diff --git a/ui/TODO.otl b/ui/TODO.otl
index f6405e6e..ac48cf2d 100755
--- a/ui/TODO.otl
+++ b/ui/TODO.otl
@@ -111,13 +111,34 @@ Roadmap
 [_] 32% Gen 3 current todo
 	[_] 64% High priority
 		[_] ASAP: Need visual indicators for long operations...
-		[_] BUG: (phantom) in single image mode shifting first image up to new ribbon errs...
-		| error location/reason:
-		| 	getImageGid(..) got something odd in the image gid attribute...
+		[X] BUG: shifting around images in very short ribbons produces lots of errors
+		| Procedure:
+		| 	- crop a ribbon of two-three images
+		| 	- start shifting
 		|
-		| Race condition??
+		| Problems:
+		| 	- wrong alignment
+		| 	- sometimes by shifting an image up the focus shifts to the 
+		| 	  upper ribbon
 		|
-		| Can't reproduce this... need to test on a faster machine...
+		| The direct cause of the problem:
+		| 	- errors:
+		| 		- SyntaxError - likely the JSON parser in getImageGID()
+		| 		- TypeError - property of null
+		|
+		| Likely causes:
+		| 	- we access images BEFORE they are initialized properly...
+		|
+		| Solution strategy:
+		| 	- make aligning independent of DOM state where possible...
+		| 	- make parts of the code wait for updates to finish...
+		|
+		|
+		| Actual case:
+		| 	- this was not a problem with race conditions...
+		| 	- essentially all this took is a careful look at event and 
+		| 	  action ordering, and a forgotten filter...
+		| 	  (filtering for images is a possible bug class)
 		[_] 66% Bookmarks
 			[X] toggle
 			[X] save/load
diff --git a/ui/data.js b/ui/data.js
index f8fbad0a..2994d211 100755
--- a/ui/data.js
+++ b/ui/data.js
@@ -2380,7 +2380,6 @@ function setupData(viewer){
 			from = getRibbonIndex(from)
 			//var ribbon = to
 			to = getRibbonIndex(to)
-
 			var gid = getImageGID(image)
 			var after = getGIDBefore(gid, to)
 
diff --git a/ui/files.js b/ui/files.js
index 39d2b2ae..bef666db 100755
--- a/ui/files.js
+++ b/ui/files.js
@@ -305,8 +305,11 @@ var saveFileData = makeFileSaver(
 		})
 
 
+// NOTE: this will set the updated flag ONLY of out of cropped mode...
 function dataUpdated(){
-	fileUpdated('Data')
+	if(!isViewCropped()){
+		fileUpdated('Data')
+	}
 }
 
 
diff --git a/ui/ribbons.js b/ui/ribbons.js
index 7e6bc9c9..6b3155ff 100755
--- a/ui/ribbons.js
+++ b/ui/ribbons.js
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ function getImageGID(image){
 }
 
 
-// Get marks associated with image...
+// Get mark elements associated with image...
 //
 // img can be:
 // 	- literal gid
@@ -256,6 +256,9 @@ function getImageBefore(image, ribbon){
 }
 
 
+// NOTE: this just shifts the image, it does not care about either 
+// 		aligning nor focus...
+// NOTE: the shiftedImage event is fired BEFORE any ribbons are removed...
 function shiftTo(image, ribbon){
 	var target = getImageBefore(image, ribbon)
 	var cur_ribbon = getRibbon(image)
@@ -265,6 +268,9 @@ function shiftTo(image, ribbon){
 	if(target.length == 0){
 		image.prependTo($(ribbon))
 
+	// insert the image...
+	// NOTE: we need to take care to insert the image not just after the
+	// 		target, but also after the target's marks...
 	} else {
 		var target_marks = getImageMarks(target).last()
 		image.insertAfter(
@@ -277,6 +283,7 @@ function shiftTo(image, ribbon){
 	// move the marks...
 	image.after(marks)
 
+	// NOTE: this is intentionally fired BEFORE removing a ribbon...
 	$('.viewer').trigger('shiftedImage', [image, cur_ribbon, ribbon])
 
 	// if removing last image out of a ribbon, remove the ribbon....
@@ -1176,13 +1183,10 @@ function shiftImageTo(image, direction, moving, force_create_ribbon){
 	var b = moving == 'prev' ? 'nextAll' : 'prevAll' 
 	var target = image[a]('.image').first()
 
-	target = target.length == 0 ? image[b]().first() : target
-
-	// XXX should this be in here or coupled later via an event???
-	//flashIndicator(direction)
+	target = target.length == 0 ? image[b]('.image').first() : target
 
 	shiftImage(direction, image, force_create_ribbon)
-	// XXX does this need to be animated???
+
 	return centerView(focusImage(target), 'css')
 }
 function shiftImageUp(image, moving){