diff --git a/benchmarks/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/PreviewCostProbe.java b/benchmarks/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/PreviewCostProbe.java
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+package com.demcha.compose;
+
+import com.demcha.compose.document.api.DocumentPageSize;
+import com.demcha.compose.document.api.DocumentSession;
+import com.demcha.compose.document.style.DocumentInsets;
+import com.demcha.compose.document.templates.api.DocumentTemplate;
+import com.demcha.compose.document.templates.cv.presets.ModernProfessional;
+import com.demcha.compose.document.templates.proposal.presets.ModernProposal;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.Loader;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.rendering.ImageType;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.rendering.PDFRenderer;
+
+import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.function.ToLongFunction;
+
+/**
+ * Times each stage of the current preview path, so its cost is measured rather
+ * than assumed.
+ *
+ * <p>{@code DocumentSession.toImages(dpi)} reaches a raster through: open the
+ * session &rarr; compose &rarr; layout &rarr; build a {@code PDDocument} and
+ * {@code save()} it to bytes &rarr; {@code Loader.loadPDF} &rarr;
+ * {@code PDFRenderer}. This probe reports each of those separately, warm, on two
+ * canonical workloads.</p>
+ *
+ * <h2>What these numbers do and do not say</h2>
+ *
+ * <p>They describe the pipeline that exists. They are <strong>not</strong> a bound
+ * on what a direct Java2D backend would save, and no stage here should be read as
+ * "removable" or "unavoidable":</p>
+ *
+ * <ul>
+ *   <li>The <em>PDF encode</em> stage is not serialisation. Before {@code save()}
+ *       the backend creates pages, walks the whole {@code LayoutGraph}, paints
+ *       every fragment, resolves links and bookmarks, and applies headers,
+ *       footers, metadata, watermark and protection. A direct renderer would
+ *       replace that painting work, not delete it.</li>
+ *   <li>The <em>PDFRenderer</em> stage is not pixel production alone. It parses and
+ *       interprets PDF operators, then paints them through Java2D. A direct
+ *       renderer would skip the interpretation and keep the painting.</li>
+ * </ul>
+ *
+ * <p>A direct backend therefore changes work in <em>both</em> stages, and no
+ * measurement of the present pipeline can predict the result. Comparing the two
+ * designs needs a second implementation to measure against.</p>
+ *
+ * <h2>Measurement notes</h2>
+ *
+ * <ul>
+ *   <li>Every DPI renders from a freshly parsed document and a fresh
+ *       {@code PDFRenderer}, so a later DPI does not inherit the glyph and
+ *       resource caches an earlier one warmed. The parse is outside the timed
+ *       region.</li>
+ *   <li>{@code toImages} is measured on its own sessions rather than after four
+ *       raster passes over the same document.</li>
+ *   <li>Opening the session is timed separately from composing into it, so the
+ *       measurement-service setup the constructor performs is not reported as
+ *       DSL cost.</li>
+ *   <li>Totals are summed <em>within</em> an iteration and the median of those
+ *       totals is reported: medians of separate stages do not add up to the
+ *       median of their sum.</li>
+ * </ul>
+ *
+ * <p>Reads nothing private and changes no {@code src/main} code.</p>
+ */
+public final class PreviewCostProbe {
+
+    private static final int WARMUP_ITERATIONS = 6;
+    private static final int MEASURED_ITERATIONS = 11;
+    private static final int REPORT_DPI = 96;
+
+    private PreviewCostProbe() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Runs the probe and prints one line per measured stage.
+     *
+     * @param args ignored
+     * @throws Exception if any render stage fails
+     */
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+        measure("canonical CV, ModernProfessional",
+                CanonicalBenchmarkSupport.canonicalCv(),
+                ModernProfessional.create());
+        measure("long proposal, ModernProposal",
+                CanonicalBenchmarkSupport.canonicalProposal(),
+                ModernProposal.create());
+    }
+
+    private static <T> void measure(String label, T data, DocumentTemplate<T> template) throws Exception {
+        for (int i = 0; i < WARMUP_ITERATIONS; i++) {
+            Stages warm = new Stages();
+            runStages(data, template, warm);
+            runToImages(data, template, warm);
+        }
+
+        List<Stages> samples = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (int i = 0; i < MEASURED_ITERATIONS; i++) {
+            Stages stages = new Stages();
+            runStages(data, template, stages);
+            runToImages(data, template, stages);
+            samples.add(stages);
+        }
+
+        System.out.println("=== preview pipeline, stage by stage (" + label + ") ===");
+        System.out.printf("pages=%d pdfBytes=%d%n", samples.get(0).pages, samples.get(0).pdfBytes);
+        report("session open", samples, s -> s.sessionOpenNanos);
+        report("compose (DSL build)", samples, s -> s.composeNanos);
+        report("layout (compile graph)", samples, s -> s.layoutNanos);
+        report("PDF encode: paint graph + save", samples, s -> s.encodeNanos);
+        report("PDF parse: Loader.loadPDF", samples, s -> s.parseNanos);
+        report("PDFRenderer 72dpi, all pages", samples, s -> s.raster72Nanos);
+        report("PDFRenderer 96dpi, all pages", samples, s -> s.raster96Nanos);
+        report("PDFRenderer 150dpi, all pages", samples, s -> s.raster150Nanos);
+        report("PDFRenderer 96dpi, first page", samples, s -> s.raster96FirstNanos);
+        report("sum of the stages at 96dpi", samples, Stages::pipelineSumAt96);
+        report("toImages(96), layout cached", samples, s -> s.toImagesCachedNanos);
+        report("toImages(96), fresh session", samples, s -> s.toImagesFromScratchNanos);
+        System.out.println();
+    }
+
+    /** One pass over the pipeline, timing each stage in isolation. */
+    private static <T> void runStages(T data, DocumentTemplate<T> template, Stages stages) throws Exception {
+        // Opening the session is its own stage: the constructor resolves the
+        // backend's measurement services before a single node is composed.
