diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/render_worker.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/render_worker.rs
index 0cd3e040a..94b2d3d8d 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/render_worker.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/render_worker.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@
 //! the render from scratch has run past [`PREVIEW_AFTER_MS`], beside it (the full render keeps the
 //! other cores), and drops it if the full image is there first.
 //! The browser renders on the UI thread, so a zoom's full render blocks the page: there a preview
-//! is refined only once no newer request has come for [`SETTLE_MS`] (the zoom has paused).
+//! is refined only once no newer request has come for [`SETTLE_MS`] (the zoom has paused), or for
+//! as long as the last full render took when that is shorter (a wait never costs more than the
+//! render it may save).
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -27,9 +29,9 @@ use web_time::Instant;
 pub const PREVIEW_FACTOR: f64 = 4.0;
 /// Full renders quicker than this (about a frame) show without a preview.
 pub const PREVIEW_AFTER_MS: f64 = 12.0;
-/// The browser refines a zoom's preview only once no newer request came for this long: a full
-/// render there blocks the page, and one between every two wheel steps of a zoom held it up for
-/// seconds.
+/// The browser refines a zoom's preview only once no newer request came for this long (or for as
+/// long as the last full render took, when shorter): a full render there blocks the page, and one
+/// between every two wheel steps of a zoom held it up for seconds.
 pub const SETTLE_MS: u64 = 120;
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -354,7 +356,11 @@ pub struct Inline {
     /// rendering the preview itself can take longer than the wait (the page is blocked meanwhile,
     /// so no newer request could have come).
     since: Instant,
+    /// How long to wait after a preview, at most: `wait` is this capped by the last full render's
+    /// time, so a page whose renders are quick is not held coarse for longer than one would take.
     settle: std::time::Duration,
+    /// The wait for the pending job's preview.
+    wait: std::time::Duration,
     renders: Renders,
 }
 
@@ -367,7 +373,17 @@ impl Inline {
     }
     /// Refining a preview after `settle` without newer requests (tests: zero, the next frame).
     pub fn with_settle(ctx: egui::Context, settle: std::time::Duration) -> Self {
-        Self { ctx, pending: None, submitted: 0, previewed: false, preview_shown: false, since: Instant::now(), settle, renders: Renders::default() }
+        Self {
+            ctx,
+            pending: None,
+            submitted: 0,
+            previewed: false,
+            preview_shown: false,
+            since: Instant::now(),
+            settle,
+            wait: settle,
+            renders: Renders::default(),
+        }
     }
     pub fn submit(&mut self, job: Job) {
         self.pending = Some(job);
@@ -375,6 +391,7 @@ impl Inline {
         self.previewed = false;
         self.preview_shown = false;
     }
+    /// Whether a request is still to be refined (a preview's wait counts).
     pub fn in_flight(&self) -> bool {
         self.pending.is_some()
     }
@@ -384,14 +401,16 @@ impl Inline {
             if let Some(d) = self.pending.as_ref().and_then(|job| self.renders.preview(job)) {
                 self.preview_shown = true;
                 self.since = Instant::now();
-                self.ctx.request_repaint_after(self.settle);
+                let full = std::time::Duration::try_from_secs_f64(self.renders.full_ms / 1000.0);
+                self.wait = full.map_or(self.settle, |full| full.min(self.settle));
+                self.ctx.request_repaint_after(self.wait);
                 return Some(answering(d, self.submitted));
             }
         }
         if self.pending.is_some() && self.preview_shown {
             let waited = self.since.elapsed();
-            if waited < self.settle {
-                self.ctx.request_repaint_after(self.settle - waited);
+            if waited < self.wait {
+                self.ctx.request_repaint_after(self.wait - waited);
                 return None;
             }
         }
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/zoom_preview_tests.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/zoom_preview_tests.rs
index 47a6a0260..68b11870c 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/zoom_preview_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/canvas/zoom_preview_tests.rs
@@ -443,21 +443,23 @@ fn the_browser_worker_refines_a_zoom_only_once_it_settles() {
 
 /// The wait counts from the preview being shown, not from the request: rendering the preview can
 /// take longer than the wait (the page is blocked meanwhile, so no newer request could come), and
-/// counted from the request the refinement would follow in the very next frame.
+/// counted from the request the refinement would follow in the very next frame. The time the
+/// preview's render would take is stood in for by a sleep between the request and the poll.
 #[test]
 fn the_wait_counts_from_the_preview_not_from_the_request() {
     let view = |scale| view_at((300.0, 200.0), scale, 1200, 1200);
-    let s = slow_scene(&[view(2.0), view(1.0)], 20.0 * PREVIEW_AFTER_MS);
+    // Renders from scratch of at least the settle, so the wait is the whole settle (see the cap).
