diff --git a/crates/edit/src/images.rs b/crates/edit/src/images.rs
index fb6212588..62bef8bc5 100644
--- a/crates/edit/src/images.rs
+++ b/crates/edit/src/images.rs
@@ -784,7 +784,16 @@ pub(crate) fn translate_images(doc: &mut Document, page: usize, indexes: &[usize
                 return Err(EditError::Invalid("the image move is too large".into()));
             };
             plans.remove(&(stream, index));
-            clips.insert((stream, at), c);
+            // A `cm` an earlier move put before the clip takes this move too: `c · prev` is the
+            // same CTM as `prev` followed by another `cm c`, without one more operator per move.
+            let folded = at
+                .checked_sub(1)
+                .and_then(|i| Some((i, c.then(&Matrix(ops.get(i).filter(|op| op.is("cm"))?.nums::<6>()?)))))
+                .filter(|(_, m)| m.0.iter().all(|v| v.is_finite() && v.abs() <= 1e12));
+            match folded {
+                Some((i, m)) => clips.insert((stream, i), (m, false)),
+                None => clips.insert((stream, at), (c, true)),
+            };
         }
         // An image already alone in `q cm Do Q` moves by changing that `cm`, not by nesting another.
         let mut folds = std::collections::BTreeMap::new();
@@ -799,8 +808,8 @@ pub(crate) fn translate_images(doc: &mut Document, page: usize, indexes: &[usize
             folds.insert(at, folded);
         }
         let changed = crate::text::splice(&pieces, &ops, |index| {
-            if let Some(c) = clips.remove(&(stream, index)) {
-                return (vec![Op::new("cm", c.0.map(Object::Real).to_vec())], true);
+            if let Some((c, keep)) = clips.remove(&(stream, index)) {
+                return (vec![Op::new("cm", c.0.map(Object::Real).to_vec())], keep);
             }
             if let Some(m) = folds.remove(&index) {
                 return (vec![Op::new("cm", m.0.map(Object::Real).to_vec())], false);
diff --git a/crates/edit/src/tests.rs b/crates/edit/src/tests.rs
index 88e3d7806..7930a7ead 100644
--- a/crates/edit/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/edit/src/tests.rs
@@ -1921,6 +1921,31 @@ fn repeated_image_edits_change_one_transform_instead_of_nesting() {
     }
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn repeated_group_moves_of_a_cropped_image_change_one_clip_transform() {
+    // The crop is smaller than the image, so a clip left behind would shrink `visible_rect`.
+    let mut doc = image_page_with("q 150 120 100 50 re W n 200 0 0 100 100 100 cm /Im0 Do Q BT /F1 12 Tf 72 700 Td (Caption) Tj ET");
+    let operators = |doc: &Document| pdfcraft_content::parse(&page_content_bytes(doc, 0)).ops.len();
+    let start = images::page_images(&doc, 0).unwrap()[0].clone();
+    let mut first = 0;
+    for i in 0..20 {
+        images::translate_images(&mut doc, 0, &[0], [1.0, -2.0]).unwrap();
+        if i == 0 {
+            first = operators(&doc);
+        }
+    }
+    let moved = |r: [f64; 4]| [r[0] + 20.0, r[1] - 40.0, r[2] + 20.0, r[3] - 40.0];
+    let now = images::page_images(&doc, 0).unwrap()[0].clone();
+    assert!(close(now.rect, moved(start.rect)), "{:?}", now.rect);
+    assert!(close(now.visible_rect.unwrap(), moved(start.visible_rect.unwrap())), "the crop moves with the image: {:?}", now.visible_rect);
+    assert_eq!(operators(&doc), first, "twenty group moves add no more operators than one");
+    assert_eq!(q_depth(&doc), 1);
+    let doc = reopen(&doc);
+    assert!(close(images::page_images(&doc, 0).unwrap()[0].visible_rect.unwrap(), moved(start.visible_rect.unwrap())));
+    let caption: Vec<_> = text::text_lines(&doc, 0).unwrap().into_iter().map(|l| l.text).collect();
+    assert_eq!(caption, ["Caption"]);
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn page_images_move_turn_replace_and_delete() {
     let mut doc = image_page();
diff --git a/docs/editing-images.md b/docs/editing-images.md
index eba918ef3..67d3613bf 100644
--- a/docs/editing-images.md
+++ b/docs/editing-images.md
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ together with its pixels, including nested graphics states, intervening state op
 and paths split across content streams. A clip shared with other content stays where it is.
 When the figure already sits alone in a `q … cm … Q` (its own placement, or the one an
 earlier edit added), moving or resizing it again changes that `cm`, so repeated edits don't
-nest one more graphics state each time.
+nest one more graphics state each time. Moving a privately cropped figure again likewise
+changes the `cm` before its clip instead of adding another.
 
 PDF figures are not always bitmap images. Imported diagrams often use a **Form XObject**,
 which packages text, vector paths, and nested images into one object. PdfCraft selects