By default, folders are sorted above notes/files. You’ll see numbers used a lot (like in my example) to set the order to your liking. The feature request for custom folder/note sorting is here:
You can use CSS or the plugin mentioned above to hide the folder from the Files tab, but I would just tuck it away in a sub-folder. You may want to see what’s in there, rename attachments, etc.
You can also absolute link to or embed external images outside of your vault, e.g.
. More examples here: Linking to external files & folders 🔗