diff --git a/scripts/export.checks.test.ts b/scripts/export.checks.test.ts
index ff6e7d8a..14ab68f8 100644
--- a/scripts/export.checks.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/export.checks.test.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ describe('exported content width', () => {
 
 	test('the export cap loses to the print block, so the PDF route is unchanged', () => {
 		// `@media print` in styles.css already forces `.markdown-body` to
-		// `max-width: 100% !important` with its own 1cm padding, and that block
+		// `max-width: 100% !important` with its own page-margin padding, and that block
 		// travels into the export with the rest of the sheet. Printing an exported
 		// file therefore never saw the 900px and must not start seeing the setting
 		// either — the two routes stay separate concerns.
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ describe('exported content width', () => {
 		const printed = declarationsFor(css, 'max-width', 'print');
 		assert.ok(printed.length >= 1, 'the print block must still cap .markdown-body');
 		assert.deepEqual(printed.at(-1), { value: '100%', important: true });
-		assert.deepEqual(declarationsFor(css, 'padding', 'print').at(-1), { value: '1cm', important: true });
+		assert.deepEqual(declarationsFor(css, 'padding', 'print').at(-1), { value: 'var(--page-margin)', important: true });
 	});
 
 	test('the app stylesheet copied into an export does not out-rank the cap', () => {
diff --git a/scripts/export.spec.ts b/scripts/export.spec.ts
index b7b9d26c..45d4b9f2 100644
--- a/scripts/export.spec.ts
+++ b/scripts/export.spec.ts
@@ -8,30 +8,53 @@ import { readSource } from './sourceTree.js';
 const appStyles = readSource('src/styles.css');
 
 /**
- * Loads `html` into the jsdom document as it would come out on `media`. jsdom
- * applies no media type itself, so each `@media` block that names `media` (or
- * `all`) is replaced in place by its own rules, and every other `@media` block
- * is dropped.
+ * The computed style of the page's article as `html` would come out on `media`.
+ *
+ * jsdom applies only screen rules, so each `@media` block that names `media`
+ * (or `all`) is replaced in place by its own rules and every other `@media`
+ * block is dropped. jsdom also leaves `var()` unresolved (a padding of
+ * `var(--x)` computes to 0), so each one is replaced by the root's value for it.
+ * Every call gets its own frame: one reused document keeps computed styles from
+ * the previous page.
  */
-function render(html: string, media: 'print' | 'screen'): Document {
-	document.documentElement.innerHTML = html.replace(/^<!DOCTYPE html>\s*<html[^>]*>/, '').replace(/<\/html>\s*$/, '');
+function article(html: string, media: 'print' | 'screen'): { display: string; paddingTop: string; paddingLeft: string } {
+	const frame = globalThis.document.createElement('iframe');
+	globalThis.document.body.append(frame);
+	// A frame's window carries the same constructors the global one does.
+	const window = frame.contentWindow as Window & typeof globalThis;
+	const { document } = window;
+	document.open();
+	document.write(html);
+	document.close();
 	for (const sheet of Array.from(document.styleSheets)) {
 		for (let index = sheet.cssRules.length - 1; index >= 0; index -= 1) {
 			const rule = sheet.cssRules[index];
-			if (!(rule instanceof CSSMediaRule)) continue;
+			if (!(rule instanceof window.CSSMediaRule)) continue;
 			const applies = /\ball\b/.test(rule.media.mediaText) || rule.media.mediaText.includes(media);
 			const inner = applies ? Array.from(rule.cssRules, (r) => r.cssText) : [];
 			sheet.deleteRule(index);
 			inner.forEach((text, offset) => sheet.insertRule(text, index + offset));
 		}
 	}
-	return document;
-}
-
-function article(doc: Document): CSSStyleDeclaration {
-	const element = doc.querySelector('article.markdown-body');
+	const root = window.getComputedStyle(document.documentElement);
+	for (const sheet of Array.from(document.styleSheets)) {
+		for (const rule of Array.from(sheet.cssRules)) {
+			if (!(rule instanceof window.CSSStyleRule)) continue;
+			for (const name of Array.from(rule.style)) {
+				const value = rule.style.getPropertyValue(name);
+				if (!value.includes('var(')) continue;
+				const replaced = value.replace(/var\(\s*(--[\w-]+)\s*(?:,\s*([^)]*))?\)/g, (_: string, variable: string, fallback?: string) =>
+					root.getPropertyValue(variable).trim() || (fallback ?? '').trim(),
+				);
+				rule.style.setProperty(name, replaced, rule.style.getPropertyPriority(name));
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	const element = document.querySelector('article.markdown-body');
 	assert.ok(element, 'the page has no article');
-	return getComputedStyle(element);
+	const { display, paddingTop, paddingLeft } = window.getComputedStyle(element);
+	frame.remove();
+	return { display, paddingTop, paddingLeft };
 }
 
 const exported = buildExportDocument({
@@ -43,26 +66,31 @@ const exported = buildExportDocument({
 	appearance: plainAppearance,
 });
 
