diff --git a/make-pdf/src/diagram-prepass.ts b/make-pdf/src/diagram-prepass.ts
index f0e2a2c4b..db83e673a 100644
--- a/make-pdf/src/diagram-prepass.ts
+++ b/make-pdf/src/diagram-prepass.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ export interface DiagramFence {
   source: string;
   /** Optional title="..." from the fence info string (a11y label, D6.4). */
   title?: string;
+  /** Optional page=landscape|portrait fence directive (image-policy override). */
+  page?: "landscape" | "portrait";
   /** render=false → leave as a plain code block (escape hatch, D6.3). */
   render: boolean;
   /** Placeholder token substituted into the markdown. */
@@ -119,6 +121,7 @@ export function extractDiagramFences(markdown: string): FenceExtraction {
             lang: info.lang,
             source: openFence.body.join("\n"),
             title: info.title,
+            page: info.page,
             render: true,
             token,
             ordinal,
@@ -181,13 +184,18 @@ function matchFenceLine(line: string): { char: string; len: number; info: string
   return { char: m[1][0], len: m[1].length, info: m[2].trim() };
 }
 
-/** Parse a fence info string: `mermaid`, `mermaid render=false`, `mermaid title="Auth flow"`. */
-export function parseInfoString(info: string): { lang: string; render: boolean; title?: string } {
+/** Parse a fence info string: `mermaid`, `mermaid render=false`,
+ *  `mermaid title="Auth flow"`, `mermaid page=landscape`. */
+export function parseInfoString(info: string): {
+  lang: string; render: boolean; title?: string; page?: "landscape" | "portrait";
+} {
   const lang = (info.match(/^\S+/)?.[0] ?? "").toLowerCase();
   const render = !/\brender\s*=\s*false\b/i.test(info);
   const title = info.match(/\btitle\s*=\s*"([^"]*)"/i)?.[1]
     ?? info.match(/\btitle\s*=\s*'([^']*)'/i)?.[1];
-  return { lang, render, title };
+  const pageRaw = info.match(/\bpage\s*=\s*(landscape|portrait)\b/i)?.[1]?.toLowerCase();
+  const page = pageRaw === "landscape" || pageRaw === "portrait" ? pageRaw : undefined;
+  return { lang, render, title, page };
 }
 
