# PImage and img=null;
**URL:** https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187
**Category:** Coding Questions
**Created:** [January 19, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187 "2020-01-19T22:18:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@paulstgeorge](https://discourse.processing.org/u/paulstgeorge)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/1 "2020-01-19T22:18:18Z")
I cobbled this together from something @Chrisir once wrote. I only have one small question. What, if anything, does ` img=null;` do? It is at the end of the `setup()` block.
```auto
PShape globe;
PImage img;
void setup() {
size (600, 600, P3D);
img = loadImage("test.jpg");
globe = createShape(SPHERE, 100);
globe.setStroke(false);
globe.setTexture(img);
img=null; // what is this?
}
void draw() {
background(0);
translate(width/2, height/2);
rotateY(map(mouseX, 0, width, 0, TAU));
rotateX(map(mouseY, 0, height, 0, TAU));
shape(globe, 0, 0);
}
```
---
### Author:  [@kll](https://discourse.processing.org/u/kll)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/2 "2020-01-20T03:14:56Z")
if you use a picture of notable size
and try that code with or without that line
you could check on the by your running code use memory.
i do see here ( win 10 ) some small difference.
---
### Author:  [@Chrisir](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Chrisir)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 7:09am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/3 "2020-01-20T07:09:45Z")
PImage is an object and by setting it null I make sure it has an initial value. But no image in it
But maybe it’s null automatically (its default) - I don’t know.
But sometimes I check if(img!=null) to control if the loading of the image was successful
For null see reference I guess
---
### Author:  [@paulstgeorge](https://discourse.processing.org/u/paulstgeorge)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/4 "2020-01-20T07:55:41Z")
Thanks @Chrisir
So, should `img=null;` come earlier in the block, before the `loadImage()`? Or doesn’t it matter?
---
### Author:  [@Chrisir](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Chrisir)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 8:42am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/5 "2020-01-20T08:42:08Z")
Ah, I see.
Since I don’t need the image anymore after copying it to globe, I deleted it afterwards to make clear it’s not used anymore. And it saves a bit of memory
It could also be a local variable in setup
---
### Author:  [@GoToLoop](https://discourse.processing.org/u/GoToLoop)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/6 "2020-01-20T09:06:41Z")
> [@Chrisir](#):
>
> It could also be a local variable in **setup()**.
Or even better, just pass the loaded PImage as an argument for the PShape: 💡
`globe.setTexture(loadImage("test.jpg"));`
> [@Chrisir](#):
>
> And it saves a bit of memory.
That depends whether the PShape object keeps the passed PImage reference to itself. 🙄
---
### Author:  [@paulstgeorge](https://discourse.processing.org/u/paulstgeorge)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 9:34am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/7 "2020-01-20T09:34:28Z")
Now I understand! @Chrisir Thank you.
@GoToLoop
Is the idea to get rid of the `img` completely?
Like this:
```auto
PShape globe;
void setup() {
size (600, 600, P3D);
globe = createShape(SPHERE, 100);
globe.setStroke(false);
globe.setTexture(loadImage("test.jpg"));
}
void draw() {
background(0);
translate(width/2, height/2);
rotateY(map(mouseX, 0, width, 0, TAU));
rotateX(map(mouseY, 0, height, 0, TAU));
shape(globe, 0, 0);
}
```
---
### Author:  [@GoToLoop](https://discourse.processing.org/u/GoToLoop)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2020, 9:37am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/pimage-and-img-null/17187/8 "2020-01-20T09:37:06Z")
> [@paulstgeorge](#):
>
> Is the idea to get rid of the _img_ completely?
Yup! If some value is gonna be used in loco only, we don’t need to store it in some variable. 😀