How a Professional Photographer Saved 247GB of Storage
Sarah M. eliminated duplicate RAW files and reduced her cloud storage bill by $120/year
The Problem
Sarah is a professional wedding photographer who shoots 40-50 weddings per year. Each wedding generates approximately 3,000-5,000 photos, including RAW files, edited JPEGs, and client deliverables.
Over 5 years of business, her storage situation had become unmanageable:
- Local Storage: Two 4TB external drives nearly full
- Cloud Backup: 2TB Google Drive plan ($9.99/month) at 95% capacity
- Multiple Copies: Same photos existed in Lightroom catalogs, client folders, and backup locations
- Monthly Cost: Facing upgrade to $49.99/month for Google One 5TB plan
Before TomYaYa
The Discovery Process
Sarah downloaded TomYaYa's free version and ran her first scan on her primary photo drive. The results were eye-opening:
Scan Results - Photo Archive
Where Were the Duplicates?
TomYaYa's analysis revealed several sources of duplication:
| Source | Duplicates | Space Wasted |
|---|---|---|
| Camera card re-imports | 4,521 files | 89 GB |
| Lightroom catalog copies | 3,892 files | 72 GB |
| Client delivery folders | 2,156 files | 45 GB |
| Backup folder duplicates | 1,834 files | 31 GB |
| Social media exports | 444 files | 10 GB |
| Total | 12,847 files | 247 GB |
The Solution
Sarah used TomYaYa's Smart Selection feature to automatically mark the "best" copy of each duplicate group for keeping, based on:
- File with the most complete metadata (EXIF data)
- Location in primary archive folder
- Highest resolution version
"The preview feature was essential. I could click on any duplicate group and see all copies side-by-side. For RAW files, I could verify the thumbnails matched before deleting anything. That gave me confidence I wasn't losing any unique shots." — Sarah M.
Cleanup Process
- Review: Sarah spent 2 hours reviewing the largest duplicate groups
- Test: Deleted a small batch first and verified files went to Recycle Bin
- Bulk Delete: Used batch deletion for remaining 12,000+ duplicates
- Cloud Sync: Let Google Drive sync the changes overnight
After TomYaYa
The Results
Before
- Constantly managing "Storage Full" warnings
- About to upgrade to $49.99/month plan
- Couldn't import new wedding shoots
After
- 350GB free space for new projects
- Kept existing $9.99/month plan
- Room for 2+ years of new work
Financial Impact
- Avoided Upgrade: Saved $40/month by not upgrading to 5TB plan
- Annual Savings: $480/year in avoided costs
- One-time Investment: $19 for TomYaYa Pro license
- ROI: 2,426% in first year
Key Takeaways
For Photographers
Run duplicate scans quarterly, especially after busy seasons. Multiple camera card imports are the #1 source of duplicates.
Before Upgrading Cloud
Always scan for duplicates before buying more storage. You might already have the space you need.
Stay Safe
Use TomYaYa's preview feature and start with small batches. Files go to Recycle Bin first, so nothing is permanently lost immediately.
"I tell every photographer I know about TomYaYa now. We all have this problem - we just don't realize how bad it is until we actually scan. The $19 Pro license paid for itself within the first day." — Sarah M., Wedding Photographer