How to add an image field to a custom fieldtype?

Question

I see that there is an ImageType field, machine name 'image', with a namespace of Drupal\image\Plugin\Field\FieldType. However, I can't seem to make use of it when creating a custom field and defining the property in the FieldType class.

I tried putting DataDefinition::create('image') but this later causes an abort complaining about the field type not existing, and I notice that the namespace is not referenced.

What are the correct types to use for an image field in the property section of the FieldType, in the schema of the FieldType, and in the FieldWidget?

Exporting an image field config from a bundle yields:
uuid: eecbe6e5-89d5-4708-b9c9-79f77b3cedf8
langcode: en
status: true
dependencies:
  module:
    - file
    - image
    - node
_core:
  default_config_hash: SkXIPKZYiIMMtnBmfnxk58RYfbZ8cHSw5NZPY_JByME
id: node.field_image
field_name: field_image
entity_type: node
type: image
settings:
  uri_scheme: public
  default_image:
    uuid: null
    alt: ''
    title: ''
    width: null
    height: null
  target_type: file
  display_field: false
  display_default: false
module: image
locked: false
cardinality: 1
translatable: true
indexes:
  target_id:
    - target_id
persist_with_no_fields: false
custom_storage: false

and looking at the image module's fielditem:

 * @FieldType(
 *   id = "image",
 *   label = @Translation("Image"),
 *   description = @Translation("This field stores the ID of an image file as an integer value."),
 *   category = @Translation("Reference"),
 *   default_widget = "image_image",
 *   default_formatter = "image",
 *   column_groups = {
 *     "file" = {
 *       "label" = @Translation("File"),
 *       "columns" = {
 *         "target_id", "width", "height"
 *       },
 *       "require_all_groups_for_translation" = TRUE
 *     },
 *     "alt" = {
 *       "label" = @Translation("Alt"),
 *       "translatable" = TRUE
 *     },
 *     "title" = {
 *       "label" = @Translation("Title"),
 *       "translatable" = TRUE
 *     },
 *   },
 *   list_class = "\Drupal\file\Plugin\Field\FieldType\FileFieldItemList",
 *   constraints = {"ReferenceAccess" = {}, "FileValidation" = {}}
 * )
 */

Answer 1

The image field type has no property image, the main property is target_id inherited from the file field type. The easiest way to define a custom image field would be to extend the three core image field classes another time, now in the namespace of your module.

See how ImageItem defines a new compound field by extending FileItem overriding propertyDefinitions() unsetting two properties and adding four new image specific properties.

An alternative solution would be Paragraphs, more overhead (while a compound field stores the data of all fields in one table, Paragraphs needs a table for each field and also for the paragraph entity itself), but it provides unlimited nesting of field types.