diff --git a/client/src/components/Studio/TextEffectsView.tsx b/client/src/components/Studio/TextEffectsView.tsx
index d1b3a78b7..16110c3e5 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Studio/TextEffectsView.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/Studio/TextEffectsView.tsx
@@ -152,6 +152,12 @@ function lettersPaint(el: BookTextElement, id: string): PaintParts | null {
   return paint ? paintParts(paint, { x: 0, y: 0, w: el.frame.w, h: el.frame.h }, id) : null;
 }
 
+/** What the letters are filled with: the paint's fill, else their own colour. */
+function lettersFill(el: BookTextElement, paint: PaintParts | null): string {
+  if (paint) return paint.fill;
+  return letterFill(el) ?? el.color;
+}
+
 /** A pattern's ground and its marks, clipped to the letters. */
 function PatternLetters({ parts, w, h, clipId }: { parts: PaintParts; w: number; h: number; clipId: string }) {
   const pattern = parts.pattern;
@@ -240,7 +246,7 @@ function DrawnText({ el, frameStyle, big }: { el: BookTextElement; frameStyle: C
   } else if (pattern && letterPaint) {
     layers.push(<PatternLetters key="pattern" parts={letterPaint} w={w} h={h} clipId={clipId} />);
   } else {
-    layers.push(glyphs({ fill: letterPaint ? letterPaint.fill : (letterFill(el) ?? el.color) }, 'fill'));
+    layers.push(glyphs({ fill: lettersFill(el, letterPaint) }, 'fill'));
   }
 
   return (
diff --git a/client/src/components/Studio/paint/paintParts.tsx b/client/src/components/Studio/paint/paintParts.tsx
index 8727ec7e7..199d73103 100644
--- a/client/src/components/Studio/paint/paintParts.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/Studio/paint/paintParts.tsx
@@ -9,20 +9,12 @@ import { patternGeometry, type PatternBox } from './patterns';
  * the letters of a text share it without the component file exporting a helper.
  */
 
-function Stops({ stops }: { stops: readonly BookPaintStop[] }) {
-  return (
-    <>
-      {sortedStops(stops).map((s, i) => (
-        <stop
-          // Two stops may share an offset (a hard edge), so the index keys them.
-          key={i}
-          offset={r2(s.at)}
-          stopColor={s.color}
-          stopOpacity={stopAlpha(s) < 1 ? stopAlpha(s) : undefined}
-        />
-      ))}
-    </>
-  );
+/** A gradient's stops as SVG elements, in order. */
+function stopElements(stops: readonly BookPaintStop[]): ReactNode {
+  // Two stops may share an offset (a hard edge), so the index keys them.
+  return sortedStops(stops).map((s, i) => (
+    <stop key={i} offset={r2(s.at)} stopColor={s.color} stopOpacity={stopAlpha(s) < 1 ? stopAlpha(s) : undefined} />
+  ));
 }
 
 /** What a painted outline needs: the defs to put in the SVG, and how to fill the outline. */
@@ -53,7 +45,7 @@ export function paintParts(paint: BookPaint, box: PatternBox, id: string): Paint
       return {
         defs: (
           <linearGradient id={id} gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse" {...line}>
-            <Stops stops={paint.stops} />
+            {stopElements(paint.stops)}
           </linearGradient>
         ),
         fill: `url(#${id})`,
@@ -70,7 +62,7 @@ export function paintParts(paint: BookPaint, box: PatternBox, id: string): Paint
             cy={r2(box.y + paint.cy * box.h)}
             r={r2((paint.r * Math.hypot(box.w, box.h)) / 2)}
           >
-            <Stops stops={paint.stops} />
+            {stopElements(paint.stops)}
           </radialGradient>
         ),
         fill: `url(#${id})`,