Difference between camera roll, photo stream, and photo library

I truly see what you are saying.

But here is what is happening on my iPad:

Any photo I take with the iPad camera, first goes into the CAMERA ROLL, then a copy also goes into my PHOTO STREAM. This creates two copies of the same photo.

I pulled a photo from a Web site. I did a hold on the photo with my stylus, and selected COPY. It only shows up in CAMERA ROLL. When I select it and try the ADD TO, I have no way to put it in my PHOTO STREAM. I can add it to any existing FOLDER or create a new one.

I Just attached my SD Card Reader attachment, and when I selected the photos for IMPORT, they all went to my PHOTO STREAM. None went to the CAMERA ROLL. Also equally confusing is that there are three import folders, all with copies of my photos imported from my SD card: IMPORTED PHOTOS & VIDEOS, LAST IMPORTED, & ALL IMPORTED.

I tried to delete these, but I've seen photos disappear sometimes (not always) from my PHOTO STREAM. When I delete from one IMPORT folder, the image is deleted from all three, if they are in them. It seems to also disappear from my CAMERA ROLL.

When I copy a photo from PHOTO STREAM to a FOLDER, existing or new, a copy is also put into my CAMERA ROLL.

When i DELETE from my PHOTO STREAM, or any FOLDER, that is the only copy of a photo that is deleted.

When I DELETE from my CAMERA ROLL, it deletes the photo from every single folder, including the PHOTO STREAM in cases where I shot a photo from my iPad and it placed a copy there after it went to CAMERA ROLL first.

There is no folder called PHOTO LIBRARY. Do I just create it? When I go to settings and look at Photos App, I see that most of the space is taken up by CAMERA ROLL, and it shows PHOTO LIBRARY, but it is always empty.

See my confusion? I would think the iPad works on the smae rules the iPhone does, but apparently not, based on following your discussion about the iPhone and I do not have one to compare the two.

I have no folder called PHOTO LIBRARY, unless that is a term used for the individual folders I create (Anything outside CAMERA ROLL & PHOTO STREAM). So I do not know how that works with the other two folders.

As a professional photographer (I make a full time living doing so) I have found the iPad a great asset, and have replaced my laptop completely. I use an Olympus PEN EPL-2, and as soon as it arrives, I will be able to download via bluetooth directly to my tablet (I'd hate to see all the extra crap and headaches this might cause me, but it will save me time for newspapers that need instant multi-media fast. Downloading is an extra step that is time consuming, and to get rid of it will be great). Back to the discussion.

However, when I load my images and it goes into PHOTO STREAM, I like that, because I can delete everything I do not want and it only gets deleted there. However, if I decide to break my work up by assignment and create FOLDERS, once I copy it from PHOTO STREAM to the new folder, a third copy (Orignal stays in PHOTO STREAM, a copy goes into the FOLDER I designate), but the iPad puts another copy in CAMERA ROLL.

Now, I can delete from PHOTO STREAM, but if I ever delete a photo from CAMERA ROLL, it gets deleted from every folder that photo was ever copied to on my iPad.

The only way I seem to get around this is when I edit a photo, and save it under a different name. That's another issue (It puts a copy, if I recall, into PHOTO STREAM only).

I would love not to have to use the CAMERA ROLL at all. Is there a way to do it? Can I delete that folder?

Thank you everyone for all your comments. I am trying to undertstnd how Apple deals with photos, and sometimes I feel they did not design this for us professionals who see a great value in using an iPhone or iPad in the normal course of our work, or part of our workflow.

George.

Hi Allan.

Thanks for that wealth of information. It is all starting to make sense. It seems the existence of the PHOTO STREAM is messing either me up (because I am used to a different workflow when images come into, say Lightroom or Aperture).

I just want to repeat this so I understand what you are saying.

1. PHOTOSTREAM is set because of an option either I set or defaulted by Apple when I bought the iPad, and I can turn it off? That means I do not ever have to use PHOTOSTREAM? I want to make sure I understand you.

2. I can work off the IMPORT folders to create folders for different assignments and/or clients?

3.

I realize this won't add anything to resolving people's issues here, and I love Apple products, and Allan is a paragon of patience, 11 on a scale of 10 in awesomeness.

With that said, Apple is horrible when it comes to product documentation, responding to issues, and then they come up with these kinds of designs and app names which are totally confusing, convoluted, and massively frustrating.

I work in IT. I'm tech savvy. I'm appalled at the amount of new features Apple adds in upgrades that don't get mentioned, you have to figure them out - and they aren't intuitive. The names, and the options, such as in the case of Photo/Camera.* is just maddening, and takes waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy too long to figure out.

Look at this thread. What should be simple is up to 3 pages, with Allan explaining again and again, and STILL people are struggling with it.

I just shake my head in disbelief. Yes, I'll keep buying Apple products. Steve J's thing was to make it easy for users. Out of all the environments out there, Apple is by far the least intuitive.

Thanks and carry on, and Allan, I'm studying your repsonses in order to learn how to deal with my photos. Thanks so much for your time and patience.