 // ─── Slot substitution (pure) ─────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -233,8 +241,9 @@ export function buildDiagramFigure(fence: DiagramFence, svg: string): string {
   const captioned = fence.title
     ? `\n<figcaption class="diagram-caption">${escapeHtml(fence.title)}</figcaption>`
     : "";
+  const pageAttr = fence.page ? ` data-gstack-page="${fence.page}"` : "";
   return [
-    `<figure class="diagram" role="img" aria-label="${escapeAttr(label)}">`,
+    `<figure class="diagram" role="img" aria-label="${escapeAttr(label)}"${pageAttr}>`,
     `<!-- gstack-diagram-source lang=${escapeAttr(fence.lang)}`,
     escapeHtmlComment(fence.source),
     `-->`,
diff --git a/make-pdf/src/image-policy.ts b/make-pdf/src/image-policy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..030d65860
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make-pdf/src/image-policy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+/**
+ * Image width policy + conservative auto-landscape (eng-review P4, D4 spec).
+ *
+ * Two pure passes over rendered HTML:
+ *
+ *  1. applyImageDirectives — runs inside render() right after marked, before
+ *     the sanitizer. Translates the markdown-adjacent directive suffix
+ *     `![alt](x.png){width=50%}` / `{page=landscape}` into data-gstack-*
+ *     attributes (the sanitizer keeps data- attributes; the brace text is
+ *     consumed so it never reaches smartypants or the page).
+ *
+ *  2. applyImagePolicy — runs in the orchestrator after image inlining (which
+ *     annotates data-gstack-px-width/-height from real bytes). Applies the
+ *     width rule and decides landscape promotion:
+ *
+ *     WIDTH RULE: render at intrinsic CSS-px width, capped at the content box,
+ *     never upscaled — that is exactly `figure img { max-width: 100% }` doing
+ *     its job, so the default needs no inline style. Directives opt into more:
+ *     width=full stretches to the content box; <pct>/<dim> set explicit width.
+ *
+ *     LANDSCAPE (conservative, false negatives are cheap):
+ *       promote only when ALL hold —
+ *         aspect ratio ≥ 1.8
+ *         AND intrinsic CSS-px width > SHRINK_LIMIT × content box
+ *             (content shrunk below ~40% of natural size = unreadable)
+ *         AND diagram provenance (rendered fence) or an alt-text token from
+ *             ALT_HINT_TOKENS (plain images)
+ *       `{page=landscape}` forces, `{page=portrait}` vetoes — both skip the
+ *       heuristics entirely.
+ *
+ *     Promotion wraps the block in <div class="page-wide"> whose CSS named
+ *     page (`@page wide { size: <size> landscape }`, print-css.ts) rotates
+ *     just that page. Chromium only honors CSS page sizes when the print call
+ *     passes preferCSSPageSize — the orchestrator sets it when hasLandscape.
+ */
+
+export interface ImagePolicyOptions {
+  /** Physical content-box width in inches (page width minus margins). */
+  contentWidthIn: number;
+  warn: (msg: string) => void;
+}
+
+export interface ImagePolicyResult {
+  html: string;
+  /** True when at least one block was promoted to the landscape named page. */
+  hasLandscape: boolean;
+}
+
+/** Aspect ratio floor for auto-promotion. */
+const MIN_ASPECT = 1.8;
+/**
+ * Auto-promote only when the intrinsic CSS-px width exceeds this multiple of
+ * the content box (in CSS px @96dpi). 2.5 ≈ the plan's ~1600px threshold on a
+ * 6.5in letter box; calibrated against fixtures (design doc Open Question 4).
+ */
+const SHRINK_LIMIT = 2.5;
+/** Alt-text tokens that mark a plain image as diagram-like (case-insensitive). */
+const ALT_HINT_TOKENS = ["diagram", "architecture", "flowchart", "chart", "graph"];
+
+// ─── Pass 1: directive suffixes ───────────────────────────────────────
+
+const IMG_WITH_SUFFIX_RE = /(<img\b[^>]*>)\s*\{([^{}<>\n]{1,120})\}/gi;
+
+/**
+ * Consume `{...}` directive suffixes adjacent to <img> tags. Unrecognized
+ * brace groups are left untouched (someone's literal prose).
+ */
+export function applyImageDirectives(html: string): string {
+  return html.replace(IMG_WITH_SUFFIX_RE, (full, imgTag: string, body: string) => {
+    const parsed = parseDirectives(body);
+    if (!parsed) return full;
+    let tag = imgTag;
+    if (parsed.width) tag = addAttr(tag, "data-gstack-width", parsed.width);
+    if (parsed.page) tag = addAttr(tag, "data-gstack-page", parsed.page);
+    return tag;
+  });
+}
+
+export function parseDirectives(body: string): { width?: string; page?: string } | null {
+  let width: string | undefined;
+  let page: string | undefined;
+  let recognized = false;
+  for (const part of body.trim().split(/\s+/)) {
+    const m = part.match(/^(width|page)=(.+)$/i);
+    if (!m) return null; // any unknown token ⇒ not a directive group
+    const key = m[1].toLowerCase();
+    const value = m[2].toLowerCase();
+    if (key === "width" && /^(full|\d{1,3}%|[0-9.]+(in|cm|mm|pt|px))$/.test(value)) {
+      width = value;
+      recognized = true;
+    } else if (key === "page" && /^(landscape|portrait)$/.test(value)) {
+      page = value;
+      recognized = true;
+    } else {
+      return null; // recognized key, malformed value ⇒ leave visible, not silent
+    }
+  }
+  return recognized ? { width, page } : null;
+}
+
+function addAttr(imgTag: string, name: string, value: string): string {
+  return imgTag.replace(/^<img\b/i, `<img ${name}="${value}"`);
+}
+
+// ─── Pass 2: width styles + landscape promotion ───────────────────────
