoned Lightroom’s Import dialog quite some time ago. Now I create a folder within LR, scan the negatives into the folder and then right-click on the folder and choose “Sychronize Folder.” They are “imported” in one operation. ---
**Author:** ![leighwh](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forums.negativelabpro.com/leighwh/32/3464_2.png) [@leighwh](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/leighwh)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348/5 "2023-07-02T12:10:22Z")
That’s an interesting approach I hadn’t thought of! Does LR ultimately create regular or smart previews with this approach? Thank you for sharing your workflow tip. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@JohnnyEm](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/JohnnyEm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/newbie-question-duplicate-photos-after-processing/6348/6 "2023-07-02T23:27:04Z")
It’s been a while but I believe that smart previews are generated with the synchronization.