Can I safely edit attachments (e.g. images) outside of Joplin?

Support
1

Operating system

Windows

Joplin version

3.5.13

What issue do you have?

Hi,

I wonder if I can safely edit attachments outside of Joplin.
(In this particular case I want to edit attached image, but does the type of attachment matters?)

I can right-click it and "Open..." it in image editor, or "Reveal file in folder" and modify it there. So technically it's possible, but I wonder if it might cause some problems - for example maybe Joplin won't notice it was updated, or will overwrite it during next sync.

I know there are some Joplin plugins for editing/resizing images, but that's not what I'm asking for.

I noticed for notes there is "Open in external editor" option...

Thanks

PS. I asked AI about this, and depending on the exact question wording, it either said that I can or that I can't :slight_smile:

2

Hmm I just noticed that Joplin displays following message after I "Open" it - I guess that answers my question?

The following attachments are being watched for changes: [...]

The attachments will no longer be watched when you switch to a different note.

3

Yes, pretty much. The UI here does a good job at being self explanatory.

I don't think so.

Do not hesitate to report any unexpected behavior when you play with this feature.

4

Hmm it worked for one file, but not for another.

I have two attachments (images) in one note.

I opened both then edited one (resized in image viewer).

Pressed synchronize in Joplin - it was synchronized (checked on phone - image size was small, as expected).

Then I switched to another note, went back to the first note with attachments, opened the second image and edited it (resized from explorer).

This time I didn't press synchronize at one, but first switched to another note and pressed Synchronize there.

This time the image was not synchronized (still had old - large/unexpected size on Phone; I did press synchronize on phone too).

Now this attachment differs on PC (it's small) and phone (it's large).

My suspicion is that by switching to another note Joplin forgot about watching the file changes. But I have not verified this / have not tried to reproduce this problem again.

5

You are correct and this is exactly what the self explanatory UI says:

6

It should check for changes when it's switching / stopping watching for changes...

7

I recall a related conversation that may be relevant.