diff --git a/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/editor.css b/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/editor.css
index a6bb2d9c..8e65d2fb 100644
--- a/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/editor.css
+++ b/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/editor.css
@@ -260,10 +260,12 @@ body[data-dragging="1"] .selbar,
 .btn.styl.active { background: rgb(from var(--acid) r g b / .16);
                    border-color: rgb(from var(--acid) r g b / .7); color: var(--acid); }
 
-/* Resize handles. Only grabbable with the select tool armed, so a drawing
-   drag near a selected mark is never stolen by one. */
-body[data-mode="select"] .smOverlay .handle { pointer-events: all; }
-.smOverlay .handle { pointer-events: none; }
+/* Resize handles stay grabbable whatever tool is armed, so a shape can be
+   sized the moment it is drawn without a detour through the select tool.
+   Safe to leave live because a handle is a 9 px square that exists only while
+   something is selected — aiming at one is not something you do by accident,
+   and Escape clears the selection if you want the space back for drawing. */
+.smOverlay .handle { pointer-events: all; }
 
 /* The invisible grab area under a thin stroke. `stroke` rather than
    `visibleStroke`: the copy is transparent on purpose. */
diff --git a/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/lib/tools.js b/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/lib/tools.js
index f78221fd..5125d4c0 100644
--- a/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/lib/tools.js
+++ b/bundled-addons/pdf-editor/lib/tools.js
@@ -135,26 +135,31 @@ export class Tools {
   onDown(e) {
     if (e.button !== 0) return;
 
-    // A resize handle is checked before anything else: it sits outside the
-    // mark's own bounds, so the page under it may not even be the page the
-    // mark is on.
-    if (this.tool === "select") {
-      const handle = e.target?.closest?.(".handle")?.dataset?.handle;
-      if (handle && this.selected) {
-        const a = this.model.annot(this.selected);
-        const ov = a && this.strip.overlayFor(a.page);
-        if (a && ov?.viewport) {
-          const view = this.strip.views.get(a.page);
-          const r = view.pv.div.getBoundingClientRect();
-          const [hx, hy] = ov.toPdf(e.clientX - r.left, e.clientY - r.top);
-          this.drag = {
-            kind: "resize", uid: a.page, id: a.id, handle,
-            x0: hx, y0: hy, orig: structuredClone(a), from: boundsOf(a),
-            cx: e.clientX, cy: e.clientY, moved: false,
-          };
-          e.preventDefault();
-          return;
-        }
+    // A resize handle is checked before anything else, and whatever tool is
+    // armed. Two reasons it comes first: it sits outside the mark's own
+    // bounds, so the page under it may not even be the page the mark is on;
+    // and a shape is selected the instant it is drawn, so grabbing a corner
+    // has to work right then, without a detour through the select tool to
+    // resize the thing you are still looking at.
+    //
+    // It cannot be confused with drawing. A handle is a 9 px square that
+    // exists only while something is selected; nobody aims at one by
+    // accident, and Escape drops the selection if the space is wanted back.
+    const handle = e.target?.closest?.(".handle")?.dataset?.handle;
+    if (handle && this.selected) {
+      const a = this.model.annot(this.selected);
+      const ov = a && this.strip.overlayFor(a.page);
+      if (a && ov?.viewport) {
+        const view = this.strip.views.get(a.page);
+        const r = view.pv.div.getBoundingClientRect();
+        const [hx, hy] = ov.toPdf(e.clientX - r.left, e.clientY - r.top);
+        this.drag = {
+          kind: "resize", uid: a.page, id: a.id, handle,
+          x0: hx, y0: hy, orig: structuredClone(a), from: boundsOf(a),
+          cx: e.clientX, cy: e.clientY, moved: false,
+        };
+        e.preventDefault();
+        return;
       }
     }
 
@@ -255,8 +260,16 @@ export class Tools {
   }
 
   onUp(e) {
-    if (TEXT_MARKUP.has(this.tool)) { this._commitTextMarkup(); return; }
-    const d = this.drag;
+    // A handle drag is finished here whatever tool is armed. Without this the
+    // text-markup tools would return on the line below and strand a resize
+    // half-done: applied to the live mark, never journalled, and with
+    // this.drag still set so the next press behaves oddly.
+    const inFlight = this.drag;
+    if (!(inFlight && inFlight.kind === "resize") && TEXT_MARKUP.has(this.tool)) {
+      this._commitTextMarkup();
+      return;
+    }
+    const d = inFlight;
     this.drag = null;
     if (!d) return;
     this.strip.setPreview(null, null);