I want to put my photos on a photo stick. Can I remove pictures from my iPad after transferring to the stick?
I just want to save my older pictures without the monthly fee and still be able to use iCloud for newer pictures.
iPad Pro, iPadOS 17
Yes.
After you have copied/moved photos to external storage, they can be removed/deleted from your iPad Photo Library. Assuming that you are using iCloud Photos to synchronise your Photo Library, the deletion will be synchronised between your devices that are signed-in to iCloud with the same AppleID.
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > iCloud > Photos > Sync This iPad | iPhone - when set to ON, iCloud Photos is enabled