diff --git a/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/ChromeBackdrop.qml b/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/ChromeBackdrop.qml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4de1703
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/ChromeBackdrop.qml
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+pragma ComponentBehavior: Bound
+
+import Quickshell
+import Quickshell.Wayland
+import QtQuick
+import qs.hyprchrome.theme
+
+// Full-screen scrim behind the bar: dims the desktop and lays the dense bar's
+// drafting grid over it while the rail is expanded.
+//
+// Sits on the TOP layer while the bar itself is on OVERLAY. Two surfaces on the
+// same layer stack by creation order, which is not something to rely on; one
+// layer apart is a guarantee — above ordinary windows, below the bar.
+//
+// It reserves nothing and takes no input: the mask is an empty Region, so
+// clicks land on whatever is underneath rather than on the scrim.
+PanelWindow {
+    id: backdrop
+
+    property bool active: true
+    property real dim: 0.55
+    property int gridSpacing: 120
+
+    // The dense bar drew this grid at 0.018 against its own near-black panel.
+    // Over a 55% scrim on top of lit windows that is invisible, so it is a
+    // knob rather than a constant.
+    property real gridOpacity: 0.1
+
+    // The accent with its saturation pulled back: warm enough to read as part
+    // of the palette, not so loud that a full-screen grid competes with the
+    // bar. Derived rather than a literal so it tracks a palette change.
+    // Registration crosses sit on every other intersection of the grid.
+    property color crossColor: Theme.muted
+    property real crossOpacity: 0.35
+    property int crossSize: 20
+
+    // Thickness in STEPS, not pixels: 1 -> 1px, 2 -> 3px, 3 -> 5px. Only odd
+    // widths can straddle a 1px rule symmetrically, so an even pixel count
+    // would push every mark half a pixel off the grid it registers against.
+    property int crossThickness: 2
+    readonly property int crossWeight: Math.max(1, backdrop.crossThickness) * 2 - 1
+
+    property color gridColor: Qt.hsla(Theme.accent.hslHue,
+                                      Theme.accent.hslSaturation * 0.45,
+                                      Theme.accent.hslLightness,
+                                      1)
+
+    visible: scrim.opacity > 0
+
+    WlrLayershell.layer: WlrLayer.Top
+    WlrLayershell.keyboardFocus: WlrKeyboardFocus.None
+    exclusionMode: ExclusionMode.Ignore
+    color: "transparent"
+
+    readonly property int crossColumns: Math.ceil(backdrop.width / (backdrop.gridSpacing * 2)) + 1
+    readonly property int crossRows: Math.ceil(backdrop.height / (backdrop.gridSpacing * 2)) + 1
+
+    anchors {
+        top: true
+        left: true
+        right: true
+        bottom: true
+    }
+
+    mask: Region {}
+
+    Item {
+        id: scrim
+
+        anchors.fill: parent
+        opacity: backdrop.active ? 1 : 0
+
+        // Matched to the bar's own collapse so the scrim and the panels resolve
+        // together rather than one trailing the other.
+        Behavior on opacity {
+            NumberAnimation {
+                duration: 200
+                easing.type: Easing.OutCubic
+            }
+        }
+
+        Rectangle {
+            anchors.fill: parent
+            color: Theme.surface
+            opacity: backdrop.dim
+        }
+
+        // Faint drafting grid; no gradient and deliberately subordinate to
+        // whatever is showing through it.
+        Repeater {
+            model: Math.ceil(scrim.width / backdrop.gridSpacing)
+
+            Rectangle {
+                required property int index
+
+                x: index * backdrop.gridSpacing
+                width: 1
+                height: scrim.height
+                color: backdrop.gridColor
+                opacity: backdrop.gridOpacity
+            }
+        }
+
+        Repeater {
+            model: Math.ceil(scrim.height / backdrop.gridSpacing)
+
+            Rectangle {
+                required property int index
+
+                y: index * backdrop.gridSpacing
+                width: scrim.width
+                height: 1
+                color: backdrop.gridColor
+                opacity: backdrop.gridOpacity
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Register marks on every other line, so they land on a 2x grid rather
+        // than on every crossing — sparse enough to read as drafting registration
+        // rather than as texture.
+        Repeater {
+            model: backdrop.crossColumns * backdrop.crossRows
+
+            Item {
+                required property int index
+
+                readonly property int column: index % backdrop.crossColumns
+                readonly property int row: Math.floor(index / backdrop.crossColumns)
+
+                // Marks on every other rule in both directions, so they line up
+                // in columns as well as rows. Both offsets are whole multiples of
+                // gridSpacing, so every mark lands on a real intersection.
+                //
+                // Math.floor, not /2: the item offset and the bars inside it must
+                // round the same way, or an even crossSize sits half a pixel off the
+                // rule it marks.
+                x: column * backdrop.gridSpacing * 2 - Math.floor(backdrop.crossSize / 2)
+                y: row * backdrop.gridSpacing * 2 - Math.floor(backdrop.crossSize / 2)
+                width: backdrop.crossSize
+                height: backdrop.crossSize
+                opacity: backdrop.crossOpacity
+
+                Rectangle {
+                    // Placed with the same Math.floor the item's own offset uses.
+                    // anchors.verticalCenter halves the height unfloored, so an even
+                    // crossSize put the 1px bar half a pixel off the rule it marks.
+                    y: Math.floor(backdrop.crossSize / 2) - Math.floor(backdrop.crossWeight / 2)
+                    width: parent.width
+                    height: backdrop.crossWeight
+                    color: backdrop.crossColor
+                }
+
+                Rectangle {
+                    x: Math.floor(backdrop.crossSize / 2) - Math.floor(backdrop.crossWeight / 2)
+                    width: backdrop.crossWeight
+                    height: parent.height
+                    color: backdrop.crossColor
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/HyprChromeBar.qml b/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/HyprChromeBar.qml
index b407eb3..1177859 100644
--- a/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/HyprChromeBar.qml
+++ b/dotfiles/quickshell/hyprchrome/widgets/HyprChromeBar.qml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import QtQuick.Shapes
 import QtQuick.Layouts
 import Quickshell
 import Quickshell.Hyprland
+import Quickshell.Wayland
 import qs.hyprchrome.widgets
 import qs.hyprchrome.widgets.host
 import qs.hyprchrome.widgets.vitals
@@ -45,12 +46,24 @@ Scope {
     onPressed: root.toggle()
   }
 
+  // Scrim first: it is a layer below the bar, so stacking does not depend on
+  // creation order, but keeping the declaration order the same as the visual
+  // order costs nothing.
+  ChromeBackdrop {
+    screen: root.targetScreen
+    active: root.expanded
+  }
+
   PanelWindow {
     id: window
 
     screen: root.targetScreen
     visible: root.targetScreen !== null
 
+    // One layer above the scrim, so the stacking is guaranteed rather than
+    // dependent on surface creation order. See ChromeBackdrop.
+    WlrLayershell.layer: WlrLayer.Overlay
+
     property int margin: 12
 
     // Where the panels will SETTLE, not where they are mid-transition. Binding