diff --git a/web/MediaField.tsx b/web/MediaField.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa9e50f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/MediaField.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+import { useState } from 'react';
+import { ImageOff, Pencil, Trash2, Upload } from 'lucide-react';
+import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
+import { MediaPicker } from './MediaPicker';
+import { posterUrl, thumbUrl } from './thumbnail';
+
+/**
+ * One picture or video on the page, shown at the shape the page will show it.
+ *
+ * ── Why not a path in a text box ──
+ *
+ * It was one, and a path is not what anybody is choosing. Somebody picking the header photograph is
+ * choosing a PHOTOGRAPH; `ABOUT US/HEADER.jpg` is how the machine refers to it, and reading a string to
+ * find out whether you picked the right image is doing the computer's job for it.
+ *
+ * So the field is the picture, at the aspect ratio the page uses. An empty one is the same box, empty —
+ * which also means the panel stops changing height as things are chosen, and a page with three slots
+ * looks like the page rather than like a form.
+ *
+ * ── The aspect ratio is a prop, and has to be ──
+ *
+ * The header is 21:9, the product video is 16:9, a gallery slot is square. This component cannot know
+ * that and must not guess: it is the SITE that decides what shape a slot is, and a component that
+ * guessed would be a second opinion to keep in step with the stylesheet.
+ *
+ * ── Dropping ──
+ *
+ * It accepts a drag from Officer's own file browser, which carries paths under
+ * `application/x-officer-files`. That is the same payload the file browser uses to move files between
+ * windows, so dragging a photograph out of Media and onto a slot is one gesture with no upload.
+ *
+ * It does NOT accept a file dragged from the desktop. That would be an upload into `originals/`, which
+ * is a different operation with its own failure modes, and the Media section already does it properly.
+ */
+
+const DRAG_TYPE = 'application/x-officer-files';
+
+export const MediaField = ({
+  value,
+  onChange,
+  aspect,
+  kind = 'photo',
+  label,
+}: {
+  /** A path under `originals/`, or null. */
+  value: string | null;
+  onChange: (path: string | null) => void;
+  /** Tailwind's ratio, as the page spells it — `21/9`, `16/9`, `1/1`. */
+  aspect: string;
+  /** A video is shown by its poster; there is no width rung to ask for. */
+  kind?: 'photo' | 'video';
+  /** What the picker's title says, so it names the thing rather than saying "media". */
+  label?: string;
+}) => {
+  const [picking, setPicking] = useState(false);
+  const [over, setOver] = useState(false);
+  const [broken, setBroken] = useState(false);
+
+  const preview = value ? (kind === 'video' ? posterUrl(value) : thumbUrl(value, 640)) : null;
+
+  const accept = (event: React.DragEvent): string | null => {
+    if (!event.dataTransfer.types.includes(DRAG_TYPE)) return null;
+    try {
+      const paths = JSON.parse(event.dataTransfer.getData(DRAG_TYPE));
+      return Array.isArray(paths) && typeof paths[0] === 'string' ? paths[0] : null;
+    } catch {
+      return null;
+    }
+  };
+
+  return (
+    <>
+      <div
+        // `group` so the controls can appear on hover of the whole slot rather than of themselves.
+        className={`group relative w-full overflow-hidden rounded-md border ${
+          over ? 'border-primary bg-primary/5' : 'border-dashed border-border'
+        } ${value ? 'border-solid' : ''}`}
+        style={{ aspectRatio: aspect.replace('/', ' / ') }}
+        onDragOver={(event) => {
+          if (!accept(event)) return;
+          // Without preventDefault the browser refuses the drop entirely — the one line whose absence
+          // makes a target look dead with no error anywhere.
+          event.preventDefault();
+          event.dataTransfer.dropEffect = 'copy';
