diff --git a/docs/architecture/frames.md b/docs/architecture/frames.md
index b56c489..bd2f2a0 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/frames.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/frames.md
@@ -23,6 +23,19 @@ paste into another window keeps the box where it stood in the line, while a prog
 cannot read the attribute still gets the span's plain text. An **AutoText** entry stores
 the slice's nodes for the same reason (`storage/autoText.ts`).
 
+## What a frame costs a big document
+
+Every frame is refitted by **one** `ResizeObserver` for the whole document, and a round's
+reads run before its writes: a per-view observer is delivered in a callback of its own, so
+the wrapper written for one frame makes the browser lay the document out again before the
+next one's `offsetWidth` is read — 1.4 s of forced layout on a document holding 450 frames,
+and the ProseMirror DOM observer flushes (each reading the selection, each another layout)
+once per callback on top. The size is read from the rotor, not taken from the observation:
+`offsetWidth` snaps to the pixel grid the frame sits on, and the fractional border box moves
+blocks below it by a pixel. Both node views also leave the DOM alone when `update()` brings
+the same `attrs` object — everything they write is drawn from the attrs, and text typed
+inside a box keeps them, so there is nothing to redraw.
+
 ## Clicking a float
 
 A block after a float keeps its own box **over** the float — only its line boxes move out
diff --git a/docs/architecture/pagination.md b/docs/architecture/pagination.md
index 5e10cc3..34d3862 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/pagination.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/pagination.md
@@ -138,6 +138,14 @@ behind until the next collection, so one Range is reused; and TipTap's Placehold
 after a split went from 410 to 150 ms, the keystroke that splits from 219 to 50 ms; in a
 document of real words, where few squiggles split the text nodes, 47 and 18 ms.
 
+**A pass tells the document only what changed.** `pm-pagecount` is announced where the
+numbers on it — page count, document height, the section start pages, the placements, the
+table bands — differ from the last announcement. Every reader re-reads the whole document
+from the event (the index resolves each row's page, the header band its geometry, every
+cross-reference its number) and writes back what it found, which is a document change, which
+is another pass: a pass that lands what the last one did would set the round going again.
+Opening a 460-page document ran five rounds of that where four answer everything.
+
 **Layout constants** (must stay in sync between `pageBreaks.ts`, `Editor.svelte`, and `editor.css`):
 - `PAGE_HEIGHT = 1123px` (A4 portrait), `PAGE_GAP = 20px`, `CYCLE = PAGE_HEIGHT + PAGE_GAP = 1143px`.
 - Page height/width and margins are read **live** from CSS custom properties (`--user-page-height`, `--user-page-width`, `--user-margin-*`) so orientation/margin changes don't require new constants. `getCycle()` in `Editor.svelte` reads `--user-page-height` at runtime.
diff --git a/src/lib/editor/extensions/image.ts b/src/lib/editor/extensions/image.ts
index 80f4cd9..85267b2 100644
--- a/src/lib/editor/extensions/image.ts
+++ b/src/lib/editor/extensions/image.ts
@@ -730,7 +730,11 @@ class ImageView {
 
   update(node: PMNode): boolean {
     if (node.type !== this.node.type) return false;
+    // The picture is drawn from the attrs alone: an unchanged attrs object is the
+    // picture already on the page, and rewriting it costs a layout per picture.
+    const drawn = node.attrs === this.node.attrs;
     this.node = node;
+    if (drawn) return true;
     const src = (node.attrs.src as string) ?? '';
     if (this.img.getAttribute('src') !== src) this.img.src = src;
     this.img.alt = (node.attrs.alt as string) ?? '';
diff --git a/src/lib/editor/extensions/pageBreaks.ts b/src/lib/editor/extensions/pageBreaks.ts
index f3bbbf8..98a7f4b 100644
--- a/src/lib/editor/extensions/pageBreaks.ts
+++ b/src/lib/editor/extensions/pageBreaks.ts
@@ -430,6 +430,7 @@ export const PageBreaks = Extension.create({
     // below a float's overhang moves further than the model's spacer), so seeing the older
     // key return means a ping-pong. null, not '' — that is a spacer-free layout's own key.
     let prevPlacementsKey: string | null = null;
+    let lastAnnounced = '';
     // Each pass measures against the spacers left by the previous pass, so a changed
     // result needs one more pass to re-measure and settle (see calculate). Bounded so
     // a hypothetical two-layout ping-pong can't loop forever; reset per external change.
@@ -1899,10 +1900,18 @@ export const PageBreaks = Extension.create({
           }));
 
