carolebonita wrote:
Can I put the actual photo files into the catalog folder
Yes, you can. Most people don't but you can if you want to. In fact, if you export a catalog and include photos, they will be put in the same folder (a subfolder actually) as your catalog, granted usually when you're exporting a sub-catalog with photos it's for temporary consumption, still... - nothing wrong with it at all in my opinion, and nothing technically prohibitive. If you do decide to go that route, I recommend that all go into a single subfolder of the catalog folder e.g. "My Photos".
I'm not sure why Paige recommends against it, other than most people prefer to keep them separate, but perhaps he/she is thinking of something I'm overlooking.
Cheers,
Rob