+          setOver(true);
+        }}
+        onDragLeave={() => setOver(false)}
+        onDrop={(event) => {
+          const path = accept(event);
+          setOver(false);
+          if (!path) return;
+          event.preventDefault();
+          setBroken(false);
+          onChange(path);
+        }}
+      >
+        {preview && !broken ? (
+          <img
+            src={preview}
+            alt=""
+            className="h-full w-full object-cover"
+            // A ladder that has not been built yet, or a file removed since it was chosen. Falls back
+            // to the empty state rather than a browser's broken-image glyph, which says nothing.
+            onError={() => setBroken(true)}
+          />
+        ) : (
+          <button
+            type="button"
+            onClick={() => setPicking(true)}
+            className="flex h-full w-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-1.5 text-muted-foreground transition-colors hover:bg-muted/40 hover:text-foreground"
+          >
+            {broken ? <ImageOff className="size-5" /> : <Upload className="size-5" />}
+            <span className="text-xs">
+              {broken ? 'That file is not there any more' : 'Click to choose, or drag one here'}
+            </span>
+          </button>
+        )}
+
+        {/*
+          The controls, over the picture, on hover.
+
+          Only when there IS one — on an empty slot the whole box is already a button, and a Change
+          button floating over "click to choose" would be two ways to do one thing.
+
+          `focus-within` as well as `group-hover`, so they can be reached by keyboard rather than only
+          by a pointer.
+        */}
+        {value && !broken && (
+          <div className="absolute top-2 right-2 flex gap-1 opacity-0 transition-opacity group-focus-within:opacity-100 group-hover:opacity-100">
+            <Button
+              size="sm"
+              variant="secondary"
+              className="h-7 gap-1 px-2 text-xs shadow"
+              onClick={() => setPicking(true)}
+            >
+              <Pencil className="size-3" />
+              Change
+            </Button>
+            <Button
+              size="sm"
+              variant="secondary"
+              className="h-7 px-2 text-xs shadow hover:text-destructive"
+              onClick={() => {
+                setBroken(false);
+                onChange(null);
+              }}
+              title="Remove"
+            >
+              <Trash2 className="size-3" />
+            </Button>
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </div>
+
+      {/* The path, small and underneath. Not editable — it is what was chosen, not a field — but
+          somebody comparing two similar photographs needs to be able to tell which is which. */}
+      {value && <p className="truncate font-mono text-[11px] text-muted-foreground/70">{value}</p>}
+
+      <MediaPicker
+        open={picking}
+        onClose={() => setPicking(false)}
+        title={label ? `Choose the ${label}` : 'Choose media'}
+        onPick={(path) => {
+          setPicking(false);
+          setBroken(false);
+          onChange(path);
+        }}
+      />
+    </>
+  );
+};
diff --git a/web/sections/AboutPanel.tsx b/web/sections/AboutPanel.tsx
index 6faa565..6aa48a1 100644
--- a/web/sections/AboutPanel.tsx
+++ b/web/sections/AboutPanel.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
-import { FolderOpen, Loader2 } from 'lucide-react';
+import { Loader2 } from 'lucide-react';
 import { useClient } from 'hooks/useClient';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input';
 import { readableError } from '../errors';
 import { useFlash } from '../useFlash';
 import { RichText } from '../RichText';
-import { MediaPicker } from '../MediaPicker';
+import { MediaField } from '../MediaField';
 import { useSaveTarget } from '../SaveTarget';
 
