diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test-photo-exif-portrait.jpg b/tests/fixtures/test-photo-exif-portrait.jpg
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diff --git a/tests/ui/post/lightbox-dims.spec.js b/tests/ui/post/lightbox-dims.spec.js
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/tests/ui/post/lightbox-dims.spec.js
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+// @ts-check
+// Test: LD1 — the PhotoSwipe slide's declared dimensions must match what the
+// browser actually renders for the linked image (BUG 2026-07-09: portrait
+// iPhone JPEGs squeezed to landscape in the fullscreen lightbox).
+//
+// Root cause: entry-journal.html.twig fed `img.width`/`img.height` (raw
+// getimagesize() of the ORIGINAL file — EXIF orientation ignored) into
+// data-pswp-*, while the slide href pointed at that original, which browsers
+// display EXIF-rotated. For a stored-landscape portrait photo the attrs said
+// landscape while the pixels rendered portrait → PhotoSwipe squeezed them.
+//
+// The invariant tested here is environment-proof: whatever file the slide
+// links to, its browser-rendered natural size must equal the data-pswp-*
+// attrs. (Whether the photo ALSO displays upright depends on the server's
+// php-exif extension feeding auto_fix_orientation — present on prod, absent
+// in the local dev container — so upright-ness is deliberately not asserted.)
+//
+// The fixture entry is planted straight on disk in the DEMO trip (the active
+// trip is whatever site.yaml says and may be an unpublished draft that 404s;
+// this spec exercises template rendering, not the posting pipeline — that is
+// upload-gate.spec.js's job). touch(system.yaml) bumps the config checksum so
+// the page-tree index rebuilds — the same invalidation cache-on-save uses.
+const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');
+const path = require('path');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const { execSync } = require('child_process');
+
+// Stored 800x600 with EXIF Orientation=6: browsers render it 600x800 portrait.
+const EXIF_PORTRAIT = path.join(__dirname, '../../fixtures/test-photo-exif-portrait.jpg');
+const USER_DIR = path.join(__dirname, '../../../user');
+const DEMO_DAILIES = path.join(USER_DIR, 'pages/01.trips/italy-2026-demo/01.dailies');
+const DEMO_TRIP_URL = '/trips/italy-2026-demo';
+
+const TAG = `ld1-fixture-${Date.now()}`;
+const ENTRY_DIR = path.join(DEMO_DAILIES, `2026-09-30-1200-${TAG}.entry`);
+
+function bumpPageTreeIndex() {
+    // mtime bump on system.yaml changes config->checksum(), which keys the
+    // pages index — next request rebuilds the tree from disk.
+    execSync(`touch "${path.join(USER_DIR, 'config/system.yaml')}"`);
+}
+
+test.beforeAll(() => {
+    fs.mkdirSync(ENTRY_DIR, { recursive: true });
+    fs.copyFileSync(EXIF_PORTRAIT, path.join(ENTRY_DIR, 'photo-01.jpg'));
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(ENTRY_DIR, 'entry.md'), [
+        '---',
+        `title: 'UI Test ${TAG}'`,
+        "date: '2026-09-30 12:00'",
+        'template: entry',
+        'published: true',
+        '---',
+        '',
+        `Lightbox dims fixture ${TAG}. Safe to delete.`,
+        '',
+    ].join('\n'));
+    bumpPageTreeIndex();
+});
+
+test.afterAll(() => {
+    fs.rmSync(ENTRY_DIR, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    bumpPageTreeIndex();
+});
+
+test('LD1: lightbox slide dims match the rendered size of the linked image', async ({ page }) => {
+    const card = page.locator('.journal-post', { hasText: TAG });
+    const slide = card.locator('a.journal-photo-slide').first();
+
+    // The config-checksum bump has second-granularity mtimes; a goto in the
+    // same second can still be served the stale cached page. Reload until the
+    // planted card is in the rendered feed.
