diff --git a/crates/edit/src/lib.rs b/crates/edit/src/lib.rs
index 0fb7e3eeea..01334e9f16 100644
--- a/crates/edit/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/edit/src/lib.rs
@@ -73,6 +73,17 @@ impl Default for HeaderFooter {
     }
 }
 
+impl HeaderFooter {
+    /// The first character [`add_header_footer`] would refuse, because the standard fonts can't
+    /// draw it (#125). Tokens only add ASCII (Bates prefixes and suffixes are part of the
+    /// template), so checking the templates, split as `expand`'s output is, covers every page
+    /// (and a `\r` that would be drawn is refused too). The dialog asks this too, so its preview
+    /// never offers text that applying refuses (#2013).
+    pub fn first_undrawable(&self) -> Option<char> {
+        self.text.iter().flat_map(|t| t.lines()).find_map(pdfcraft_fonts::first_non_win_ansi)
+    }
+}
+
 /// A picture for a background or watermark (Acrobat: Source ▸ File): an XObject already in
 /// the document, an image (drawn into a unit square) or a form (a page of a PDF).
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq)]
@@ -104,6 +115,17 @@ pub struct Watermark {
     pub offset: [f64; 2],
 }
 
+impl Watermark {
+    /// The first character of a text watermark [`add_watermark`] would refuse, because the
+    /// standard fonts can't draw it (#125). A picture watermark draws no text.
+    pub fn first_undrawable(&self) -> Option<char> {
+        match self.source {
+            Some(_) => None,
+            None => self.text.trim().lines().find_map(pdfcraft_fonts::first_non_win_ansi),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl Default for Watermark {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
@@ -383,16 +405,6 @@ fn begin(kind: MarkKind, subtype: &str, matrix: [f64; 6]) -> String {
 
 const END: &str = "EMC\nQ\n";
 
-/// Refuses page text the standard-14 fonts (WinAnsiEncoding) can't draw: written anyway, each
-/// such character would become a `?` on the page (#125). `lines` must split the text the way the
-/// caller draws it, so a `\r` that would be drawn is refused too.
-pub(crate) fn drawable<'a>(lines: impl IntoIterator<Item = &'a str>) -> Result<(), EditError> {
-    match lines.into_iter().find_map(pdfcraft_fonts::first_non_win_ansi) {
-        Some(c) => Err(undrawable(c)),
-        None => Ok(()),
-    }
-}
-
 /// The refusal for page text with `c`, which nothing here can draw.
 pub(crate) fn undrawable(c: char) -> EditError {
     EditError::Invalid(undrawable_message(c))
@@ -418,9 +430,9 @@ pub fn add_header_footer(doc: &mut Document, pages: &[usize], hf: &HeaderFooter,
     if hf.text.iter().all(|t| t.trim().is_empty()) {
         return Err(EditError::Invalid("type the header or footer text first".into()));
     }
-    // Tokens only add ASCII (Bates prefixes and suffixes are part of the template), so checking
-    // the templates, split as `expand`'s output is, covers every page.
-    hf.text.iter().try_for_each(|t| drawable(t.lines()))?;
+    if let Some(c) = hf.first_undrawable() {
+        return Err(undrawable(c));
+    }
     if !(hf.font_size.is_finite() && hf.font_size > 0.0 && hf.font_size <= 200.0 && hf.margins.iter().all(|m| m.is_finite() && *m >= 0.0)) {
         return Err(EditError::Invalid("invalid font size or margins".into()));
     }
@@ -498,8 +510,8 @@ pub fn add_watermark(doc: &mut Document, pages: &[usize], wm: &Watermark, replac
     if text.is_empty() && wm.source.is_none() {
         return Err(EditError::Invalid("type the watermark text first".into()));
     }
-    if wm.source.is_none() {
-        drawable(text.lines())?;
+    if let Some(c) = wm.first_undrawable() {
+        return Err(undrawable(c));
     }
     if !(wm.opacity.is_finite()
         && wm.rotation.is_finite()
diff --git a/crates/edit/src/tests.rs b/crates/edit/src/tests.rs
index 6df0ce21ea..0612b757dd 100644
--- a/crates/edit/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/edit/src/tests.rs
@@ -2318,6 +2318,37 @@ fn hebrew_letters_the_page_font_lacks_use_the_hebrew_face() {
     assert_eq!(text::text_blocks(&reopen(&doc), 0).unwrap()[0].text, "עברית מלאה");
 }
 
+/// #2013: the dialog asks `first_undrawable` before offering OK, so it must refuse exactly what
+/// applying refuses: a Cyrillic footer was previewed (in the interface font) and then failed.
+#[test]
+fn header_and_watermark_drawability_matches_what_applying_refuses() {
+    let footer = |t: &str| HeaderFooter {
+        text: [String::new(), String::new(), String::new(), String::new(), String::new(), t.into()],
+        ..HeaderFooter::default()
+    };
+    for (text, refused) in [
+        ("Страница <<1>> из 1 / Page <<1>> of 1", Some('С')),
+        ("TEST-001 <<Page 1 of n>>", None),
+        ("Café — 5€ ™ <<Bates Number#6#1#ACME-#>>", None),
+        ("Left\r\nRight", None),
+        ("A\rB", Some('\r')),
+        ("line one\nΕλληνικά", Some('Ε')),
+    ] {
+        let hf = footer(text);
+        assert_eq!(hf.first_undrawable(), refused, "{text:?}");
+        let mut doc = fixture();
+        let applied = add_header_footer(&mut doc, &[0], &hf, false, &cx());
+        match refused {
+            Some(c) => assert_eq!(applied.unwrap_err().to_string(), undrawable_message(c), "{text:?}"),
+            None => applied.unwrap(),
+        }
+        let wm = Watermark { text: text.into(), ..Watermark::default() };
+        assert_eq!(wm.first_undrawable(), refused, "{text:?}");
+        let applied = add_watermark(&mut fixture(), &[0], &wm, false);
+        assert_eq!(applied.err().map(|e| e.to_string()), refused.map(undrawable_message), "{text:?}");
+    }
+}
+
 /// #125: page-content tools refuse text the standard fonts can't draw instead of writing `?`,
 /// and leave the document untouched.
 #[test]
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/content_ui.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/content_ui.rs
index 86976ae4dc..72d308a156 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/content_ui.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/content_ui.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use crate::theme::Tokens;
 use crate::widgets;
 