 /**
@@ -47,9 +47,6 @@ type About = {
   manifesto_text: string | null;
 };
 
-/** Which media slot the picker is open for, or null. The two cannot be open at once. */
-type Picking = 'header' | 'product' | null;
-
 export const AboutPanel = () => {
   const client = useClient();
   const clientRef = useRef(client);
@@ -65,7 +62,6 @@ export const AboutPanel = () => {
   const [busy, setBusy] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [saved, flashSaved] = useFlash();
-  const [picking, setPicking] = useState<Picking>(null);
 
   /** Every write answers with the whole payload, so this is the only place state is set. */
   const apply = useCallback((data: About) => {
@@ -154,20 +150,10 @@ export const AboutPanel = () => {
           <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">The photograph at the top, and the line over it.</p>
         </div>
 
-        {/* Chosen from originals/, never typed. The same picker Home's hero uses — a path somebody
-            types is a path that is wrong by one character and renders as a broken image. */}
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-          <Input
-            value={headerUrl}
-            readOnly
-            placeholder="No photograph chosen"
-            className="font-mono text-xs"
-          />
-          <Button variant="outline" size="sm" className="shrink-0" onClick={() => setPicking('header')}>
-            <FolderOpen className="size-3.5" />
-            Browse
-          </Button>
-        </div>
+        {/* 21/9 because that is what the page uses — `aspect-[21/9]` in about/partials.tsx. The two
+            have to agree or the admin shows a shape the site does not have, which is worse than showing
+            no shape at all: it looks decided. */}
+        <MediaField value={headerUrl || null} onChange={(path) => setHeaderUrl(path ?? '')} aspect="21/9" label="header photograph" />
 
         <div className="flex flex-col gap-1">
           <label className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">Phrase</label>
@@ -191,18 +177,14 @@ export const AboutPanel = () => {
           <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">What you make, and a video of it being made.</p>
         </div>
 
-        <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-          <Input
-            value={productVideo}
-            readOnly
-            placeholder="No video chosen"
-            className="font-mono text-xs"
-          />
-          <Button variant="outline" size="sm" className="shrink-0" onClick={() => setPicking('product')}>
-            <FolderOpen className="size-3.5" />
-            Browse
-          </Button>
-        </div>
+        {/* 16/9, matching the `aspect-video` the product block draws. */}
+        <MediaField
+          value={productVideo || null}
+          onChange={(path) => setProductVideo(path ?? '')}
+          aspect="16/9"
+          kind="video"
+          label="product video"
+        />
 
         <RichText value={productText} onChange={setProductText} placeholder="What the product is." />
       </section>
@@ -218,22 +200,6 @@ export const AboutPanel = () => {
 
       {error && <p className="text-xs text-destructive">{error}</p>}
 
-      {/*
-        One picker, two slots.
-
-        `picking` names which one asked, so the chosen path lands in the right field. Two pickers would
-        be two copies of a modal that already knows how to browse originals/.
-      */}
-      <MediaPicker
-        open={picking !== null}
-        onClose={() => setPicking(null)}
-        title={picking === 'product' ? 'Choose the product video' : 'Choose the header photograph'}
-        onPick={(path) => {
-          if (picking === 'product') setProductVideo(path);
-          else setHeaderUrl(path);
-          setPicking(null);
-        }}
-      />
     </div>
   );
 };
diff --git a/web/thumbnail.ts b/web/thumbnail.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9dd3dd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/thumbnail.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { getHeaders } from 'hooks/useClient';
+
+/**
+ * A thumbnail URL for something under `originals/`, authenticated by `?token=`.
+ *
+ * ── Why the token is in the query ──
+ *
+ * An `<img>` cannot send an Authorization header. `user-middleware` and the permission gate both accept
+ * the token in the query string for exactly this, and the platform's own file browser does the same.
+ * Built without it first, and every picture 401s while the layout looks perfectly correct.
+ *
+ * ── Why this is a module ──
+ *
+ * It was copied into GalleriesPanel and again into RecordsPanel, and a third copy was about to go into
+ * MediaField. Three copies of a URL shape is three places to be wrong about the rung when the ladder
+ * changes — which it did, four times in a day.
+ */
+export const thumbUrl = (path: string, width: 256 | 320 | 480 | 640 = 320): string => {
+  const token = getHeaders()['Authorization']?.replace('Bearer ', '') ?? '';
+  const encoded = path.split('/').map(encodeURIComponent).join('/');
+  return `/api/fofos-admin/derived/${encoded}/${width}.webp?token=${encodeURIComponent(token)}`;
+};
+
+/**
+ * A video's poster, for the same reason.
+ *
+ * A video has no width rungs — `poster-448.webp` and friends are cut from its still — so a slot showing
+ * one asks for the poster rather than a width that does not exist.
+ */
+export const posterUrl = (path: string): string => {
+  const token = getHeaders()['Authorization']?.replace('Bearer ', '') ?? '';
+  const encoded = path.split('/').map(encodeURIComponent).join('/');
+  return `/api/fofos-admin/derived/${encoded}/poster-512.webp?token=${encodeURIComponent(token)}`;
+};