Deleting photo files from import file

If you delete a picture from Imports, then you delete it from the Library and from everywhere else. Like other pictures you delete, it can still be found in Recently Deleted, unless you defeat that safety function.

Imports is like a Smart Album-- it is provided by Apple to show every picture in the Library that has been imported. (Oddly, I've seen ways to get a picture into the Library without going through the import process.)

In Smart folders like this, the pictures are all pictures in the Library that meet a set of criteria. The only way to get out is to have different criteria, or remove from the Library.

Albums are always just lists of pictures that meet certain criteria. For albums we create, the criterion is, "I put it on the list." For Smart Albums the we make, we get to set the criteria. For albums that Apple makes, they set the criteria, and you can't change it.

Does this make sense?

Import is nota "file".It's not even a place. It's a list of your images grouped by their import date. Just a shortcut. There is no wasted space involved. And no, you can't delete from there without deleting from everywhere.

Good--thanks.