Q: Terminology help for a windows user

Start here:

The User Guide is available at http://support.apple.com/manuals/ or downloadable from iTunes as an iBook.

iPhoto is an app for editing photos http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iphoto/id497786065?mt=8

The links below have instructions for deleting photos.

iOS and iPod: Syncing photos using iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4236

iPad Tip: How to Delete Photos from Your iPad in the Photos App

http://ipadacademy.com/2011/08/ipad-tip-how-to-delete-photos-from-your-ipad-in-t he-photos-app

Another Way to Quickly Delete Photos from Your iPad (Mac Only)

http://ipadacademy.com/2011/09/another-way-to-quickly-delete-photos-from-your-ip ad-mac-only

How to Delete Photos from iPad

http://www.wondershare.com/apple-idevice/how-to-delete-photos-from-ipad.html

How to: Batch Delete Photos on the iPad

http://www.lifeisaprayer.com/blog/2010/how-batch-delete-photos-ipad

(With iOS 5.1, use 2 fingers)

How to Delete Photos from iCloud’s Photo Stream

http://www.cultofmac.com/124235/how-to-delete-photos-from-iclouds-photo-stream/

 Cheers, Tom

iPhoto on the iPad could be considered to be a more sophisticated version of the built-in Photos app - there is a description about the app on its page in the store : iPhoto. Photos itself is basically just a photo viewer with some basic editing. Photos that you sync to the iPad, take with the iPad or save from emails/websites etc will be stored in the Photos app. The only way to remove synced photos is to de-select them on your computer's iTunes and re-sync (select the iPad on the left-hand side of your computer's iTunes and there should be a Photos tab on the right-hand side).

iTunes will create a version of the photos that you chose to sync to your devices - iTunes creates 'optimised' versions of your photos which are then synced to the iPad, and stores those versions under an 'ipod photo cache' folder which is under the folder that you chose to sync your photos from e.g. if you sync from the My Pictures folder on your PC then it shoud have a 'cache' folder under it. If you delete the cache then it will be re-created when you next sync, so you don't really gain much by deleting it unless you are having problems with syncing photos and are trying to troubleshoot. For photos you can't remove duplicate photos in iTunes itself (and you can't delete synced photos directly on the iPad), effectively you are just using iTunes to say where to sync the photos from. You will need to use windows to de-duplicate the photos in your folders and then re-sync.

Music : you can chose where iTunes keeps it's versions of what you import/add to it - it can either point to the versions that you already have on your computer or it can create it's own organised library. There are a couple of tickboxes on the Advanced tab in Edit > Preference : 'keep iTunes media folder organised' and 'copy files to iTunes media library when adding to library'. Above those tickboxes it should say where your organised library is.

If you remove duplicate music tracks from your computer's iTunes then they should also be removed from the iPad the next time that you sync.

The blank column in 'display duplicates' is the number of the track on the album.

Not sure where you are seeing the Gmail check marks/columns.

For photos on the iPad, if you've created a new album directly on the iPad and 'copied' photos into those new albums (you can't change synced albums directly on the iPad) then effectively you are just creating pointers in those new albums - so if you delete the original photo, then all pointers to it will also be removed. Also if you sync a photo from your computer and then remove that photo from its folder on your computer, it will then be removed from the iPad when you next sync.

Syncing music : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1351

Syncing photos : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4236

iPad manual : http://support.apple.com/manuals/ipad/ (has some basic info on the built-in apps plus iBooks which is a free download)

my new ipad3 is almost full, because when i synced it the first time, it copied 15,000+ photos from directories all over my pc onto it.

This didn't happen by itself. This happened based on your selections under the Photos tab for your iPad sync preferences with iTunes.

Photos transferred from your computer via the iTunes sync process are removed from your iPad in the same way - via the iTunes sync process.

- what is iphoto?

iPhoto is a photo management/storage app included with every Mac computer purchase. iPhoto can be used to import photos/videos from a digital camera or from a camera's storage card. Apple also recently released an iPhoto version for iOS devices.

- does itunes make copies of photos i have on my windows pc in a special folder?

No, but iTunes creates what is called an iPod Photo Cache folder on your computer since photos transferred from your computer are optimized for viewing on your iPad.

- how about music?

All iTunes content is stored in an iPhoto media folder.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

When importing music files stored on your computer that are not in your iTunes library, you can have iTunes make a copy and leave the original file where it is located, or move the original file to your iTunes media folder without making a copy.

Go to iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > Copy files to iTunes Media Folder when adding to library.

- if there are copies, under which directory are they stored?

If you chose to make a copy when adding a music file to your iTunes library, the original file on your computer remains in the same location and the copy is placed in your iTunes media folder.

- is there a way to delete duplicates in itunes (photos and music)?

If you have duplicate music files in your iTunes library, you can delete the duplicates direct from there. iTunes includes an option to show duplicates only.

iTunes does not store photos. iTunes serves as the transfer conduit only for selected photos on your computer.

- if i clean up the duplicates, does a simple sync removed the duplicates from the ipad3 or do i need to do something more?

If you have duplicate photos on your computer in a folder of photos that is selected to be transferred to your iPad under the Photos tab for your iPad sync preferences with iTunes, deleting the duplicates from the folder of photos on your computer's hard drive followed by a sync will remove the duplicates from your iPad.

- if is run the File/display duplicates applet inside itunes, i get a number of columns, and one is unlabeled.  it is the second column, between "album by artist" and the check mark.  there are numbers and blanks in the column.  what do these mean?

Not sure. At the iTunes menu bar go to View > View Options. Which column is selected that is unlabled in iTunes?

- in Gmail, the check mark on the column header means select all.  i'm not sure what it means here.  is there a way to uncheck all, and then check only the ones i want to remove?

When selecting a column header in iTunes, the items below will be shorted by that selection.

- i read somewhere that you can screw up iphoto if you start deleting, because some are actual files, and some are pointers to the file.  if you delete the file and leave the pointers, you've lost the picture / song.   is that right??  are there apps out there for itunes to clean up this sort of stuff?  if so, does the clean up automatically extend to the ipad3 when i do a sync?

iPhoto mirrors the photos transferred from your computer via the iTunes sync/transfer process, and photos that were captured by your iPad or saved on your iPad. Photos captured by your iPad and saved on your iPad are stored in the iPad's Camera Roll. This is not right, and the iPhoto app has nothing to do with music.