diff --git a/core/dr-pano/src/fill.rs b/core/dr-pano/src/fill.rs
index bd82468..d7aacc1 100644
--- a/core/dr-pano/src/fill.rs
+++ b/core/dr-pano/src/fill.rs
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ fn fill_once(
     }
 
     // The padded canvas with mirrored context, and the hole within it.
-    let ctx = MirroredContext::build(rgb, width, height, known, mirror_depth);
+    let ctx = MirroredContext::build(rgb, width, height, known, mirror_depth, t);
     let (pw, ph) = (ctx.width, ctx.height);
 
     // Tiles that touch the hole, on a grid that reaches both far edges.
@@ -499,16 +499,36 @@ struct MirroredContext {
 }
 
 impl MirroredContext {
-    fn build(rgb: &[f32], width: usize, height: usize, known: &[bool], depth: usize) -> Self {
+    fn build(
+        rgb: &[f32],
+        width: usize,
+        height: usize,
+        known: &[bool],
+        depth: usize,
+        tile: usize,
+    ) -> Self {
         if depth == 0 {
             // Open: the picture as it is, the hole as it is. What the hole
-            // holds does not matter — the model masks it out.
+            // holds does not matter — the model masks it out. A picture
+            // smaller than a tile (the merge page's preview) sits at the
+            // origin of a tile-sized canvas whose rest is hole: still the
+            // void as it is, and the only way a tile fits at all.
+            let (pw, ph) = (width.max(tile), height.max(tile));
+            let mut canvas = vec![0.0f32; pw * ph * 3];
+            let mut hole = vec![true; pw * ph];
+            for y in 0..height {
+                canvas[y * pw * 3..(y * pw + width) * 3]
+                    .copy_from_slice(&rgb[y * width * 3..(y + 1) * width * 3]);
+                for x in 0..width {
+                    hole[y * pw + x] = !known[y * width + x];
+                }
+            }
             return MirroredContext {
-                width,
-                height,
+                width: pw,
+                height: ph,
                 ring: 0,
-                rgb: rgb.to_vec(),
-                hole: known.iter().map(|&k| !k).collect(),
+                rgb: canvas,
+                hole,
             };
         }
         let fold = |d: usize| fold(d, depth);
@@ -715,6 +735,30 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn a_picture_smaller_than_the_tile_is_still_filled_when_the_void_is_open() {
+        // The merge page's preview is 1600 wide and a few hundred tall —
+        // shorter than a 512 tile. With no ring the canvas is padded to a
+        // tile, the padding hole, and the border is still filled.
+        let (mut rgb, known) = picture(300, 40, 8);
+        let mut model = Flat {
+            tile: 64,
+            seen: Vec::new(),
+        };
+        let tiles = fill_border(&mut rgb, 300, 40, &known, &mut model, test_params(0), &mut |_, _| {})
+            .unwrap();
+        assert!(tiles > 0, "no tile fitted a picture shorter than the tile");
+        for i in 0..300 * 40 {
+            if !known[i] {
+                assert!((rgb[i * 3] - 0.5).abs() < 1e-4, "pixel {i}");
+            }
+        }
+        // And the model saw the padding as hole, never as black content.
+        for (_, k) in &model.seen {
+            assert_eq!(k.len(), 64 * 64);
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn the_fine_passes_run_in_bands_after_the_coarse_one() {
         // A 150-tall hole above and below a picture: the coarse pass sees
@@ -824,7 +868,7 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn the_context_mirrors_the_top_rows_upward() {
         let (rgb, known) = picture(40, 30, 5);
-        let ctx = MirroredContext::build(&rgb, 40, 30, &known, 48);
+        let ctx = MirroredContext::build(&rgb, 40, 30, &known, 48, 64);
         let x = RING + 10;
         let first = RING + 5;
         for k in 1..=4 {
@@ -846,7 +890,7 @@ mod tests {
         for x in 0..40 {
             rgb[(ridge * 40 + x) * 3..(ridge * 40 + x) * 3 + 3].copy_from_slice(&[0.9, 0.1, 0.1]);
         }
-        let ctx = MirroredContext::build(&rgb, 40, 400, &known, 48);
+        let ctx = MirroredContext::build(&rgb, 40, 400, &known, 48, 64);
         let x = RING + 10;
         for y in 0..RING + 5 {
             let p = (y * ctx.width + x) * 3;