Images in Photos and Finder Pictures

For Photos, all the pictures (if it's set up right) are stored inside a special "package" called the Photos Library. The Photos Library is stored in the Pictures folder. I have several Photos Libraries that I keep in my Pictures folder. Each user on a Mac has their own user folder that holds folders like Pictures that are kept private from other users.

So the pictures aren't in Photos-- they're in the Photos Library. The Photos app contains the instructions for dealing with a database (located inside the Photos Library) which contains information about your picture files. On a Mac, the Photos app can be found in the Applications folder, and probably in the Dock of apps at the  bottom (or, in my case, on the side) of your Mac. The Photos app isn't a huge file, because it doesn't have any pictures, just instructions.

I guess we could keep the Photos Library in another folder, but many people put other folders into the iCloud Drive folder where the Photos Library can't work. Keeping the Photos Library in the Pictures folder is the best idea.

I use some other image editing programs, like Lightroom, that also like to store their data in the Pictures folder. The app Photo Booth stores its data in a Photo Booth package in the Pictures folder.

I keep some folders of original pictures in there, as well, until I can off load them to an archive drive. I don't usually delete pictures just because I've had Photos store them in the Photos Library-- I keep backups for safety.

I keep a folder of wallpaper pictures in the Pictures folder that I refer the Wallpaper app to. I have some other folders of special pictures that I keep in the Pictures folder. My Pictures folder has 38 items, including 9 folders and 15 Photos Libraries.

hpd52 wrote: Thanks for clarifying! I’m using several photo editing apps and see that all those versions are in “Pictures”. Can I delete them from there to free up space?

I have a Lightroom folder in Pictures, 20 GB, and I'm not even sure what's in it--but I'm not deleting that. I use Lightroom for some editing, and if Lightroom thinks it needs that stuff, I'm not messing with it.

Apps are almost universally kept in the Applications folder, not in Pictures. Image apps may keep some data in Pictures. I'm not sure what you mean by "versions." If these are small text files describing the updates, and it doesn't look like you need them, then probably you can dump them. (Then again, if they're small, it won't make much difference.) For other things you find suspicious, you could just put them in a folder and move them to a different location and see what happens. You could move them back.

If it's important, you could communicate with the developers of the editing apps and ask them if deleting their stuff will hurt your experience with using the app. That's probably the best plan.