diff --git a/DESIGN.md b/DESIGN.md
index bfebc1f..a98dd18 100644
--- a/DESIGN.md
+++ b/DESIGN.md
@@ -168,6 +168,12 @@ by hand must do the same. `settle`, `fade` and layout springs never bounce and i
   - Word editor and spreadsheet: the screen provides `LocalIsDarkMode = reader mode` to everything
     inside it and draws its own desk (light grey `#E3E4E9`, near-black `#0D0D0F`) behind the pages,
     so every glass control, dropdown menu, dock, dialog and the status-bar icons follow the paper.
+- Chrome that sits on the document beside the clear glass circles (title pill, page capsule,
+  ribbon dropdown triggers and steppers) is **clear glass too**: `surfaceColor = Color.Transparent`
+  / `viewerGlass(backdrop, Color.Transparent)`, never a `chipGlass` frost. A frost reads as a grey
+  slab over pictures and makes the chip look like a different material from the buttons beside it.
+  An open dropdown menu keeps its frost (`LiquidGlassDropdown` falls back to the theme frost when
+  its trigger is clear), because rows of text need it.
 - The find bar is the shared `PdfSearchBar`: it samples the live page layer (`contentBackdrop` /
   `screenBackdrop.content`), clear surface, adaptive ink. Never give it only the wallpaper.
 - **Night colours** come from `NightPaper` (Gander's matrix: invert + 180 degree hue turn), so a blue
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/components/LiquidGlassDropdown.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/components/LiquidGlassDropdown.kt
index 66e5a1e..01ec5db 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/components/LiquidGlassDropdown.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/components/LiquidGlassDropdown.kt
@@ -129,8 +129,11 @@ fun <T> LiquidGlassDropdown(
     val isDark = LocalIsDarkMode.current
     val fg = if (contentColor.isSpecified) contentColor else LiquidGlassColors.text(isDark)
     val fgSoft = fg.copy(alpha = 0.62f)
-    val field = if (triggerSurface.isSpecified) triggerSurface
-    else if (isDark) Color(0xFF111318).copy(0.74f) else Color.White.copy(0.55f)
+    val themeField = if (isDark) Color(0xFF111318).copy(0.74f) else Color.White.copy(0.55f)
+    val field = if (triggerSurface.isSpecified) triggerSurface else themeField
+    // A clear trigger (one sitting among clear glass buttons) still opens a frosted menu: rows of
+    // text need it to stay legible over whatever page or picture the menu drops onto.
+    val menuField = if (field.alpha > 0f) field else themeField
     val haptics = LocalHapticFeedback.current
     var open by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
     var anchor by remember { mutableStateOf(Rect.Zero) }
@@ -226,7 +229,7 @@ fun <T> LiquidGlassDropdown(
                             // during the fade and snap it in at the end (the flicker).
                             compositingStrategy = CompositingStrategy.ModulateAlpha
                         }
-                        .liquidGlassPanel(backdrop, uiSensor, field)
+                        .liquidGlassPanel(backdrop, uiSensor, menuField)
                         .padding(4.dp),
                     verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(2.dp)
                 ) {
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/DocxEditorScreen.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/DocxEditorScreen.kt
index be3ab49..859fefa 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/DocxEditorScreen.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/DocxEditorScreen.kt
@@ -202,7 +202,6 @@ import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.NightPaper
 import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.OfficeStandardColors
 import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.OfficeThemeColors
 import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.UnsavedChangesDialog
-import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.chipGlass
 import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.liquidRowClick
 import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.rememberScreenBackdrop
 import com.chethan616.clearpdf.ui.components.viewerGlass
@@ -786,8 +785,11 @@ private fun DocxEditorContent(
     val screenBackdrop = rememberScreenBackdrop(backdrop)
     val statusTop = WindowInsets.statusBars.asPaddingValues().calculateTopPadding()
     val ribbonHeight = 52.dp
-    // Clear glass like the PDF viewer's chrome; the tint and ink follow the paper (see above).
-    val chipTint = chipGlass(onLight = !paperDark)
+    // Clear glass, exactly like the header and reading circles beside it and the PDF viewer's page
+    // pill: no frost, so the title pill, the ribbon's style/font/size controls and the page capsule
+    // refract the page the way the buttons do, and every Liquid Glass setting reads the same on all
+    // of them. A frost here made them grey slabs over pictures. The ink follows the paper (see above).
+    val chipTint = Color.Transparent
 
     Box(
         Modifier
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/SpreadsheetViewerScreen.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/SpreadsheetViewerScreen.kt
index fb6f19c..0e8691b 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/SpreadsheetViewerScreen.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/chethan616/clearpdf/ui/screen/SpreadsheetViewerScreen.kt
@@ -504,7 +504,9 @@ private fun SpreadsheetViewerContent(
                     Box(Modifier.weight(1f), contentAlignment = Alignment.Center) {
                         GlassTitlePill(
                             text = (if (state.dirty) "• " else "") + state.fileName.ifBlank { stringResource(R.string.viewer_title) },
-                            backdrop = headerBackdrop
+                            backdrop = headerBackdrop,
+                            // Clear like the header circles beside it (the PDF viewer's page pill too).
+                            surfaceColor = Color.Transparent
                         )
                     }
                     if (state.dirty && state.editable) {