+
+export function applyImagePolicy(html: string, opts: ImagePolicyOptions): ImagePolicyResult {
+  let hasLandscape = false;
+  const boxCssPx = opts.contentWidthIn * 96;
+  const widthThresholdPx = boxCssPx * SHRINK_LIMIT;
+
+  // 2a. width directives → inline styles on the img.
+  let out = html.replace(/<img\b[^>]*>/gi, (tag) => {
+    const width = attrValue(tag, "data-gstack-width");
+    if (!width) return tag;
+    const css = width === "full" ? "100%" : width;
+    return mergeStyle(tag, `width: ${css}; height: auto;`);
+  });
+
+  // 2b. landscape promotion — standalone images (markdown images render as
+  // <p><img …></p>; promote by swapping the paragraph for the wide wrapper).
+  out = out.replace(/<p>\s*(<img\b[^>]*>)\s*<\/p>/gi, (full, tag: string) => {
+    const decision = decideImagePromotion(tag, widthThresholdPx);
+    if (!decision.promote) return full;
+    hasLandscape = true;
+    opts.warn(`promoting image to a landscape page (${decision.reason})`);
+    return `<div class="page-wide">${tag}</div>`;
+  });
+
+  // 2c. landscape promotion — rendered diagram figures (provenance is
+  // automatic; dims come from the SVG's width/height or viewBox).
+  out = out.replace(
+    /<figure class="diagram[^"]*"[^>]*>[\s\S]*?<\/figure>/gi,
+    (figure) => {
+      if (figure.includes("diagram-error")) return figure;
+      const decision = decideDiagramPromotion(figure, widthThresholdPx);
+      if (!decision.promote) return figure;
+      hasLandscape = true;
+      opts.warn(`promoting diagram to a landscape page (${decision.reason})`);
+      return `<div class="page-wide">${figure}</div>`;
+    },
+  );
+
+  return { html: out, hasLandscape };
+}
+
+interface PromotionDecision {
+  promote: boolean;
+  reason: string;
+}
+
+function decideImagePromotion(tag: string, widthThresholdPx: number): PromotionDecision {
+  const page = attrValue(tag, "data-gstack-page");
+  if (page === "portrait") return { promote: false, reason: "page=portrait veto" };
+  if (page === "landscape") return { promote: true, reason: "page=landscape directive" };
+
+  const w = num(attrValue(tag, "data-gstack-px-width"));
+  const h = num(attrValue(tag, "data-gstack-px-height"));
+  if (!w || !h) return { promote: false, reason: "no intrinsic dimensions" };
+  if (w / h < MIN_ASPECT) return { promote: false, reason: "aspect below floor" };
+  if (w <= widthThresholdPx) return { promote: false, reason: "fits portrait readably" };
+
+  const alt = (attrValue(tag, "alt") ?? "").toLowerCase();
+  const hinted = ALT_HINT_TOKENS.some((t) => new RegExp(`\\b${t}\\b`).test(alt));
+  if (!hinted) return { promote: false, reason: "no diagram hint in alt text" };
+
+  return { promote: true, reason: `wide diagram-like image (${Math.round(w)}px, alt hint)` };
+}
+
+function decideDiagramPromotion(figure: string, widthThresholdPx: number): PromotionDecision {
+  const page = attrValue(figure, "data-gstack-page");
+  if (page === "portrait") return { promote: false, reason: "page=portrait veto" };
+  if (page === "landscape") return { promote: true, reason: "page=landscape fence directive" };
+
+  const dims = svgCssDims(figure);
+  if (!dims) return { promote: false, reason: "no measurable SVG dimensions" };
+  if (dims.width / dims.height < MIN_ASPECT) return { promote: false, reason: "aspect below floor" };
+  if (dims.width <= widthThresholdPx) return { promote: false, reason: "fits portrait readably" };
+  return { promote: true, reason: `wide diagram (${Math.round(dims.width)}px)` };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Best-effort CSS-px dimensions of the first <svg> in a figure: explicit
+ * width/height attributes (px or unitless) first, else viewBox.
+ */
+function svgCssDims(figure: string): { width: number; height: number } | null {
+  const tag = figure.match(/<svg\b[^>]*>/i)?.[0];
+  if (!tag) return null;
+  const attrNum = (name: string): number | null => {
+    const m = tag.match(new RegExp(`\\b${name}\\s*=\\s*["']\\s*([0-9.]+)(px)?\\s*["']`, "i"));
+    return m ? parseFloat(m[1]) : null;
+  };
+  const w = attrNum("width");
+  const h = attrNum("height");
+  if (w && h) return { width: w, height: h };
+  const vb = tag.match(/\bviewBox\s*=\s*["']\s*[-0-9.]+[\s,]+[-0-9.]+[\s,]+([0-9.]+)[\s,]+([0-9.]+)\s*["']/i);
+  if (vb) return { width: parseFloat(vb[1]), height: parseFloat(vb[2]) };
+  return null;
+}
+
+function attrValue(tag: string, name: string): string | null {
+  const m = tag.match(new RegExp(`\\b${name}\\s*=\\s*"([^"]*)"`, "i"))
+    ?? tag.match(new RegExp(`\\b${name}\\s*=\\s*'([^']*)'`, "i"));
+  return m ? m[1] : null;
+}
+
+function num(s: string | null): number | null {
+  if (s === null) return null;
+  const n = parseFloat(s);
+  return Number.isFinite(n) && n > 0 ? n : null;
+}
+
+function mergeStyle(tag: string, css: string): string {
+  const existing = attrValue(tag, "style");
+  if (existing !== null) {
+    return tag.replace(/\bstyle\s*=\s*(".*?"|'.*?')/i, `style="${existing.replace(/"/g, "")}; ${css}"`);
+  }
+  return tag.replace(/^<img\b/i, `<img style="${css}"`);
+}
diff --git a/make-pdf/src/orchestrator.ts b/make-pdf/src/orchestrator.ts
index be25941cc..a4268985a 100644
--- a/make-pdf/src/orchestrator.ts
+++ b/make-pdf/src/orchestrator.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import {
   renderFenceSlots,
   substituteSlots,
 } from "./diagram-prepass";
+import { applyImagePolicy } from "./image-policy";
 