+// What the app's own PDF route prints: #print-root inside #app.
+const pdfPage = `<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><style>${appStyles}</style></head><body><div id="app"><div id="print-root"><article class="markdown-body"></article></div></div></body></html>`;
+
 describe('printing an exported HTML file', () => {
 	test('prints the article instead of a blank page', () => {
 		// The copied print sheet hides everything outside #app, which an exported
 		// file does not have, so the article itself was hidden on paper.
-		assert.notEqual(article(render(exported, 'print')).display, 'none');
+		assert.notEqual(article(exported, 'print').display, 'none');
 	});
 
 	test('gets the same paper margins as the app’s own PDF', () => {
-		// The PDF route prints #print-root inside #app; the export used to keep its
-		// screen padding on paper instead.
-		const pdf = render(
-			`<head><style>${appStyles}</style></head><body><div id="app"><div id="print-root"><article class="markdown-body"></article></div></div></body>`,
-			'print',
-		);
-		const paper = article(pdf).paddingTop;
-		assert.equal(article(render(exported, 'print')).paddingTop, paper);
-		assert.equal(article(render(exported, 'print')).paddingLeft, paper);
+		// The export used to keep its 40px screen padding on paper.
+		const pdf = article(pdfPage, 'print');
+		assert.ok(parseFloat(pdf.paddingTop) > 0, `the PDF has no page margin: ${pdf.paddingTop}`);
+		const printed = article(exported, 'print');
+		assert.equal(printed.paddingTop, pdf.paddingTop);
+		assert.equal(printed.paddingLeft, pdf.paddingLeft);
 	});
 
-	test('keeps its 40px padding on screen', () => {
-		assert.equal(article(render(exported, 'screen')).paddingTop, '40px');
+	test('looks the same on screen as on paper', () => {
+		// One page margin for both, so the file does not change shape when printed.
+		const screen = article(exported, 'screen');
+		const paper = article(exported, 'print');
+		assert.ok(parseFloat(screen.paddingTop) > 0, `no margin on screen: ${screen.paddingTop}`);
+		assert.equal(screen.paddingTop, paper.paddingTop);
+		assert.equal(screen.paddingLeft, paper.paddingLeft);
 	});
 });
diff --git a/scripts/export.test.ts b/scripts/export.test.ts
index ff1577bc..f92f7145 100644
--- a/scripts/export.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/export.test.ts
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ describe('exported content width', () => {
 			buildExportDocument({ theme: 'light', title: 'Notes', styles: '', articleHtml: '<p>body</p>', contentWidth: null, appearance: plainAppearance }),
 		);
 		assert.deepEqual(declarationsFor(css, 'margin', 'screen'), [{ value: '0 auto', important: false }]);
-		assert.deepEqual(declarationsFor(css, 'padding', 'screen'), [{ value: '40px', important: true }]);
+		assert.deepEqual(declarationsFor(css, 'padding', 'screen'), [{ value: 'var(--page-margin, 1cm)', important: true }]);
 	});
 
 	test('a corrupted stored width is clamped instead of reaching the stylesheet raw', () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/export.ts b/src/lib/utils/export.ts
index 9150f5a4..e2dfabbf 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/export.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/export.ts
@@ -182,9 +182,8 @@ export interface ExportDocumentInput {
  * child of `<body>`, so a percentage cap resolves to the width it already has —
  * but `none` says the intended thing without depending on that reasoning, and
  * it cannot interact with `box-sizing` the way a percentage can. `margin: 0
- * auto` then centres nothing (there is no slack to distribute) and the
- * `padding: 40px !important` still holds the text off the window edge, which is
- * exactly how the preview behaves in full-width mode.
+ * auto` then centres nothing (there is no slack to distribute) and the page
+ * margin padding still holds the text off the window edge.
  *
  * The value is normalized here rather than trusted, because this is the seam
  * where it stops being a number and becomes a CSS declaration: `previewMaxWidth`
@@ -235,13 +234,14 @@ ${appearance}
 }
 @media screen {
 	.markdown-body {
-		padding: 40px !important;
+		padding: var(--page-margin, 1cm) !important;
 	}
 }
 /* The copied print sheet hides everything outside #app, because the app prints
    #print-root inside it. An exported file has no #app: its article is the page.
    The :not(#app) is there for weight, to outrank that rule. Its padding is left
-   to the print sheet, so paper gets the same margins as the app's PDF. */
+   to the print sheet, so paper gets the same margins as the app's PDF; the
+   screen rule above uses the same margin, so the file looks the same both ways. */
 @media print {
 	body > .markdown-body:not(#app) {
 		display: block !important;
diff --git a/src/styles.css b/src/styles.css
index 5f0d5a86..3c7c5c06 100644
--- a/src/styles.css
+++ b/src/styles.css
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ body {
 
 :root {
 	--win-font: "Segoe UI Variable Display", "Segoe UI", system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif;
+	/* The margin round a document on paper (the PDF and a printed export) and
+	   round an exported file on screen, where CSS makes 1cm 37.8px. */
+	--page-margin: 1cm;
 
 	/* Default Light Theme */
 	--color-fg-default: #1f2328;
@@ -1440,7 +1443,7 @@ body {
 	}
 
 	.markdown-body {
-		padding: 1cm !important;
+		padding: var(--page-margin) !important;
 		margin: 0 !important;
 		box-sizing: border-box !important;
 		box-decoration-break: clone !important;
@@ -1550,7 +1553,7 @@ body {
 	}
 	/* An image or a diagram taller than the paper used to be clipped at the page
 	   break rather than scaled; 9in fits both Letter and A4 inside the
-	   1cm margins above. */
+	   page margins above. */
 	.markdown-body img,
 	.markdown-body .mermaid-diagram svg {
 		max-height: 9in !important;