Where do my picture live question

[Mac'nCheese]

I'm scanning old photos into my Mac and they get sent to my pictures folder. I then drag them to photos and crop them. I've noticed that I can then delete the photo from my pictures folder but it stays in the album I dragged it to in photos. So my question is this: where does that picture live before I delete it: is it both in the pictures folder and the photo album and I am taking up space by having all these photos in two different places and I should delete them from the pictures folder. Or does it live somewhere else, and I'm just deleting the shortcut from my pictures folder and not really deleting a file? thank u

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I'm scanning old photos into my Mac and they get sent to my pictures folder. I then drag them to photos and crop them. I've noticed that I can then delete the photo from my pictures folder but it stays in the album I dragged it to in photos. So my question is this: where does that picture live before I delete it: is it both in the pictures folder and the photo album and I am taking up space by having all these photos in two different places and I should delete them from the pictures folder. Or does it live somewhere else, and I'm just deleting the shortcut from my pictures folder and not really deleting a file? thank u

Check your Photos app settings: Photos > Preferences > General: Copy items to the Photos library. This item is 'on' by default. That means when you add (Import) a photo to the Photos app, a separate copy is made to the Photos library.

Now, under the new APFS file system, the file may actually "live" in just one place, but this will depend on whether you're using a version of OS X/macOS that utilizes APFS (macOS High Sierra if your Mac is all-SSD, macOS Mojave if your Mac has a spinning HDD or Fusion Drive). If you're not yet on High Sierra/Mojave then a physical copy lives in both the Photos library and your Pictures folder.