+    let s = slow_scene(&[view(2.0), view(1.0)], SETTLE_MS as f64);
     let ds = s.ds().unwrap();
     let at = |scale| job(&ds.doc, ds.page, ds.uid, view(scale));
-    let preview_ms = preview_with(&at(1.0), &mut Retained::default()).unwrap().ms;
-    let settle = std::time::Duration::from_secs_f64(preview_ms / 2000.0).max(std::time::Duration::from_millis(1));
+    let settle = std::time::Duration::from_millis(SETTLE_MS);
     let mut w = Inline::with_settle(egui::Context::default(), settle);
     w.submit(at(2.0));
     assert!(w.poll().is_some_and(|d| !d.coarse));
     w.submit(at(1.0));
-    assert!(w.poll().is_some_and(|d| d.coarse), "the preview, which takes {preview_ms} ms");
-    assert!(w.poll().is_none() && w.in_flight(), "the wait ({settle:?}) starts only now");
+    std::thread::sleep(settle + std::time::Duration::from_millis(30));
+    assert!(w.poll().is_some_and(|d| d.coarse), "the preview, longer after the request than the wait");
+    assert!(w.poll().is_none() && w.in_flight(), "the wait starts only now");
     std::thread::sleep(settle);
     assert!(w.poll().is_some_and(|d| !d.coarse && d.view.scale == 1.0));
 }
@@ -491,3 +493,26 @@ fn same_zoom_requests_before_the_zoom_refines_keep_waiting_and_refine_at_once_af
     let d = w.poll().expect("the refined image");
     assert!(!d.coarse && !w.in_flight());
 }
+
+/// The wait never costs more than the full render it may save: a preview is refined once the
+/// last full render's time has passed when that is shorter than `SETTLE_MS`, so a key zoom or a
+/// page switch on a page whose renders are quick is not held coarse for longer than before.
+#[test]
+fn the_wait_is_capped_by_the_time_of_the_last_full_render() {
+    let view = |scale| view_at((300.0, 200.0), scale, 1200, 1200);
+    let s = slow_scene(&[view(2.0), view(1.0)], 3.0 * PREVIEW_AFTER_MS);
+    let ds = s.ds().unwrap();
+    let at = |scale| job(&ds.doc, ds.page, ds.uid, view(scale));
+    // A settle far longer than this page's renders: the wait is their time instead.
+    let settle = std::time::Duration::from_secs(10);
+    let mut w = Inline::with_settle(egui::Context::default(), settle);
+    w.submit(at(2.0));
+    let first = w.poll().expect("the first image");
+    assert!(!first.coarse && first.ms >= PREVIEW_AFTER_MS, "slow enough to preview: {} ms", first.ms);
+    w.submit(at(1.0));
+    assert!(w.poll().is_some_and(|d| d.coarse));
+    assert!(w.poll().is_none() && w.in_flight(), "not refined in the very next frame");
+    std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs_f64(first.ms / 1000.0));
+    let d = w.poll().expect("refined once the last full render's time has passed, not the settle");
+    assert!(!d.coarse && d.view.scale == 1.0 && !w.in_flight());
+}
diff --git a/docs/gaps.md b/docs/gaps.md
index 67cc979d8..9e079036e 100644
--- a/docs/gaps.md
+++ b/docs/gaps.md
@@ -248,9 +248,10 @@ No alpha blockers: the alpha gate in [`roadmap.md`](roadmap.md#alpha-gate) passe
   page, a zoom after quick renders), a watchdog thread previews any such render still running
   after 12 ms (desktop only; the browser renders inline).
 - **Landed (2026-10-28):** the browser refines a zoom's preview only once no newer request has
-  come for 120 ms (`SETTLE_MS`): its full renders run on the UI thread, and one between every two
-  wheel steps held the page up for seconds. Pans and edits (no preview) are refined at once; the
-  desktop, with its render thread, is unchanged.
+  come for 120 ms (`SETTLE_MS`), or for as long as its last full render took when that is shorter:
+  its full renders run on the UI thread, and one between every two wheel steps held the page up
+  for seconds. Pans and edits (no preview) are refined at once; the desktop, with its render
+  thread, is unchanged.
 - **Landed (2026-10-15):** a bounded render margin is reused during panning and refilled before
   the visible view reaches its edge. The extra rendered area is capped at 1.6× visible pixels;
   this reduces blank strips without changing the CPU renderer.