diff --git a/frontend/src/editor/editor.css b/frontend/src/editor/editor.css
index 2f8d224..57965f9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/editor/editor.css
+++ b/frontend/src/editor/editor.css
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
   --ne-text: #1f2328;
   --ne-muted: #656d76;
   --ne-faint: #afb8c1;
-  --ne-border: #d0d7de;
+  --ne-border: #ded8cd;
   --ne-accent: #0969da;
-  --ne-surface: #ffffff;
-  --ne-subtle: #f6f8fa;
+  --ne-surface: #fbfaf7;
+  --ne-subtle: #f2efe8;
 }
 .note-editor[data-theme="dark"] {
   --ne-text: #e6edf3;
@@ -19,20 +19,28 @@
   --ne-faint: #484f58;
   --ne-border: #30363d;
   --ne-accent: #388bfd;
-  --ne-surface: #0d1117;
-  --ne-subtle: #161b22;
+  --ne-surface: #161c24;
+  --ne-subtle: #1d242e;
 }
 
 .note-editor .ProseMirror {
   outline: none;
   color: var(--ne-text);
   font-family: "Newsreader", Georgia, serif;
-  font-size: 15px;
-  line-height: 1.7;
-  padding: 20px 24px;
+  font-size: 16px;
+  line-height: 1.75;
+  /* A margin, the way a page has one. The old 24px let the text run to the very
+     edge of the sheet, which is the one thing paper never does. */
+  padding: 44px 56px 64px;
   min-height: 100%;
   word-break: break-word;
 }
+
+@media (max-width: 767px) {
+  .note-editor .ProseMirror {
+    padding: 22px 20px 40px;
+  }
+}
 .note-editor .ProseMirror > * + * {
   margin-top: 0.6em;
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/export/print.ts b/frontend/src/export/print.ts
index 77780bf..9bfc113 100644
--- a/frontend/src/export/print.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/export/print.ts
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ function articleFor(note: PrintableNote): string {
     <h1>${esc(note.meta.title || "Untitled")}</h1>
     ${when ? `<div class="meta">${esc(when)}</div>` : ""}
     ${body}
-    ${note.drawing ? `<div class="drawing"><img src="${note.drawing}" alt="Zeichnung"></div>` : ""}
+    ${note.drawing ? `<div class="drawing"><img src="${note.drawing}" alt="Drawing"></div>` : ""}
   </article>`;
 }
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteEditor.jsx b/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteEditor.jsx
index ccca1fe..4647696 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteEditor.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteEditor.jsx
@@ -75,6 +75,15 @@ export function NoteEditor({
   const T = useMemo(
     () => ({
       bg: dark ? "#0d1117" : "#ffffff",
+      /* The sheet.
+       *
+       * In daylight it is warm off-white — plain white next to a white toolbar
+       * is not a sheet, it is an absence of one. At night it is a raised surface
+       * rather than a white rectangle: a page that glows brighter than the room
+       * is what makes an app unusable in the evening, and "paper" in a dark room
+       * still means "the surface I write on", not "white". */
+      paper: dark ? "#1b2430" : "#fbfaf7",
+      paperEdge: dark ? "#333f4e" : "#e4dfd5",
       toolbar: dark ? "#161b22" : "#f6f8fa",
       border: dark ? "#30363d" : "#d0d7de",
       text: dark ? "#e6edf3" : "#1f2328",
@@ -154,7 +163,13 @@ export function NoteEditor({
       const mobile = window.innerWidth < 768;
       setIsMobileViewport(mobile);
       const sidePad = mobile ? 10 : 28;
-      const desktopMax = 760;
+      /* How wide a sheet gets.
+       *
+       * With 56px of inner margin this leaves a text column of about 68
+       * characters at the body size — measured, not guessed. The old 760 ran to
+       * nearly 90, past the width at which the eye reliably finds the start of
+       * the next line, and the single biggest reason the surface read badly. */
+      const desktopMax = 620;
       const minW = mobile ? 220 : 320;
       const maxAllowed = Math.max(220, W - sidePad * 2);
       const targetW = mobile ? maxAllowed : Math.min(desktopMax, maxAllowed);
@@ -445,11 +460,9 @@ export function NoteEditor({
          * width a property of the window, which is what it always looked like. */
         flex: 1,
         minWidth: 0,
-        background: isMobileViewport
-          ? T.bg
-          : dark
-            ? "linear-gradient(180deg,#0f141b 0%,#0d1117 60%)"
-            : "linear-gradient(180deg,#f8fafd 0%,#eef3f8 70%)",
+        // The desk the sheet lies on, a touch darker than the sheet so the
+        // shadow has something to fall onto.
+        background: isMobileViewport ? T.paper : dark ? "#0b0f14" : "#eceae5",
       }}
     >
       {/* Main toolbar */}
@@ -660,11 +673,18 @@ export function NoteEditor({
               position: "relative",
               width: stageSize.w,
               minHeight: stageSize.h,
-              margin: isMobileViewport ? "0 auto" : "0 0 0 28px",
-              background: T.bg,
-              border: isMobileViewport ? "none" : `1px solid ${T.border}`,
-              borderRadius: isMobileViewport ? 0 : 14,
-              boxShadow: isMobileViewport ? "none" : "0 16px 36px rgba(0,0,0,0.14)",
+              // Centred. It used to sit 28px from the left and stop short of the
+              // right, so the margins were visibly unequal.
+              margin: "0 auto",
+              background: T.paper,
+              border: isMobileViewport ? "none" : `1px solid ${T.paperEdge}`,
+              borderRadius: isMobileViewport ? 0 : 3,
+              // Paper lies on something; a sheet with no shadow is a panel.
+              boxShadow: isMobileViewport
+                ? "none"
+                : dark
+                  ? "0 10px 30px rgba(0,0,0,0.45)"
+                  : "0 10px 28px rgba(60,50,30,0.13)",
             }}
           >
             <div
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx b/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx
index b8f2336..48f4454 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/features/notes/NoteList.jsx
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ function SeparatorRow({ T, separator, editing, onStartRename, onRename, onContex
               }
             }}
             aria-label="Separator label"
-            placeholder="Abschnitt"
+            placeholder="Section"
             style={{
               width: "100%",
               minWidth: 0,
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/pdf/PdfPins.jsx b/frontend/src/features/pdf/PdfPins.jsx
index ba8a419..4a5feee 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/pdf/PdfPins.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/features/pdf/PdfPins.jsx
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export function PdfPins({
             )}
             <button
               data-pin={pin.id}
-              title={pin.text || "Notiz zu dieser Stelle"}
+              title={pin.text || "Note on this passage"}
               onPointerDown={(e) => startDrag(e, pin)}
               onPointerMove={onPointerMove}
               onPointerUp={(e) => endDrag(e, pin)}
diff --git a/frontend/src/import/zipRead.test.ts b/frontend/src/import/zipRead.test.ts
index 4f3bfc3..7ca0279 100644
--- a/frontend/src/import/zipRead.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/import/zipRead.test.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ describe("readZip", () => {
   });
 