+    await expect(async () => {
+        await page.goto(DEMO_TRIP_URL);
+        await expect(slide).toBeAttached({ timeout: 1000 });
+    }).toPass({ timeout: 20_000 });
+
+    const attrW = Number(await slide.getAttribute('data-pswp-width'));
+    const attrH = Number(await slide.getAttribute('data-pswp-height'));
+    const href = await slide.getAttribute('href');
+    expect(attrW).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(attrH).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+    const natural = await page.evaluate((src) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        const i = new Image();
+        i.onload = () => resolve({ w: i.naturalWidth, h: i.naturalHeight });
+        i.onerror = () => reject(new Error('image failed to load: ' + src));
+        i.src = src;
+    }), href);
+
+    expect(natural.w, `data-pswp-width vs rendered width of ${href}`).toBe(attrW);
+    expect(natural.h, `data-pswp-height vs rendered height of ${href}`).toBe(attrH);
+});
diff --git a/tests/ui/post/upload-gate.spec.js b/tests/ui/post/upload-gate.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69ab3ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui/post/upload-gate.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// @ts-check
+// Tests: UG1–UG2 — the create form must never submit while a photo is not
+// fully uploaded (BUG 2026-07-09: a fast save after adding a picture posted a
+// text-only entry; the photo was silently dropped).
+//
+// The form plugin's own submit guard (filepond-handler.js) only blocks the
+// PROCESSING / PROCESSING_QUEUED states. Two states slip through it:
+//  - UG1: LOADING — the moment between picking a file and it entering the
+//    upload queue (the "too quick" click). Guarded here with a slowed upload.
+//  - UG2: PROCESSING_ERROR — a failed upload keeps its thumbnail, passes the
+//    ≥1-photo validation, and the form posts without the file. This is the
+//    silent-data-loss path.
+// post-form.js owns the complete gate (theme code; the form plugin is
+// GPM-managed and not patchable in-repo).
+const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');
+const { fillEditor, findEntry, cleanupEntry, TEST_PHOTO } = require('../helpers');
+
+// FilePond uploads go to the form route with .json + the file-upload task
+// (Form.php:1183: withExtension('json')->withGravParam('task','file-upload')),
+// i.e. /post.json/task:file-upload — the task is a PATH segment, so a glob
+// with a non-slash-crossing `*` misses it; match by regex instead.
+const UPLOAD_URL = /\/post\.json\//;
+
+const created = [];
+test.afterAll(() => created.forEach(cleanupEntry));
+
+async function fillCreateForm(page, tag) {
+    await page.goto('/post');
+    await page.fill('input[name="data[title]"]', `UI Test ${tag}`);
+    await fillEditor(page, `Upload-gate fixture ${tag}. Safe to delete.`);
+}
+
+// ── UG1: submit while the upload is still in flight is blocked ────────────────
+test('UG1: submitting while a photo upload is in flight is blocked with a message', async ({ page }) => {
+    const tag = `ug1-${Date.now()}`;
+
+    // Slow the upload down so the submit click lands mid-flight.
+    await page.route(UPLOAD_URL, async (route) => {
+        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 6000));
+        await route.continue();
+    });
+
+    await fillCreateForm(page, tag);
+    await page.locator('input.filepond--browser').setInputFiles(TEST_PHOTO);
+    // The item exists but cannot have finished uploading (route is held).
+    await page.waitForSelector('.filepond--item');
+    await page.locator('.btn-post').evaluate((el) => el.click());
+    created.push(tag);
+
+    // Blocked: visible feedback, no success notice, nothing written to disk.
+    await expect(page.locator('.photo-convert-status')).toContainText(/uploading/i);
+    await expect(page.locator('.notices.success')).toHaveCount(0);
+    expect(findEntry(tag), 'no entry may be created mid-upload').toBeNull();
+});
+
+// ── UG2: submit with a FAILED upload is blocked, not silently posted ──────────
+test('UG2: submitting after a photo upload failed is blocked with an error', async ({ page }) => {
+    const tag = `ug2-${Date.now()}`;
+
+    // Make the upload fail server-side (transient network/limit failure).
+    await page.route(UPLOAD_URL, (route) => route.fulfill({ status: 500, body: 'nope' }));
+
+    await fillCreateForm(page, tag);
+    await page.locator('input.filepond--browser').setInputFiles(TEST_PHOTO);
+    // Wait for FilePond to mark the item as failed.
+    await page.waitForSelector('.filepond--item[data-filepond-item-state*="error"]', { timeout: 20_000 });
+    await page.locator('.btn-post').evaluate((el) => el.click());
+    created.push(tag);
+
+    // Blocked: the error is surfaced, the form did not post, no disk write.
+    await expect(page.locator('.photo-convert-status')).toContainText(/failed/i);
+    await expect(page.locator('.notices.success')).toHaveCount(0);
+    expect(findEntry(tag), 'a failed upload must never produce a photo-less entry').toBeNull();
+});