diff --git a/craft/src/sitesmith/__fixtures__/hero-image-in-columns.json b/craft/src/sitesmith/__fixtures__/hero-image-in-columns.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4e5279
--- /dev/null
+++ b/craft/src/sitesmith/__fixtures__/hero-image-in-columns.json
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+{
+ "type": {
+  "resolvedName": "Section"
+ },
+ "props": {
+  "aiName": "Hero",
+  "node_id": "ai-hero-1",
+  "anchorId": "about",
+  "style": {
+   "backgroundColor": "color-mix(in srgb, var(--wsb-text) 5%, var(--wsb-bg))",
+   "paddingTop": "96px",
+   "paddingBottom": "96px",
+   "paddingLeft": "24px",
+   "paddingRight": "24px"
+  }
+ },
+ "nodes": [
+  {
+   "type": {
+    "resolvedName": "ColumnLayout"
+   },
+   "props": {
+    "aiName": "Hero columns",
+    "node_id": "ai-hero-columns-1",
+    "columns": 2,
+    "split": "50-50",
+    "gap": "64px",
+    "style": {
+     "display": "flex",
+     "flexDirection": "row",
+     "alignItems": "center"
+    }
+   },
+   "nodes": [
+    {
+     "type": {
+      "resolvedName": "Container"
+     },
+     "props": {
+      "aiName": "Hero text",
+      "node_id": "ai-hero-text-1",
+      "style": {
+       "padding": "0px"
+      }
+     },
+     "nodes": [
+      {
+       "type": {
+        "resolvedName": "Heading"
+       },
+       "props": {
+        "aiName": "Hero heading",
+        "node_id": "ai-hero-heading-1",
+        "text": "Digital brands built on honesty",
+        "level": "h1",
+        "style": {
+         "fontFamily": "var(--wsb-heading-font)",
+         "fontSize": "clamp(2.25rem, 6vw, 4rem)",
+         "fontWeight": "800",
+         "lineHeight": "1.1",
+         "letterSpacing": "-0.02em",
+         "color": "var(--wsb-text)",
+         "marginBottom": "24px"
+        }
+       }
+      },
+      {
+       "type": {
+        "resolvedName": "TextBlock"
+       },
+       "props": {
+        "aiName": "Hero lead",
+        "node_id": "ai-hero-lead-1",
+        "text": "OLS Digital is the privately held parent company of online brands. We acquire and grow digital-first businesses, and each one keeps its own identity.",
+        "style": {
+         "fontFamily": "var(--wsb-body-font)",
+         "fontSize": "19px",
+         "lineHeight": "1.6",
+         "color": "var(--wsb-text)",
+         "maxWidth": "520px",
+         "marginBottom": "32px"
+        }
+       }
+      },
+      {
+       "type": {
+        "resolvedName": "ButtonLink"
+       },
+       "props": {
+        "aiName": "Meet our brands",
+        "node_id": "ai-hero-button-1",
+        "text": "Meet our brands",
+        "href": "#brands",
+        "hoverBg": "var(--wsb-text)",
+        "style": {
+         "backgroundColor": "var(--wsb-brand-1)",
+         "color": "var(--wsb-bg)",
+         "padding": "14px 28px",
+         "borderRadius": "var(--wsb-button-radius)",
+         "fontWeight": "600",
+         "display": "inline-block"
+        }
+       }
+      }
+     ]
+    },
+    {
+     "type": {
+      "resolvedName": "ImageBlock"
+     },
+     "props": {
+      "aiName": "Hero image",
+      "node_id": "ai-hero-image-1",
+      "src": "https://placehold.co/800x600/e5e7eb/1f2937?text=OLS+Digital+team+or+workspace",
+      "alt": "Placeholder for a photo of the OLS Digital team or workspace",
+      "style": {
+       "width": "100%",
+       "aspectRatio": "4 / 3",
+       "objectFit": "cover",
+       "borderRadius": "var(--wsb-radius)"
+      }
+     }
+    }
+   ]
+  }
+ ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/craft/src/state/PageContext.treeToState.test.ts b/craft/src/state/PageContext.treeToState.test.ts
index df4ae58..b54cc1e 100644
--- a/craft/src/state/PageContext.treeToState.test.ts
+++ b/craft/src/state/PageContext.treeToState.test.ts
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ describe('treeToCraftState resolvedName guard', () => {
       type: { resolvedName: 'ColumnLayout' },
       props: { node_id: 'cols-1' },
       nodes: [
-        { type: { resolvedName: 'Heading' }, props: { node_id: 'a' }, nodes: [] },
-        { type: { resolvedName: 'Heading' }, props: { node_id: 'b' }, nodes: [] },
+        { type: { resolvedName: 'Container' }, props: { node_id: 'a' }, nodes: [] },
+        { type: { resolvedName: 'Container' }, props: { node_id: 'b' }, nodes: [] },
       ],
     };
     const state = treeToCraftState(tree);
diff --git a/craft/src/test-utils/integration/image-in-columns.integration.test.tsx b/craft/src/test-utils/integration/image-in-columns.integration.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4746506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/craft/src/test-utils/integration/image-in-columns.integration.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { describe, test, expect, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import React from 'react';
+import hero from '../../sitesmith/__fixtures__/hero-image-in-columns.json';
+import { renderEditorHarness, EditorHarness } from '../editorHarness';
+import { useApplyAiResponse } from '../../utils/apply-ai-response';
+import { exportBodyHtml } from '../../utils/html-export';
+
+const INITIAL = JSON.stringify({
+  ROOT: { type: { resolvedName: 'Container' }, isCanvas: true, props: { style: {}, tag: 'div' }, displayName: 'Container', custom: {}, hidden: false, nodes: [], linkedNodes: {} },
+});
