Photos Are Companions

"An attachment may testify to the practice without becoming the text's owner."

The scene beside paper

A photograph can preserve the page, ink color, margin note, or the physical fact that writing happened. It accompanies the entry; it does not replace the canonical original text or prove its exact transcription.

Make it interface state

Store the image separately under Inkwell's managed images root and keep only id, entry_id, path, and created_at in entry_images. Deletion removes both the managed file and its row. The entry retains original text and transcribed state independently.

When help becomes interference

Embedding image bytes in the entry row couples text queries to heavy media. OCR that silently overwrites original text confuses observation with authority. A private handwriting image also deserves stricter sharing defaults than generated prose.

Focus invariant. An attachment may testify to the practice without becoming the text's owner.

Test from the hand outward

Do not judge “Photos Are Companions” from a browser screenshot alone. Put a pen in one hand and touch the screen only when necessary; trace type size, button distance, scrolling, rotation, and failure. If one enhancement is denied, the passage must remain readable and transcribed state writable.

Verify it

Design upload, hard deletion, and sharing defaults for a private handwriting photo. Include a small phone, large tablet, bright and dark rooms, and keyboard-only use. Count how often the feature steals the eyes from the pen instead of merely admiring its appearance.

Disappearing still needs state

Hiding chrome, acquiring wakefulness, and attaching a photo must all be reversible. Exit, release, hard deletion, and failure copy let technology disappear while remaining able to explain itself when needed.

Code

Keep image paths beside the entry·sql

CREATE TABLE entry_images (
  id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
  entry_id TEXT NOT NULL REFERENCES entries(id),
  path TEXT NOT NULL,
  created_at TEXT NOT NULL
);
SELECT path FROM entry_images
WHERE id = :image_id AND entry_id = :entry_id;
-- Remove the managed file, then hard-delete its row.
DELETE FROM entry_images
WHERE id = :image_id AND entry_id = :entry_id;

The scene beside paper

Make it interface state

When help becomes interference

Test from the hand outward

Verify it

Disappearing still needs state

Code

External links

Exercise

Progress

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