+        // Folding it into the compose figure would attribute that setup to the
+        // DSL, which is the one thing this decomposition exists to avoid.
+        long t0 = System.nanoTime();
+        DocumentSession document = session();
+        long tOpen = System.nanoTime();
+        stages.sessionOpenNanos = tOpen - t0;
+        try (document) {
+            template.compose(document, data);
+            long t1 = System.nanoTime();
+            stages.composeNanos = t1 - tOpen;
+
+            document.layoutGraph();
+            long t2 = System.nanoTime();
+            stages.layoutNanos = t2 - t1;
+
+            // Layout is cached per revision, so this times the backend painting the
+            // graph into a PDDocument and saving it — not serialisation alone.
+            byte[] bytes = document.toPdfBytes();
+            stages.encodeNanos = System.nanoTime() - t2;
+            stages.pdfBytes = bytes.length;
+
+            long t3 = System.nanoTime();
+            try (PDDocument parsed = Loader.loadPDF(bytes)) {
+                stages.parseNanos = System.nanoTime() - t3;
+                stages.pages = parsed.getNumberOfPages();
+            }
+
+            // A fresh parse per DPI: one shared PDFRenderer would hand every later
+            // DPI the caches the first one warmed.
+            stages.raster72Nanos = rasterAllPages(bytes, 72);
+            stages.raster96Nanos = rasterAllPages(bytes, REPORT_DPI);
+            stages.raster150Nanos = rasterAllPages(bytes, 150);
+            stages.raster96FirstNanos = rasterFirstPage(bytes, REPORT_DPI);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The public call, measured on its own sessions so it is not preceded by four
+     * raster passes over the same document.
+     */
+    private static <T> void runToImages(T data, DocumentTemplate<T> template, Stages stages) throws Exception {
+        try (DocumentSession document = session()) {
+            template.compose(document, data);
+            document.layoutGraph();
+            long start = System.nanoTime();
+            sinkAll(document.toImages(REPORT_DPI));
+            stages.toImagesCachedNanos = System.nanoTime() - start;
+        }
+
+        long start = System.nanoTime();
+        try (DocumentSession document = session()) {
+            template.compose(document, data);
+            sinkAll(document.toImages(REPORT_DPI));
+        }
+        stages.toImagesFromScratchNanos = System.nanoTime() - start;
+    }
+
+    private static DocumentSession session() {
+        return GraphCompose.document()
+                .pageSize(DocumentPageSize.A4)
+                .margin(DocumentInsets.of(36))
+                .create();
+    }
+
+    private static long rasterAllPages(byte[] pdf, int dpi) throws Exception {
+        try (PDDocument parsed = Loader.loadPDF(pdf)) {
+            PDFRenderer renderer = new PDFRenderer(parsed);
+            int pages = parsed.getNumberOfPages();
+            long start = System.nanoTime();
+            for (int page = 0; page < pages; page++) {
+                sink(renderer.renderImageWithDPI(page, dpi, ImageType.RGB));
+            }
+            return System.nanoTime() - start;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static long rasterFirstPage(byte[] pdf, int dpi) throws Exception {
+        try (PDDocument parsed = Loader.loadPDF(pdf)) {
+            PDFRenderer renderer = new PDFRenderer(parsed);
+            long start = System.nanoTime();
+            sink(renderer.renderImageWithDPI(0, dpi, ImageType.RGB));
+            return System.nanoTime() - start;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static int guard;
+
+    private static void sinkAll(List<BufferedImage> images) {
+        for (BufferedImage image : images) {
+            sink(image);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void sink(BufferedImage image) {
+        guard += image.getWidth() + image.getHeight();
+    }
+
+    private static void report(String label, List<Stages> samples, ToLongFunction<Stages> field) {
+        List<Long> values = new ArrayList<>(samples.size());
+        for (Stages sample : samples) {
+            values.add(field.applyAsLong(sample));
+        }
+        Collections.sort(values);
+        double medianMs = values.get(values.size() / 2) / 1_000_000.0;
+        double minMs = values.get(0) / 1_000_000.0;
+        double maxMs = values.get(values.size() - 1) / 1_000_000.0;
+        System.out.printf("%-32s median=%8.2f ms   min=%8.2f   max=%8.2f%n", label, medianMs, minMs, maxMs);
+    }
+
+    private static final class Stages {
+        long sessionOpenNanos;
+        long composeNanos;
+        long layoutNanos;
+        long encodeNanos;
+        long parseNanos;
+        long raster72Nanos;
+        long raster96Nanos;
+        long raster150Nanos;
+        long raster96FirstNanos;
+        long toImagesCachedNanos;
+        long toImagesFromScratchNanos;
+        int pages;
+        int pdfBytes;
+
+        /** Summed per iteration, so the reported median is a median of real totals. */
+        long pipelineSumAt96() {
+            return sessionOpenNanos + composeNanos + layoutNanos + encodeNanos
+                    + parseNanos + raster96Nanos;
+        }
+    }
+}