How do delete pictures from the iPhone 4S camera roll but still keep them in my album?

Question

I made albums for my pictures and want to keep them in the albums and delete them from the camera roll. When I try to delete the pictures from the camera roll it says it will delete from everywhere. Then I no longer have them in the albums.

Answer 1

Download your photos to your computer and put them in albums in iPhoto (or whatever photo software you use). Then sync those albums back to the phone using iTunes.

I don't think there's a no-PC solution to this yet.

Answer 2

If you delete pictures from the camera roll on iPhone you get only one option: Delete from everywhere.

To solve this headache connect your iPhone to your pc, then look for the iPhone icon click on it and it will show only pictures on the camera roll.

Highlight these pictures copy or move them to a folder you create on the hard drive then delete all the pictures you don't need from the pc and the pictures you have in albums on iPhone will not be touched, now sync the iPhone using iTunes and you won't see the deleted pics again.

Answer 3

Apple has an answer here (HT3603):

Pictures and screenshots taken with your iOS device are stored on the Camera Roll (or Saved Photos for devices without a camera). When you sync or perform a restore, iTunes creates a backup of the contents of your iOS device, including the Camera Roll and Saved Photos. The more pictures or other multimedia files that are on the Camera Roll, the longer a backup or restore will take.

Improve backup and restore times by regularly importing the contents of your Camera Roll or Saved Photos, and then sync that content back to the iPhone.