           // docHeight (document px) lets Editor.svelte size the scaled scroll footprint.
-          dom.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('pm-pagecount', {
-            bubbles: true,
-            detail: { numPages, docHeight: targetHeight, tableBreakBands, sectionStartPages },
-          }));
+          // Announced only where the layout differs from the last one: every reader
+          // re-reads the whole document from it and writes back what it found, so a pass
+          // that lands what the last one did would set the round going again.
+          const announced = `${numPages}:${targetHeight}:${sectionStartPages.join()}:${placementsKey}:`
+            + tableBreakBands.map((b) => `${b.key}@${Math.round(b.closeY)}`).join();
+          if (announced !== lastAnnounced) {
+            lastAnnounced = announced;
+            dom.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('pm-pagecount', {
+              bubbles: true,
+              detail: { numPages, docHeight: targetHeight, tableBreakBands, sectionStartPages },
+            }));
+          }
 
           lastSnapshot = {
             timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
diff --git a/src/lib/editor/extensions/textBox.ts b/src/lib/editor/extensions/textBox.ts
index 83835ce..3138cf4 100644
--- a/src/lib/editor/extensions/textBox.ts
+++ b/src/lib/editor/extensions/textBox.ts
@@ -440,6 +440,32 @@ export const TextBox = Node.create({
   },
 });
 
+type Size = { w: number; h: number };
+
+const rotorSize = (el: HTMLElement): Size => ({ w: el.offsetWidth, h: el.offsetHeight });
+
+// One observer for every frame in the document: a per-view one is delivered in a
+// callback of its own, so the browser lays the document out again between any two
+// frames — 1.4 s on a document holding 450 of them.
+const fitted = new WeakMap<Element, TextBoxView>();
+let fitObserver: ResizeObserver | null = null;
+
+function observeFit(rotor: HTMLElement, view: TextBoxView): void {
+  fitted.set(rotor, view);
+  // A round's reads before its writes: the size is offsetWidth's, which snaps to the
+  // pixel grid the frame sits on and so is the rotor's own, not the observation's.
+  fitObserver ??= new ResizeObserver((entries) => {
+    const jobs = entries.map((e) => [fitted.get(e.target), rotorSize(e.target as HTMLElement)] as const);
+    for (const [view, size] of jobs) view?.refit(size);
+  });
+  fitObserver.observe(rotor);
+}
+
+function unobserveFit(rotor: HTMLElement): void {
+  fitObserver?.unobserve(rotor);
+  fitted.delete(rotor);
+}
+
 // Node view: like ImageView, an axis-aligned wrapper reserves the rotated bounding box and
 // a centered rotor carries fill/stroke/rotation plus the handles — but the rotor holds an
 // editable contentDOM and auto-grows, so a ResizeObserver re-fits the wrapper.
@@ -451,7 +477,6 @@ class TextBoxView {
   private node: PMNode;
   private editor: Editor;
   private getPos: () => number;
-  private observer: ResizeObserver | null = null;
   private resizing = false;
   // The polygon outline, for a shape CSS cannot draw; null for the three it can.
   private outline: SVGPathElement | null = null;
@@ -502,13 +527,7 @@ class TextBoxView {
     // The rotor is out of flow and grows with its content; refit the wrapper to the
     // rotated bounding box whenever the rendered size changes (typing, resizing), and
     // re-fit an ellipse's text area to its now-current height.
-    this.observer = new ResizeObserver(() => {
-      this.applyShapeInset();
-      this.fitWrapper();
-      // A right float's margin is computed from the wrapper width just set.
-      this.applyWrap();
-    });
-    this.observer.observe(this.rotor);
+    observeFit(this.rotor, this);
 
     this.applyAll();
   }
@@ -606,7 +625,7 @@ class TextBoxView {
   // a polygon's `textArea` — so text stays inside the outline. The vertical inset feeds
   // back into the auto-grown height, so rewrite it only past a threshold; the
   // ResizeObserver then settles (every ratio below 0.5 converges).
-  private applyShapeInset(): void {
+  private applyShapeInset(size?: Size): void {
     const kind = this.attrs().shapeKind;
     const area = SHAPES[kind]?.textArea;
     if (kind !== 'ellipse' && !area) {
@@ -614,8 +633,7 @@ class TextBoxView {
       this.lastInset = '';
       return;
     }
-    const w = this.rotor.offsetWidth;
-    const h = this.rotor.offsetHeight;
+    const { w, h } = size ?? rotorSize(this.rotor);
     if (!w || !h) return;
     const [l, t, r, b] = area
       ? [area[0] / 100, area[1] / 100, 1 - area[2] / 100, 1 - area[3] / 100]
@@ -644,9 +662,8 @@ class TextBoxView {
 
