diff --git a/apps/studio/src/ClipPicture.tsx b/apps/studio/src/ClipPicture.tsx
index 491b3c5..3cd9fb8 100644
--- a/apps/studio/src/ClipPicture.tsx
+++ b/apps/studio/src/ClipPicture.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { useEffect, useState } from "preact/hooks";
 import { clipLayersOf, layersAt, type Layer } from "@openclapper/vocab";
 import { fetchLayer } from "./api";
 import { Composition, useShotLayers } from "./compose/stack";
-import { stepBake } from "./format";
+import { stepBake, stepStale } from "./format";
 import { Framed, type MaskMode } from "./Framed";
 import { presentationFrame } from "./FramingSelect";
 import type { ResolvedClip } from "./TimelineParts";
@@ -28,12 +28,15 @@ export function useClipLayers(own: readonly Layer[]): Layer[] {
 
 /**
  * A photo clip's picture (epic #275): live on the stage and in the clip panel (the step's layers
- * from the shot, then the clip's own), its step's bake in the strip (a layers glyph says it has
- * its own on top).
+ * from the shot, then the clip's own). The strip uses the step's bake when that shows everything,
+ * and composes live when the clip has its own layers or the bake is not made yet, so a thumb never
+ * drops what the stage shows.
  */
 export function ClipPicture({ c, mode, maxHeight, live }: { c: PhotoClip; mode: MaskMode; maxHeight?: string; live?: boolean }) {
   const frame = presentationFrame(c.photo, c.pres);
-  if (!live) return <Framed photo={c.photo} mode={mode} frame={frame} vignette={presentationVignette(c.photo, c.pres)} src={stepBake(c.shot, c.step)?.url} maxHeight={maxHeight} />;
+  const bake = stepBake(c.shot, c.step);
+  const needsLive = live || c.ownLayers.length > 0 || (!bake && stepStale(c.shot, c.step));
+  if (!needsLive) return <Framed photo={c.photo} mode={mode} frame={frame} vignette={presentationVignette(c.photo, c.pres)} src={bake?.url} maxHeight={maxHeight} />;
   return <LivePicture c={c} mode={mode} maxHeight={maxHeight} />;
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/features/timeline.md b/docs/features/timeline.md
index 3daa743..edc2e3e 100644
--- a/docs/features/timeline.md
+++ b/docs/features/timeline.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ On the desktop Timeline is one window (`apps/TimelineApp.tsx`) for all of the pr
 - **Head**: name, total length, the **Presentation lock** ("Per clip" or one mode for all), **Review**: "Approve all · n" while shots in the cut are unreviewed (approves those), else "Back to review · n" for the approved ones (archived shots are left alone; one bulk request, Undo in the toast), save status, menu (Rename…, Delete timeline…). Changes **autosave** 600 ms after the last edit and at once when leaving the page; the server's answer replaces the clip list, so clips of deleted photos disappear on the next save.
 - **Preview**: the selected clip, large, in its presentation, composed live (its step's layers, then its own; a sketch clip's sketch on white). The stage keeps **one height** for every clip (`--tl-stage-h`): shots, sketches and placeholders letterbox into it, so the layout never jumps. The grip under the stage **resizes** it (remembered per browser in `localStorage["timelineStageH"]`; double-click goes back to the default, which fills the window). Transport: first · previous · **Play/Pause** (`Space`) · next · last, the playhead clock over the total, "clip n of m · 3.0 s", **Placeholder** (`P`) and **Shots** (`N`: the browser ⇄ the clip panel).
   Playback steps through the clips at their hold times (100 ms ticks) and stops at the end; Play at the end starts over.
-- **Strip**: one block per clip, its width proportional to the hold time (44 px a second by default; zoomed out a clip keeps at least 20–64 px), with a thumbnail (its step's bake; a photo clip's carries its shot's state marker), the shot's title (and its place in the block for sequences; a layers icon marks a clip with layers of its own) and the hold time. Placeholders are dashed. A ruler labels the time (the spacing adapts to the zoom); **dragging along the ruler scrubs** (the preview follows; playback, if running, continues from there).
+- **Strip**: one block per clip, its width proportional to the hold time (44 px a second by default; zoomed out a clip keeps at least 20–64 px), with a thumbnail (its step's bake, composed live instead while the step is not baked yet or when the clip has layers of its own; a photo clip's carries its shot's state marker), the shot's title (and its place in the block for sequences; a layers icon marks a clip with layers of its own) and the hold time. Placeholders are dashed. A ruler labels the time (the spacing adapts to the zoom); **dragging along the ruler scrubs** (the preview follows; playback, if running, continues from there).
   - **Zoom**: Ctrl/⌘ + scroll over the strip zooms around the pointer; the bar above has −, a slider (double-click: default), +, and **Fit** (the whole cut in the width). Remembered in `localStorage["timelineZoom"]`.
   - **Playhead**: one red line across ruler and clips with a **knob above the strip**; drag the knob to scrub.
   - **Height**: the grip under the strip sets the thumbnail height (double-click resets; `localStorage["timelineStripH"]`). Click selects, double-click opens the shot view with the timeline's shots as its list, right-click opens the clip menu (Re-frame, Layers or Sketch it, Approve / Archive / Back to review for the clip's shot, Open shot, Extract as own shot…, Duplicate, Remove). **Drag a clip** to reorder (an accent line marks the drop position); shots drop in from the browser.