 /// The colour of the warning under text the standard fonts can't draw.
-const UNDRAWABLE: Color32 = Color32::from_rgb(0xD7, 0x37, 0x3F);
+pub(crate) const UNDRAWABLE: Color32 = Color32::from_rgb(0xD7, 0x37, 0x3F);
 
 /// The first character of a draft that can't be drawn, as the engine decides it (it refuses
 /// such text, #125): outside the standard fonts and not shaped with the Arabic face.
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/marks_ui.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/marks_ui.rs
index 84214fc2f9..4a60c40a6e 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/marks_ui.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/marks_ui.rs
@@ -384,20 +384,29 @@ pub(crate) fn body(ui: &mut egui::Ui, app: &mut PdfCraftApp, t: &Tokens, kind: M
             }
         });
     });
+    // Text the standard fonts can't draw is refused on apply (#125), so it's refused here, with the
+    // preview (drawn in the interface font, which can draw it) no longer the only answer (#2013).
+    let undrawable = undrawable(kind, d);
+    if let Some(c) = undrawable {
+        ui.add_space(6.0);
+        ui.label(egui::RichText::new(crate::content_ui::undrawable_message(c)).small().color(crate::content_ui::UNDRAWABLE));
+    }
     ui.add_space(10.0);
     let (mut apply, mut cancel) = (false, false);
     ui.with_layout(Layout::right_to_left(Align::Center), |ui| {
-        let ready = match kind {
-            MarkKind::HeaderFooter => d.hf.text.iter().any(|x| !x.trim().is_empty()),
-            MarkKind::Watermark => {
-                if d.use_file {
-                    d.file.is_some()
-                } else {
-                    !d.wm.text.trim().is_empty()
+        let ready = undrawable.is_none()
+            && match kind {
+                MarkKind::HeaderFooter => d.hf.text.iter().any(|x| !x.trim().is_empty()),
+                MarkKind::Watermark => {
+                    if d.use_file {
+                        d.file.is_some()
+                    } else {
+                        !d.wm.text.trim().is_empty()
+                    }
                 }
+                MarkKind::Background => !d.use_file || d.file.is_some(),
             }
-            MarkKind::Background => !d.use_file || d.file.is_some(),
-        } && !d.range.pages(count).is_empty();
+            && !d.range.pages(count).is_empty();
         if ui.add_enabled_ui(ready, |ui| widgets::pill_button(ui, tl!("OK"), true)).inner.clicked() {
             apply = true;
         }
@@ -425,6 +434,16 @@ pub(crate) fn body(ui: &mut egui::Ui, app: &mut PdfCraftApp, t: &Tokens, kind: M
     (apply, cancel)
 }
 
+/// The first character of the dialog's text that applying would refuse (the standard fonts can't
+/// draw it), as the engine decides it. Pictures draw no text.
+fn undrawable(kind: MarkKind, d: &MarksDraft) -> Option<char> {
+    match kind {
+        MarkKind::HeaderFooter => d.hf.first_undrawable(),
+        MarkKind::Watermark if !d.use_file => d.wm.first_undrawable(),
+        MarkKind::Watermark | MarkKind::Background => None,
+    }
+}
+
 fn mark_file(d: &MarksDraft) -> Option<pdfcraft_engine::MarkFile> {
     let (name, bytes) = d.file.clone().filter(|_| d.use_file)?;
     Some(pdfcraft_engine::MarkFile { name, bytes, page: d.file_page.max(1) - 1 })
@@ -478,6 +497,20 @@ pub fn edit(d: &MarksDraft, kind: MarkKind, count: usize) -> Edit {
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn text_applying_would_refuse_is_caught_in_the_dialog() {
+        let mut d = MarksDraft::default();
+        d.hf.text[5] = "Страница <<1>> из <<n>> / Page <<1>> of <<n>>".into();
+        assert_eq!(undrawable(MarkKind::HeaderFooter, &d), Some('С'), "#2013: refused before OK, not after");
+        d.hf.text[5] = "Page <<1>> of <<n>> — café".into();
+        assert_eq!(undrawable(MarkKind::HeaderFooter, &d), None);
+        d.wm.text = "ΑΠΟΡΡΗΤΟ".into();
+        assert_eq!(undrawable(MarkKind::Watermark, &d), Some('Α'));
+        d.use_file = true;
+        assert_eq!(undrawable(MarkKind::Watermark, &d), None, "a picture watermark draws no text");
+        assert_eq!(undrawable(MarkKind::Background, &d), None);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn page_ranges_with_subsets() {
         let r = PageRange::default();