+let harness: EditorHarness | null = null;
+afterEach(() => { harness?.unmount(); harness = null; });
+
+describe('Bug D: ImageBlock directly inside ColumnLayout (real model tree, real Craft)', () => {
+  test('applied + serialized + exported keeps the <img>', async () => {
+    harness = renderEditorHarness({ initialState: INITIAL });
+    const ref: { current: ReturnType<typeof useApplyAiResponse> | null } = { current: null };
+    harness.mountChild(React.createElement(() => { ref.current = useApplyAiResponse(); return null; }));
+    await harness.act(async () => {
+      await ref.current!({ type: 'replace', scope: 'section', pages: [{ name: 'section', tree: hero as any }], message: 'x' } as any);
+    });
+    const state = harness.query.serialize();
+    const { html } = exportBodyHtml(state) as any;
+    expect(html).toContain('<img');
+    expect(html).toContain('placehold.co');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.test.ts b/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.test.ts
index f4df9b3..d46c56c 100644
--- a/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.test.ts
+++ b/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.test.ts
@@ -196,8 +196,8 @@ describe('flattenTreeForCraft', () => {
       type: { resolvedName: 'ColumnLayout' },
       props: { node_id: 'cols' },
       nodes: [
-        { type: { resolvedName: 'Heading' }, props: { node_id: 'a' }, nodes: [] },
-        { type: { resolvedName: 'Heading' }, props: { node_id: 'b' }, nodes: [] },
+        { type: { resolvedName: 'Container' }, props: { node_id: 'a' }, nodes: [] },
+        { type: { resolvedName: 'Container' }, props: { node_id: 'b' }, nodes: [] },
       ],
     };
     const { nodes } = flattenTreeForCraft(tree);
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ describe('flattenTreeForCraft', () => {
           type: { resolvedName: 'ColumnLayout' },
           props: { node_id: 'cols' },
           nodes: [
-            { type: { resolvedName: 'Heading' }, props: { node_id: 'a' }, nodes: [] },
+            { type: { resolvedName: 'Container' }, props: { node_id: 'a' }, nodes: [] },
           ],
         },
       ],
@@ -291,3 +291,26 @@ describe('sanitizeAiTree (re-exported for treeToCraftState parity with buildNode
     expect(out!.nodes![0].props.node_id).toBe('h1');
   });
 });
+
+describe('flattenTreeForCraft: non-Container ColumnLayout children (Bug D)', () => {
+  const n = (type: string, id: string, nodes: any[] = []) => ({ type: { resolvedName: type }, props: { node_id: id }, nodes });
+
+  test('a bare ImageBlock column is wrapped in a Container column; Container columns are untouched', () => {
+    const { nodes } = flattenTreeForCraft(n('ColumnLayout', 'cols', [n('Container', 'c0'), n('ImageBlock', 'img')]) as any);
+    expect(nodes.cols.linkedNodes).toEqual({ 'col-0': 'c0', 'col-1': 'img__col' });
+    expect(nodes['img__col'].type.resolvedName).toBe('Container');
+    expect(nodes['img__col'].isCanvas).toBe(true);
+    expect(nodes['img__col'].nodes).toEqual(['img']);
+    expect(nodes['img__col'].parent).toBe('cols');
+    expect(nodes.img.parent).toBe('img__col');
+    expect(nodes.img.isCanvas).toBe(false);
+    expect(nodes.c0.parent).toBe('cols');
+    expect(nodes.c0.isCanvas).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('every linked column is a Container (Craft only adopts Container-typed column nodes)', () => {
+    const { nodes } = flattenTreeForCraft(n('ColumnLayout', 'cols', [n('TextBlock', 't'), n('ImageBlock', 'i'), n('ColumnLayout', 'inner')]) as any);
+    for (const id of Object.values(nodes.cols.linkedNodes)) expect(nodes[id as string].type.resolvedName).toBe('Container');
+    expect(nodes.cols.props.columns).toBe(3);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.ts b/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.ts
index 19cb19a..cbb5b46 100644
--- a/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.ts
+++ b/craft/src/utils/craft-tree.ts
@@ -177,6 +177,29 @@ export function flattenTreeForCraft(tree: SerializedTreeNode): FlattenTreeResult
     if (typeName === 'ColumnLayout' && childIds.length > 0) {
       const linked: Record<string, string> = {};
       childIds.forEach((cid, i) => {
+        // Craft's <Element id="col-N" is={Container}> only ADOPTS an existing
+        // linkedNode whose `data.type === Container`; any other type (e.g. a bare
+        // ImageBlock, TextBlock, nested ColumnLayout) makes it create a fresh empty
+        // Container and orphan ours -- the child silently vanishes (Bug D). So a
+        // non-Container column child is wrapped in a pre-created Container column.
+        if (nodes[cid] && nodes[cid].type?.resolvedName !== 'Container') {
+          const wrapId = `${cid}__col`;
+          nodes[wrapId] = {
+            type: { resolvedName: 'Container' },
+            isCanvas: true,
+            props: { tag: 'div', style: { padding: '0px' } },
+            displayName: 'Container',
+            custom: {},
+            hidden: false,
+            parent: id,
+            nodes: [cid],
+            linkedNodes: {},
+          };
+          syntheticIds.add(wrapId);
+          nodes[cid].parent = wrapId;
+          linked[`col-${i}`] = wrapId;
+          return;
+        }
         linked[`col-${i}`] = cid;
         if (nodes[cid]) nodes[cid].isCanvas = true; // columns are canvases
       });