If I have created seprate albums on my iphone and I delete a photo from camera roll will it delete from the albums too? Al of my albums have the photos I want to keep and have synced already with itunes and photo stream. Thanks for any assistance

mcJeff - I totally agree: Apple was at one time a pargon of intuitive, easy-to-use products, both software and hardware. The iPad in general and iPad photo procedures in particular are totally the opposite - undocumented, non-intuitive and a colosal waste of the users time.

I also have an IT background, fully understand the technology and still find the iPad not worth my time to master. My solution was to buy apps that let me manage all photos on my MacBook and just force the collection I want, in the albums i want, back into the iPad. If i take new pictures with the iPad I first MOVE them to the mac, then put them in appropriate directories. Only certain photos are put in albums, which then migrate back to the iPad.

Regretably, Apple has become the new Microsoft, always searching for the next growth product to maintain it's stock price; it has walked away from the average user by dropping almost all documentation and even ignoring recurring problems. When I hit an IOS or OS X problem I usually do a web search to find a fix or work-around. It is not uncommon to find references to the problem going back several years and re-appearing on subsequent operating system releases; it is clear Apple is no longer doing root-cause analysis and permanently fixing bugs.

Allen - let me add my thanks to this extensive thread on how iPad photo et al really works.

I have imac 21 in desktop, iphone 5 and ipad(one before ipad air). Trying to upload from iphone, "videos" in albums on iphone. Why do only certain videos I have taken with iphone share with all devices but videos I take with phonethat say "videos" on phone will not? Videos in camera roll do not contain all the videos in video section of albums on phone. I'm confused! Please help.

Found this thread through google, I just want to second what others expressed - I am a software engineer, 25 years working with all OSes and all kinds of applications. I've had my iPad for 2 years, and I still haven't figured out how to achieve the following:

- when I get back home I want pictures I took using the iPad to get on my computer, over Wifi

- I wish I didn't need iTunes for that, but I know I will

- I don't want anything from my computer going to the iPad

- I don't want anything to do with iCloud (at this point)

I can do that in 5mn with a $50 phone, but not with the iPad... someone at Apple hopefully will listen eventually.

Franck

iTunes is not used to import or transfer photos from the Camera Roll on an iOS device. Something a software engineer should be aware of.

Importing photos from the Camera Roll is handled as with any other digital camera which does not involve iTunes.

WIth an iCloud account with Photo Stream enabled with the account settings on the device and on your computer, photos in the Camera Roll will be transferred to your Photo Stream automatically when the device is connected to an available wi-fi network which in turn downloads the new photos in your Photo Stream on your computer with the option to save your Photo Stream photos locally on your computer.

Or do it the old fashioned way by importing the photos from the Camera Roll with your computer via USB as with any other digital camera.

You were provided the option for doing it over wi-fi.

Don't want to "deal" with an iCloud account, then you are out of luck.

Not sure how you can know how to import pics from the device after connecting via USB but don't know iTunes isn't used for that.

Read this article: Import personal photos and videos from iOS devices to your ...

Other than a third-party app or iCloud, there is no transfer of photos & videos over wi-fi.

Just use your USB cable.

Because "that" - tranferring over usb - was not what I was discussing.

AFAIK iTunes *is* used to sync over WIFI (the option reads "Automatically sync with iTunes on your computer"), and iTunes offers Music and Photo sync with the iPad.

So I would have hoped that one of those sync options would be to "bring over new iPad photos to my computer" - but from your answers I gather this isn't the case.

Thanks for the answers anyway - Franck

franck103 wrote:

So I would have hoped that one of those sync options would be to "bring over new iPad photos to my computer" - but from your answers I gather this isn't the case.

Correct.

To copy photos to computer, you need to use Photo Stream (iCloud) or connect using USB.

hi, may I know if you know what methods are there to mass transfer all the photos from collections/moments to camera roll? all of my photos used to be in camera roll until my phone suddenly restarted itself and not only did i lose some photos but my camera roll also has 0 photos! the leftover photos could only be viewed in collections/moments though /:

joeytzjy wrote:

hi, may I know if you know what methods are there to mass transfer all the photos from collections/moments to camera roll? all of my photos used to be in camera roll until my phone suddenly restarted itself and not only did i lose some photos but my camera roll also has 0 photos! the leftover photos could only be viewed in collections/moments though /:

You don't need to and really shouldn't sync them to the Camera Roll if they are not already in the Camera Roll.

They are on your computer and were sync'd to the iPhone using iTunes.

Allan, please forgive me if I am doing this wrong but I also have a PHOTO Stream and Photo Sharing question and since you are one of the only ones who understand this I need your help. After I started importing pictures from a camera memory card a number of different folders/albums were created. One is "Imported Photos & Videos" another is "Last Import" and finally "All Imported". Can I delete Imported Photos & Videos and Last Import without losing all my imported pictures. I'm a little gun shy since Apple Tech support "helped me" with a problem and when I finished with the steps she recommended I no longer had any pictures in my iPhone or iPad Photo Stream and can't get them back.. A big Opps! on her part.