diff --git a/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/App.vue b/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/App.vue
index b312041..2575471 100644
--- a/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/App.vue
+++ b/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/App.vue
@@ -109,8 +109,11 @@
 
 <template>
   <div class="ltt-overlay-root">
+    <!-- hidden as soon as an element is picked: the region selector captures
+         the pristine page next, and the picker highlight/tooltip must not be
+         in it (it would otherwise stay mounted under the dim layer) -->
     <PickerLayer
-      v-if="state.mode === 'picker' && !composerOpen"
+      v-if="state.mode === 'picker' && !composerOpen && !pickedElement"
       class="ltt-interactive"
       @pick="onPick"
       @cancel="cancelPicker"
diff --git a/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/RegionSelector.vue b/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/RegionSelector.vue
index a8c20c2..30c6af2 100644
--- a/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/RegionSelector.vue
+++ b/packages/extension/src/content/overlay/RegionSelector.vue
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@
 
 onMounted(async () => {
   try {
+    // hide the overlay locally before asking the background for the capture:
+    // the background hides it too, but that goes through a message roundtrip —
+    // a slow one (or a stale content-script handler) would burn the picker UI
+    // into the screenshot. The background's own unhide only drops the count
+    // back to 1, so the overlay stays hidden until the pop below.
+    pushUiHidden();
     const response = (await browser.runtime.sendMessage({ type: "capture" })) as {
       ok: boolean;
       data?: { dataUrl: string };
@@ -39,6 +45,8 @@
   } catch (err) {
     error.value = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
     phase.value = "select";
+  } finally {
+    popUiHidden();
   }
   window.addEventListener("keydown", onKeyDown, true);
 });
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/ScreenshotViewer.vue b/packages/ui/src/ScreenshotViewer.vue
index 7a34a75..09873ab 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/ScreenshotViewer.vue
+++ b/packages/ui/src/ScreenshotViewer.vue
@@ -364,6 +364,9 @@
   inset: 0;
   display: flex;
   align-items: stretch;
+  /* the editor block sizes to the canvas — without this it sits at the left
+     edge of wide windows instead of centered */
+  justify-content: center;
 }
 .editor-stage :deep(.annotation-toolbar) {
   position: absolute;