when I import 15 megabytes of photos into a file that has an ID filed and a container field, the resulting file size is 1.6 gigabytes??? There are about 750 pictures, each in a separate record.

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Images are converted from their native type to pict upon import. My best guess it this is the difference in storage generated by this type conversion. You might want to consider another strategy such as storing only a reference to the image or using some plug-in such as Troi File to thumbnail the image and only import the full size image to a global on the fly as needed. This is what we do in one deployed solution.

-bd