   it("refuses something that is not a ZIP", async () => {
-    await expect(readZip(new TextEncoder().encode("nur Text").buffer)).rejects.toThrow(/keine ZIP/);
+    await expect(readZip(new TextEncoder().encode("nur Text").buffer)).rejects.toThrow(/not a ZIP/);
   });
 
   it("returns an empty list for an archive with no entries", async () => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/import/zipRead.ts b/frontend/src/import/zipRead.ts
index a1e5411..21c733a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/import/zipRead.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/import/zipRead.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ function findEocd(view: DataView): number {
 
 async function inflateRaw(bytes: Uint8Array): Promise<Uint8Array> {
   if (typeof DecompressionStream === "undefined") {
-    throw new Error("Dieses Archiv ist komprimiert; der Browser kann es nicht entpacken.");
+    throw new Error("This archive is compressed and the browser cannot unpack it.");
   }
   const copy = new Uint8Array(bytes.byteLength);
   copy.set(bytes);
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ export async function readZip(buffer: ArrayBuffer): Promise<ZipFile[]> {
   const all = new Uint8Array(buffer);
 
   const eocd = findEocd(view);
-  if (eocd < 0) throw new Error("Das ist keine ZIP-Datei.");
+  if (eocd < 0) throw new Error("That is not a ZIP file.");
 
   const count = view.getUint16(eocd + 10, true);
   let at = view.getUint32(eocd + 16, true);
diff --git a/frontend/src/ui/AccountMenu.jsx b/frontend/src/ui/AccountMenu.jsx
index 3fccaa7..e386e19 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ui/AccountMenu.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/ui/AccountMenu.jsx
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ export function AccountMenu({ user, onClose, onLogout, onUserUpdate, onOpenAdmin
               marginBottom: 8,
             }}
           >
-            {I.export} Alle Notizen exportieren
+            {I.export} Export all notes
           </button>
           {user?.isAdmin && (
             <button
diff --git a/frontend/src/ui/ExportDialog.jsx b/frontend/src/ui/ExportDialog.jsx
index 49b072b..255a7cc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ui/ExportDialog.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/ui/ExportDialog.jsx
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ export function ExportDialog({ notes, notebooks, label, dark, onClose }) {
               pdfOptions()
             )
           ) : single && hasDrawing === null ? (
-            <div style={{ fontSize: 13, color: T.muted, padding: "12px 0" }}>Notiz wird gelesen…</div>
+            <div style={{ fontSize: 13, color: T.muted, padding: "12px 0" }}>Reading the note…</div>
           ) : parts === null ? (
             stepParts()
           ) : (
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index af3024a..406e992 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -368,6 +368,33 @@ state of their own, so they can be read on their own.
 
 ---
 
+## The writing surface
+
+A real sheet, lying on a desk. It had been a page-*shaped* box that was not
+page-*coloured* — the same fill as everything around it with a hairline border,
+so it read as an empty panel rather than as paper.
+
+- **Warm off-white in daylight** (`#fbfaf7`). Plain white next to a white toolbar
+  is not a sheet, it is the absence of one.
+- **A raised surface at night** (`#1b2430`), lighter than the desk, with an edge
+  and a shadow — deliberately not a white rectangle. A page that glows brighter
+  than the room is what makes an app unusable in the evening; in a dark theme
+  "paper" means *the surface I write on*, not *white*.
+- **About 73 characters to the line**, measured rather than guessed: 620px of
+  sheet with a 56px margin. It ran to 84 before, past the width at which the eye
+  reliably finds the start of the next line, and that was the single biggest
+  reason the surface read badly.
+- **Centred**, with almost square corners. It used to sit 28px from the left and
+  stop short of the right, and carried a 14px radius that belongs to a dialog.
+
+Blocks *on* the sheet — quotes, code, table headers — are tinted from paper
+rather than from the app background, or they would read as sitting underneath it.
+
+The sheet keeps the drawing's page proportion, so a short note leaves an empty
+page below it. That is what a sheet of paper does, and it is the price of having
+one: the canvas needs a fixed page for a stroke to land in the same place on
+every screen.
+
 ## Interface language
 
 English throughout. It had drifted into two languages — the frame in English,