Maybe this works.
global Picture1=loadimage("PICTURE.bmp")
maskimage 255,0,255
picture2=picture1
picture3=picture1
picture4=picture1
when you don't need the picture anymore
picture2=0
picture3=0
picture4=0
to free the image from memory
if picture2=0 and picture3=0 and picture4=0 then
freeimage picture1
end if
this way the picture loads once instead of four times.
later
global Picture1=loadimage("PICTURE.bmp")
maskimage 255,0,255
picture2=picture1
picture3=picture1
picture4=picture1
when you don't need the picture anymore
picture2=0
picture3=0
picture4=0
to free the image from memory
if picture2=0 and picture3=0 and picture4=0 then
freeimage picture1
end if
this way the picture loads once instead of four times.
later