diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2ffbdbb00..adca5d7ef 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -256,6 +256,15 @@ Entries land here as they merge.
 - **`ChartStyle.paintForSeries` rejects a negative series index** with a
   value-naming `IllegalArgumentException` instead of leaking a bare
   `IndexOutOfBoundsException` from the palette modulo.
+- **A translucent gradient stop is rejected instead of silently rendering
+  opaque.** Gradients render through PDF axial / radial shadings, which carry
+  no alpha channel, so `PdfShadingSupport` dropped a stop colour's alpha and a
+  translucent stop rendered fully opaque with no diagnostic. `DocumentPaint.Stop`
+  now rejects a colour with alpha below 255 at construction, naming the offending
+  alpha — flatten the transparency into the stop colour, or apply opacity to the
+  whole shape. This matches the SVG reader, which already refuses `stop-opacity`,
+  and reaches the `DocumentPaint.linear(from, to)` sugar too. Opaque gradients are
+  unaffected.
 - **SVG path reader no longer hangs on malformed `d` data.** A `Z`/`z`
   close command (which consumes no operands) followed by a stray
   non-command token — e.g. `"M0 0 Z5"` — made the scanner loop forever,
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaint.java b/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaint.java
index 57ccb2778..39ab08c3f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaint.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaint.java
@@ -223,18 +223,35 @@ private static void requireFinite(double value, String what) {
     /**
      * One gradient colour stop.
      *
+     * <p>The colour must be fully opaque. Gradients render through PDF axial /
+     * radial shadings, which carry no alpha channel, so a translucent stop
+     * would silently render opaque. Rather than render wrong, a stop with
+     * alpha below 255 is rejected at construction — flatten transparency into
+     * the stop colour, or apply opacity to the whole shape instead. This
+     * mirrors the SVG reader, which already refuses {@code stop-opacity}.
+     *
      * @param offset position along the gradient axis in [0,1]
-     * @param color  colour at this offset
+     * @param color  fully-opaque colour at this offset
      */
     record Stop(double offset, DocumentColor color) {
         /**
-         * Validates the offset and colour.
+         * Validates the offset and the opaque-colour requirement.
+         *
+         * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code offset} is outside [0,1]
+         *                                  or {@code color} is translucent
          */
         public Stop {
             if (offset < 0 || offset > 1 || Double.isNaN(offset)) {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("stop offset must be in [0,1]: " + offset);
             }
             Objects.requireNonNull(color, "color");
+            int alpha = color.color().getAlpha();
+            if (alpha != 255) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                        "gradient stop colour must be opaque (alpha=" + alpha + "); shadings "
+                                + "carry no alpha, so a translucent stop would render opaque — "
+                                + "flatten transparency into the colour or apply opacity to the shape");
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaintTest.java b/src/test/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaintTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7542a29db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/demcha/compose/document/style/DocumentPaintTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package com.demcha.compose.document.style;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatCode;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+
+/**
+ * Value-level contract of {@link DocumentPaint.Stop}: the offset bounds and the
+ * opaque-colour requirement. Gradients render through PDF axial / radial
+ * shadings, which carry no alpha channel, so a translucent stop must fail at
+ * construction instead of silently rendering opaque — mirroring the SVG
+ * reader, which already refuses {@code stop-opacity}.
+ */
+class DocumentPaintTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void opaqueStopIsAccepted() {
+        assertThatCode(() -> new DocumentPaint.Stop(0.5, DocumentColor.rgb(20, 80, 95)))
+                .doesNotThrowAnyException();
+        // rgba with full alpha is still opaque.
+        assertThatCode(() -> new DocumentPaint.Stop(0.0, DocumentColor.rgba(10, 20, 30, 255)))
+                .doesNotThrowAnyException();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void translucentStopIsRejected() {
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> new DocumentPaint.Stop(0.0, DocumentColor.rgb(20, 80, 95).withOpacity(0.5)))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("opaque");
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> new DocumentPaint.Stop(1.0, DocumentColor.rgba(10, 20, 30, 0)))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("opaque");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void offsetOutsideUnitRangeIsRejected() {
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> new DocumentPaint.Stop(-0.1, DocumentColor.BLACK))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("offset");
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> new DocumentPaint.Stop(1.5, DocumentColor.BLACK))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("offset");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void linearFactoryRejectsTranslucentEndpoints() {
+        // The two-colour sugar builds stops, so the opaque guard reaches it too.
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> DocumentPaint.linear(
+                DocumentColor.rgb(20, 80, 95).withOpacity(0.4), DocumentColor.WHITE))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class)
+                .hasMessageContaining("opaque");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void solidPaintExposesItsColor() {
+        DocumentColor teal = DocumentColor.rgb(20, 80, 95);
+        assertThat(DocumentPaint.solid(teal).primaryColor()).isEqualTo(teal);
+    }
+}