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Images#

FoldNotes keeps images right inside your collection, stored in a protected folder and synced through iCloud alongside your notes. You add an image and FoldNotes drops a standard Markdown reference into your text:

![](photo.png)

Because the reference is plain Markdown and the file lives in your collection, your images travel with your notes everywhere — on every Mac and iOS device, and in any other Markdown app you open the folder with.

This page covers every way to get an image into a note on both platforms. For capturing printed text with the camera, see Scanning Text.

Adding images on macOS#

Drag and drop#

Drag an image from Finder straight into the editor. FoldNotes copies the file into your collection and inserts the reference at the point where you dropped it.

The image browser#

Open the image browser to see every image in your collection at a glance:

  • Click the image button in the editor's bottom status bar, or
  • Choose Window → Image Browser.

From the browser you can:

  • Insert — select an image and click the insert button, or right-click and choose Insert into Note. The reference lands at your cursor in the active note.
  • Import — click + to choose files, or drag image files onto the browser window.
  • Preview — select an image to see a larger preview.

Adding images on iOS & iPadOS#

Tap the image button (the picture icon) in the keyboard toolbar above the keyboard. A card-style Add Image chooser appears — a medium sheet on iPhone, a tidy centred panel on iPad — offering up to four options:

Option What it does
Choose from Photos Pick an existing image from your photo library. No permission prompt is needed — the picker runs separately from the app and only hands back the image you choose.
Take Photo Open the camera and capture a new photo straight into the note. Shown only on devices with a camera.
Scan Text Capture printed text with the camera using live text recognition. Shown only on supported devices. See Scanning Text.
Browse Collection Images Reuse an image that's already in this collection, via the image browser.

Tap an option and FoldNotes inserts the image (or scanned text) at your cursor.

Camera permission

The first time you choose Take Photo or Scan Text, iOS asks for camera access. This prompt comes from the system, not FoldNotes — tap Allow to continue. Choose from Photos never needs this.

Drag and drop#

On iPad — and on iPhone using the multitasking drag gesture — you can drag an image from the Photos or Files app and drop it directly into the editor. FoldNotes copies the image into your collection and inserts the reference at the drop point. Drop several at once and they stack in order.

Supported formats and size#

FoldNotes accepts PNG, JPEG, GIF, HEIC, HEIF, WebP, TIFF, and SVG, up to 20 MB per image. Photos taken or chosen on iOS are stored in their original format where possible.

If a file with the same name already exists, FoldNotes adds a short unique prefix to avoid collisions — for example a3f1b2c4_photo.png.

Managing images#

All image management happens in the image browser (macOS) or the Browse Collection Images view (iOS).

Renaming#

Right-click (macOS) or long-press (iOS) an image and choose Rename. You edit the base filename; the extension is preserved automatically and can't be changed. FoldNotes updates every note that references the image so no links break, and Notes List thumbnails refresh immediately.

Reference counting#

The browser scans all your notes and shows how many times each image is used. Switch to the Orphaned filter to find images no longer referenced by any note — handy for tidying up.

Deleting#

Select one or more images and choose Delete. FoldNotes tells you how many notes reference each file first:

  • If an image is orphaned (zero references), you can delete it safely from any view.
  • If it's still referenced, the delete control stays disabled and shows the reference count, so you don't accidentally leave broken links behind.

Reference counts update live as you edit — remove the last reference to an image and it becomes deletable straight away, without reopening the browser.

Deleting only affects FoldNotes

When you add an image, FoldNotes stores its own copy inside your collection — it doesn't move or link back to the original. Deleting an image here removes only that copy from your collection; the original stays put in your Photos library (or wherever it came from). Likewise, deleting a photo from Photos doesn't affect the copy FoldNotes already saved.

Filename rules#

Filenames are sanitised on import: spaces become underscores, and characters that break Markdown or are illegal in filenames (: / \ ( )) are stripped. Periods are allowed — the extension is always tracked separately.

How storage works#

Every image you add is copied into a hidden .attachments/ folder inside your collection and syncs via iCloud with your notes, so it's available on all your devices — independent of the original in Photos or Finder.

Tip

The .attachments/ folder is hidden on purpose. Renaming or moving files inside it by hand can break the references in your notes — use the image browser to rename or delete images so FoldNotes can keep every note in sync.