How do I delete imported photos?

[sch]

I used my iPad to view images while on a holiday (several hundred files) and now I want to delete them from the iPad. The only way I can see to do it however, is one at a time! The imports don't show up in iTunes (at least I can't see them) and there's no way to delete a whole event on the iPad.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Purpleorchid]

Are they in the Saved Photos folder or the Photo Album folder?

If they're in the Saved Photos folder, you can click on the icon that is the box with the outgoing arrow. The photos will then grey out, and in the upper left you'll see three greyed out options, Share, Copy, Delete. You can click on 5 photos at a time to delete (at least that's the case in the iPhone, you might be able to do more on the iPad...haven't needed to do it on the iPad yet).

If they're in the Photo Album folder, you unfortunately don't get those options.

 

[sch]

They are from the camera connection (SD card) adapter which automatically starts up an import into the Photos app, and yes, in the Albums folder. They end up in 2 folders (Last Import and All Imported).

Seems pretty stupid not to allow management of them on the iPad. On a major shoot, you're going to have a lot of photos you want to view and then delete. There must be a way to do it from iTunes that I'm just not seeing (I hope!).

Cheers,

 

[mslammers]

Simon, here is the answer.
Open the Photos app [daisy]
Open an album
Click on the right facing arrow in the upper right corner
Click on each photo you want to delete, a blue surrounded check mark will appear in the right bottom corner.
You will notice that there is a Delete button in the upper left. Pressing it will delete each photo you have checked. There is no recovery that I know of, so select carefully. If you change your mind before deleting, click on the check mark again. If you want to cancel all the checks, there is a Cancel button in the upper right corner [blue surround]
Good luck.

 

[mslammers]

PS. If you Sync and Backup before you delete, you photos will be stored [and mine were about 1.25 MB in size] on your desktop computer. If a Windows PC, you may have to make all of your folders/files visible [except for special operating system files] to see them. And you cannot view them since they are in a non-Windows file. You will have them to reload though. Don't format your SD card!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sch]

Mel,

Thanks for that... I know that it is possible to do it this way, but with hundreds of photos, it simply isn't practical. There should be a way to wholesale delete an entire album, or if not, a way to select all pictures at once rather than having to click on each picture. Damn silly, really.

This makes using the iPad for checking anything more than a handful of images from a camera just too ridiculous to be useful. Apple really needs to think this through a whole lot more.

Cheers,

 

[kjfswkr]

You will notice that there is a Delete button in the upper left. Pressing it will delete each photo you have checked. There is no recovery that I know of, so select carefully. If you change your mind before deleting, click on the check mark again. If you want to cancel all the checks, there is a Cancel button in the upper right corner [blue surround]
Good luck.[/QUOTE]

I only see in upper left email or copy. I do not see a delete button.

kevin

 

[mslammers]

Kevin, I checked this before posting, and just rechecked to make sure my instructions were valid. If you don't open an album with photos contained there, you will not see the delete button [obviously] On my iPad, the delete button is colored bright red.
Please recheck what you are doing and if it still does as you said [and I am not questioning your veracity] something is wrong with your iPad.
Let us know what you find out.
Mel

 

[mslammers]

Simon,
I was able to check a screen full in about 5-7 seconds. I do agree that it would be nice to be able to delete a whole album. You might drop a note to Apple since I am not positive that they read these things.
If I figure out a way, I will let you know.
Mel

Mel,

Thanks for that... I know that it is possible to do it this way, but with hundreds of photos, it simply isn't practical. There should be a way to wholesale delete an entire album, or if not, a way to select all pictures at once rather than having to click on each picture. Damn silly, really.

This makes using the iPad for checking anything more than a handful of images from a camera just too ridiculous to be useful. Apple really needs to think this through a whole lot more.

Cheers,

 

[Tiggerrr]

One way if you are using a PC

Simon,

If you are using a Windows PC, when you connect the iPad with the USB cable, you can use Windows Explorer to look at the DCIM folder on the iPad. When I did this I found a bunch of folders with system generated names, but I could look at the files in the folders to figure out what was in the Albums on the iPad. Although you can't delete the folder itself, you can highlight the list of files in the folder (ctrl-A to select all) and then delete them!

I find that the functionality of the whole Photos app is a little immature. It is vitually impossible to manipulate large numbers of pictures directly on the iPad, and it is pretty obvious the photo handling was a last-moment addition to iTunes.

Hope my suggestion works for you.

Terry

 

[nathanl]

Got it!

I had this problem but have found a much quicker way of selecting them all.

Touch the little arrow in the box at the right corner, but then, instead of tapping each one, hold the first one for about 2 seconds until the blue tick appears, then drag your finger over them all.

Takes very little time!

Hope this helps! :ipad-peacock:

 

[Tiggerrr]

Wow!

That's pretty slick, but not intuitively obvious and as best I can tell, undocumented. How in the heck did you figure that out?

 

[nathanl]

Lots of playing around!

Generally, with all iOS devices, if you cant do something, i've found that you've got to hold a button.
Always works.
To put a call on hold on the iphone 4 you hold the mute button...

its not as intuitive as I expected!

 

[ss89]

My photos have been synced from Iphoto. I get delete button to come up in photos only can select one or many by dragging but when press red delete absolutely nothing happens. Often copy and email buttons come up at same time but cannot get anything to delete. Any ideas? Operator error? Thnxs . SS

 

[mslammers]

You can only delete photos from Saved Photos inside the iPhoto app on the iPad [as near as I can tell]. Go into the Saved Photos Album and then click on the right facing arrow in the upper right corner. When you do that, the Delete red button will appear in the upper left and the title of the window will read Select Photo. You can then tap on each photo you want to delete or tap and hold for 2 seconds on one and move your finger across all that you want [if you want more than one and they are adjacent]. You will notice that the upper right arrow has changed to a blue Cancel button and the upper left red Delete button has a number representing the number of photos you want to delete: Like Delete (5). If you press that red button, you will delete the 5 you selected. They are indicated by a blue & white check mark. Be sure you have selected the right ones or you will have to re-import or re-sync to get them back.

I haven't checked to see if it deletes from your PC on the next re-sync or not. It may so proceed with caution if you don't have them saved somewhere else.
I am not responsible for errors here, so you might try on one or more you are sure about to insure you have the process correct.
It works for me.