diff --git a/frontend/app/e2e/annotate.spec.ts b/frontend/app/e2e/annotate.spec.ts
index 0f36fb3b..dd3ac6a1 100644
--- a/frontend/app/e2e/annotate.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/app/e2e/annotate.spec.ts
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ function asset(
     source_id: null,
     frame_index: index,
     frame_timestamp: null,
-    thumbnail_hash: null,
+    thumbnail_hash: "ab".repeat(32),
     ingested_at: null,
     job_id: JOB,
     progress,
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ async function serveApi(
         json: { asset_id: assetId, progress: progress.get(assetId) ?? "unannotated" },
       });
     }
-    if (path.endsWith("/content")) {
+    if (path.endsWith("/content") || path.endsWith("/thumbnail")) {
       return route.fulfill({ contentType: "image/png", body: PIXEL });
     }
     if (path === "/projects") return route.fulfill({ json: { items: [], total: 0 } });
@@ -1471,6 +1471,90 @@ test("a skipped frame in a completed batch still says viewing only, and names th
   await expect(page.getByTestId("unskip")).toBeDisabled();
 });
 
+/**
+ * #428: the browser's native image drag must be impossible in every mode. A
+ * drag on the asset means whatever the active tool means — draw, move, pan —
+ * and a gesture that lifts a ghost of the picture instead is one the product
+ * never offers. Two `<img>` elements exist product-wide: the canvas image
+ * (inert since the adapter's first commit — `draggable` off, no pointer
+ * events) and `AssetThumbnail`, which the frame-gallery overlay puts inside
+ * the workspace. Both are held here, against real browser drag machinery.
+ */
+
+/** Count native drags anywhere on the page, before any gesture runs. */
+async function armDragCounter(page: Page): Promise<void> {
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    const counted = window as { __drags?: number };
+    counted.__drags = 0;
+    document.addEventListener(
+      "dragstart",
+      () => {
+        counted.__drags = (counted.__drags ?? 0) + 1;
+      },
+      true,
+    );
+  });
+}
+
+async function nativeDrags(page: Page): Promise<number> {
+  return page.evaluate(() => (window as { __drags?: number }).__drags ?? 0);
+}
+
+test("no drag lifts the picture, and the tool's own gesture survives the attempt", async ({
+  page,
+}) => {
+  const sent: Request[] = [];
+  await openJob(page, sent);
+  await armDragCounter(page);
+
+  // A long, slow drag straight across the image with the select tool — the
+  // exact gesture that picks a picture up in a browser that offers it.
+  const canvas = page.getByTestId("annotator-canvas");
+  const box = (await canvas.boundingBox())!;
+  await page.mouse.move(box.x + box.width * 0.2, box.y + box.height * 0.5);
+  await page.mouse.down();
+  await page.mouse.move(box.x + box.width * 0.8, box.y + box.height * 0.5, { steps: 12 });
+  await page.mouse.up();
+  expect(await nativeDrags(page)).toBe(0);
+
+  // The gallery overlay's thumbnails are pictures too, inside the workspace.
+  await page.getByTestId("open-gallery").click();
+  const tile = page.getByTestId("frame-gallery").getByTestId("thumbnail").first();
+  await expect(tile).toBeVisible();
+  const thumb = (await tile.boundingBox())!;
+  await page.mouse.move(thumb.x + thumb.width * 0.3, thumb.y + thumb.height * 0.5);
+  await page.mouse.down();
+  await page.mouse.move(thumb.x + thumb.width * 2, thumb.y + thumb.height * 0.5, { steps: 12 });
+  await page.mouse.up();
+  expect(await nativeDrags(page)).toBe(0);
+  await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
+
+  // The interaction state came through the attempts untouched: the next
+  // gesture is an ordinary draw and it lands.
+  await page.getByTestId("annotator-root").focus();
+  await page.keyboard.press("1");
+  await page.mouse.move(box.x + box.width * 0.3, box.y + box.height * 0.3);
+  await page.mouse.down();
+  await page.mouse.move(box.x + box.width * 0.5, box.y + box.height * 0.5, { steps: 8 });
+  await page.mouse.up();
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("object-total")).toHaveText("1 object");
+});
+
+test("the read-only mode is no more draggable than the editor", async ({ page }) => {
+  const sent: Request[] = [];
+  await openJob(page, sent, undefined, { batch: "completed", job: "completed" });
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("readonly-banner")).toBeVisible();
+  await armDragCounter(page);
+
+  const canvas = page.getByTestId("annotator-canvas");
+  const box = (await canvas.boundingBox())!;
+  await page.mouse.move(box.x + box.width * 0.2, box.y + box.height * 0.5);
+  await page.mouse.down();
+  await page.mouse.move(box.x + box.width * 0.8, box.y + box.height * 0.5, { steps: 12 });
+  await page.mouse.up();
+  expect(await nativeDrags(page)).toBe(0);
+});
+
 /**
  * The founder's decision in #123, and the half no unit test can reach: **the
  * clipboard survives moving to the next frame.**
diff --git a/frontend/ui-core/src/screens/AssetThumbnail.tsx b/frontend/ui-core/src/screens/AssetThumbnail.tsx
index df4a15f3..00f960c0 100644
--- a/frontend/ui-core/src/screens/AssetThumbnail.tsx
+++ b/frontend/ui-core/src/screens/AssetThumbnail.tsx
@@ -121,5 +121,20 @@ export function AssetThumbnail({
     return <div data-testid="thumbnail-loading" className={`animate-pulse bg-muted ${className ?? ""}`} />;
   }
 
-  return <img data-testid="thumbnail" src={url} alt={alt} className={className} loading="lazy" />;
+  return (
+    <img
+      data-testid="thumbnail"
+      src={url}
+      alt={alt}
+      className={className}
+      loading="lazy"
+      // The browser's native image drag lifts a ghost of the picture out of any
+      // tile (#428) — inside a grid whose press means *open this frame*, a drag
+      // that grabs the image instead is a gesture the product never means. The
+      // attribute is the whole enforcement: an `<img draggable={false}>` starts
+      // no native drag in any engine this product supports, and a second guard
+      // behind it would be the untestable double `AnnotatorPanel` refuses.
+      draggable={false}
+    />
+  );
 }