This problem pertains to archiving of digital pictures taken from multiple cameras.

Answers here covered the general topic of the-mechanics-of-backups:

> 
> [How do you archive digital photos and videos?](https://superuser.com/questions/66847/how-do-you-archive-digital-photos-and-videos)
> 
> 
> 

I however face another problem.

Having multiple cameras (canon) and multiple SD cards (mixed and matched at random), I have found that different SD cards have different photos with the same file name, i.e. two different photos each name IMG\_3141.JPG.

Additionally, for better or worse, I've backed up the files to multiple places and need to consolidate my backups. I want to eliminate duplicates, but not clobber files.

The only way I can think of is to append the code (md5 or sha1) to the file name, i.e. IMG\_3141.JPG becomes IMG\_3141\_KT229QZ31415926ASDF.JPG, then sorting them out

Any better ways?

(Note "open letter" address the 'duplicate file name' concern):
<http://photofocus.com/2010/09/13/an-open-letter-to-digital-camera-manufacturers-regarding-camera-file-naming/> )