 class ProgressReporter {
   private readonly quiet: boolean;
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ export async function generate(opts: GenerateOptions): Promise<string> {
     if (!opts.quiet) process.stderr.write(`\r\x1b[K[make-pdf] warning: ${msg}\n`);
   };
   let renderTab: RenderTab | null = null;
+  let hasLandscape = false;
   const getRenderTab = (): RenderTab | null => {
     if (renderTab) return renderTab;
     try {
@@ -153,15 +155,21 @@ export async function generate(opts: GenerateOptions): Promise<string> {
     }
 
     progress.begin("Inlining images");
+    const contentWidthIn = contentWidthInches(opts);
     finalHtml = inlineLocalImages(finalHtml, {
       inputDir: path.dirname(input),
       strict: opts.strict === true,
       allowNetwork: opts.allowNetwork === true,
-      contentWidthIn: contentWidthInches(opts),
+      contentWidthIn,
       warn,
       getTab: getRenderTab,
     });
     progress.end("Inlining images");
+
+    // Width directives + conservative auto-landscape (image-policy).
+    const policy = applyImagePolicy(finalHtml, { contentWidthIn, warn });
+    finalHtml = policy.html;
+    hasLandscape = policy.hasLandscape;
   } finally {
     renderTab?.close();
   }
@@ -212,6 +220,10 @@ export async function generate(opts: GenerateOptions): Promise<string> {
       tagged: opts.tagged !== false,
       outline: opts.outline !== false,
       printBackground: !!opts.watermark,
+      // Named landscape pages only take effect when Chromium honors CSS page
+      // sizes. Flip it ONLY when a promotion exists — minimal behavior change
+      // for every other document.
+      preferCSSPageSize: hasLandscape ? true : undefined,
       toc: opts.toc,
     });
     progress.end("Generating PDF");
diff --git a/make-pdf/src/print-css.ts b/make-pdf/src/print-css.ts
index db6f9c925..42984d2c6 100644
--- a/make-pdf/src/print-css.ts
+++ b/make-pdf/src/print-css.ts
@@ -118,6 +118,22 @@ function pageRules(size: string, margin: string, opts: PrintCssOptions): string
     `  @bottom-center { content: none; }`,
     `  @bottom-right { content: none; }`,
     `}`,
+    ``,
+    // Landscape named page for promoted wide diagrams/images (image-policy).
+    // Chromium-only — exactly the engine this pipeline always prints with.
+    // Honored only when the print call passes preferCSSPageSize (orchestrator
+    // sets it when a promotion exists).
+    `@page wide {`,
+    `  size: ${size} landscape;`,
+    `  margin: ${margin};`,
+    `}`,
+    `.page-wide {`,
+    `  page: wide;`,
+    `  break-before: page;`,
+    `  break-after: page;`,
+    `}`,
+    `.page-wide img, .page-wide svg { width: 100%; height: auto; max-width: none; }`,
+    `.page-wide figure.diagram > svg { max-width: none; }`,
   ].filter(line => line !== "").join("\n");
 }
 
diff --git a/make-pdf/src/render.ts b/make-pdf/src/render.ts
index ae5228f42..3c0c0a76c 100644
--- a/make-pdf/src/render.ts
+++ b/make-pdf/src/render.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import { marked } from "marked";
 import { smartypants } from "./smartypants";
 import { printCss, type PrintCssOptions } from "./print-css";
+import { applyImageDirectives } from "./image-policy";
 
 export interface RenderOptions {
   markdown: string;
@@ -60,8 +61,13 @@ export function render(opts: RenderOptions): RenderResult {
   // 1. Markdown → HTML
   const rawHtml = marked.parse(opts.markdown, { async: false }) as string;
 
+  // 1.5. Image directive suffixes: `![a](x.png){width=50%}` → data-gstack-*
+  // attributes. Before the sanitizer (which keeps data- attrs) so the brace
+  // text never reaches smartypants or the final page.
+  const directedHtml = applyImageDirectives(rawHtml);
+
   // 2. Sanitize
-  const cleanHtml = sanitizeUntrustedHtml(rawHtml);
+  const cleanHtml = sanitizeUntrustedHtml(directedHtml);
 
   // 3. Decode common entities so smartypants can match raw " and '.
   //    marked HTML-encodes quotes in text ("hello" → &quot;hello&quot;);