   // Size the wrapper to the rotor's rotated bounding box so surrounding text
   // reserves the right space (same math as ImageView.applyLayout).
-  private fitWrapper(): void {
-    const w = this.rotor.offsetWidth;
-    const h = this.rotor.offsetHeight;
+  private fitWrapper(size?: Size): void {
+    const { w, h } = size ?? rotorSize(this.rotor);
     if (!w || !h) return;
     const rad = (this.attrs().rotation * Math.PI) / 180;
     const bw = Math.abs(w * Math.cos(rad)) + Math.abs(h * Math.sin(rad));
@@ -883,9 +900,12 @@ class TextBoxView {
 
   update(node: PMNode): boolean {
     if (node.type !== this.node.type) return false;
+    // Everything applyAll writes comes from the attrs; text typed inside the box carries
+    // the same attrs object, and the observer refits what that grows.
+    const drawn = node.attrs === this.node.attrs;
     this.node = node;
     // Never touch contentDOM children — ProseMirror owns them.
-    if (!this.resizing) this.applyAll();
+    if (!this.resizing && !drawn) this.applyAll();
     return true;
   }
 
@@ -918,9 +938,17 @@ class TextBoxView {
     return this.isFrameHit(event as MouseEvent) || !this.editing(this.editor.state);
   }
 
+  // What the shared observer reports, so nothing here reads the rotor back: one
+  // frame's write between two reads is a forced layout per frame in the document.
+  refit(size: Size): void {
+    this.applyShapeInset(size);
+    this.fitWrapper(size);
+    // A right float's margin is computed from the wrapper width just set.
+    this.applyWrap();
+  }
+
   destroy(): void {
-    this.observer?.disconnect();
-    this.observer = null;
+    unobserveFit(this.rotor);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/dom/run.mjs b/tests/dom/run.mjs
index 4e950b6..4decb12 100644
--- a/tests/dom/run.mjs
+++ b/tests/dom/run.mjs
@@ -223,8 +223,8 @@ try {
   check(longPages > 100 && keyMedian < 100 && keyMax < 250,
     `typing at the top of a ${longPages}-page document: ${keyMedian} ms per keystroke (max ${keyMax}), ${Math.round(pass)} ms pass after a split`);
   // A letter typed and taken back leaves every block as tall as it was, so no pass runs
-  // (every pass ends in a pm-pagecount event), and the pause costs no more than a key: the
-  // spell checker re-reads the edited paragraph, not the document.
+  // (a pass that moves something ends in a pm-pagecount event), and the pause costs no more
+  // than a key: the spell checker re-reads the edited paragraph, not the document.
   await page.evaluate(() => {
     window.__passes = 0;
     document.querySelector('.tiptap').addEventListener('pm-pagecount', () => { window.__passes++; });
@@ -238,6 +238,18 @@ try {
   check(passes === 0 && idle < 100,
     `a letter typed and taken back runs no pass and its pause is free (${passes} passes, ${Math.round(idle)} ms blocked at most)`);
 
+  // A pass that lands the layout the last one did announces nothing: every reader of the
+  // event re-reads the whole document from it — the index its page numbers, the header
+  // band its geometry — and a redundant round would set them all going again.
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    window.__passes = 0;
+    const editor = document.querySelector('.tiptap').editor;
+    editor.view.dispatch(editor.state.tr.setMeta('addToHistory', false).setMeta('forcePageBreakRecalc', true));
+  });
+  for (const until = Date.now() + 1500; Date.now() < until;) await blocked();
+  const quiet = await page.evaluate(() => window.__passes);
+  check(quiet === 0, `a recalc that finds the same layout announces no page count (${quiet} events)`);
+
   // The block after a band-wrapped frame clears it; one after a page-anchored frame does
   // not. Keyed on an attribute image.ts writes (a `:has()` restyles the whole document).
   const PNG = 'data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAIAAACQd1PeAAAADElEQVR4nGNwaDgAAAKEAYEml6crAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC';