diff --git a/frontend/src/components/canvas/SelectionLayer.vue b/frontend/src/components/canvas/SelectionLayer.vue
index 6aa52160..3caab849 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/canvas/SelectionLayer.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/canvas/SelectionLayer.vue
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ import { isTextElement, selectionOutline, handleCenter, NEUTRAL_SELECT } from '@
 import { cornerRadiusOf, supportsCornerRounding, maxCornerRadius } from '@/diagram/shapeGeometry.js'
 import { arrowProportions } from '@/diagram/blockArrow.js'
 
-const HANDLE = 12
+// Smaller than the shape's own outline stroke would suggest is legible — the
+// Slides-style discoverable-but-quiet affordance #550 asks for, not a control
+// that reads as bigger than the box it resizes.
+const HANDLE = 8
 const ROTATION_ARM = 28
 const HANDLES = [
   'top-left', 'top', 'top-right', 'right',
@@ -316,7 +319,7 @@ function startRotate(event) {
         :y="handlePosition(name).y - handleSize / 2"
         :width="handleSize"
         :height="handleSize"
-        :rx="2.5 / zoom"
+        :rx="1.5 / zoom"
         fill="#FFFFFF"
         :stroke="handleColor"
         :stroke-width="strokeWidth"
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/canvas/ShapeView.vue b/frontend/src/components/canvas/ShapeView.vue
index e97da4bd..2869bef7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/canvas/ShapeView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/canvas/ShapeView.vue
@@ -203,10 +203,11 @@ const labelFill = computed(() => {
   return textStyle.value.color
 })
 
-// Shrink-to-fit the rich text when the shape opts in (spec 6.4). Declared last so
-// the inputs getter can reference the computeds above without hitting the TDZ.
+// Shrink-to-fit the rich text, always on (#550 — no opt-in toggle any more).
+// Declared last so the inputs getter can reference the computeds above without
+// hitting the TDZ.
 useAutoFitText(richEl, () => ({
-  enabled: props.shape.text?.autoFit && !isEditingThis.value,
+  enabled: !isEditingThis.value,
   base: props.shape.text?.style?.size || 16,
   w: textArea.value?.w,
   h: textArea.value?.h,
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/canvas/WhiteboardStickyNote.vue b/frontend/src/components/canvas/WhiteboardStickyNote.vue
index 699adb1c..863e8485 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/canvas/WhiteboardStickyNote.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/canvas/WhiteboardStickyNote.vue
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import { safeHref } from '@/utils/safeUrl.js'
 import { stickyRuns, stickyTextStyle } from '@/diagram/whiteboardModel.js'
 import { domToRuns, runsToDom } from '@/utils/richTextDom.js'
 import { runsToText, trimRuns } from '@/diagram/richText.js'
+import { NEUTRAL_SELECT } from '@/diagram/selectionChrome.js'
 import { roughenRect } from '@/diagram/sketch.js'
 import { pointsToPath } from '@/diagram/svgPath.js'
 import {
@@ -319,14 +320,14 @@ function openLink(event) {
       :height="note.h"
       rx="4"
       :fill="note.color"
-      :stroke="selected ? '#006EDB' : 'rgba(0,0,0,0.08)'"
+      :stroke="selected ? NEUTRAL_SELECT : 'rgba(0,0,0,0.08)'"
       :stroke-width="selected ? 1.5 : 1"
       style="cursor: move; filter: drop-shadow(0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.12))"
       @pointerdown="startMove"
     />
     <g v-else style="cursor: move" @pointerdown="startMove">
       <rect :width="note.w" :height="note.h" rx="4" :fill="note.color" />
-      <path :d="sketchOutline" fill="none" :stroke="selected ? '#006EDB' : 'rgba(0,0,0,0.35)'" stroke-width="1.5" />
+      <path :d="sketchOutline" fill="none" :stroke="selected ? NEUTRAL_SELECT : 'rgba(0,0,0,0.35)'" stroke-width="1.5" />
     </g>
 
     <!-- Editable text (auto-contrast ink). -->
@@ -352,15 +353,17 @@ function openLink(event) {
       <path d="M4 7 a3 3 0 0 1 3 -3 M10 7 a3 3 0 0 1 -3 3" stroke="#006EDB" stroke-width="1.3" fill="none" stroke-linecap="round" transform="translate(0 0)" />
     </g>
 
-    <!-- Resize handle (bottom-right), shown only for a lone selection. -->
+    <!-- Resize handle (bottom-right), shown only for a lone selection. Same
+         size and neutral grey as every other object's handles (#550). -->
     <rect
       v-if="solo"
-      :x="note.w - 12"
-      :y="note.h - 12"
-      width="12"
-      height="12"
+      :x="note.w - 8"
+      :y="note.h - 8"
+      width="8"
+      height="8"
+      rx="1.5"
       fill="#FFFFFF"
-      stroke="#006EDB"
+      :stroke="NEUTRAL_SELECT"
       stroke-width="1.5"
       style="cursor: nwse-resize"
       @pointerdown="startResize"
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/StickyGroup.vue b/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/StickyGroup.vue
index f76f330a..8e020fb5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/StickyGroup.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/StickyGroup.vue
@@ -115,12 +115,16 @@ function removeSticky() {
 
     <!-- Text colour, which is a different axis from the note's PAPER colour above.
          The paper stays the six named fills from the spec, deliberately out of the
-         palette sweep (#495); the ink is on the shared grid like every other text. -->
+         palette sweep (#495); the ink is on the shared grid like every other text.
+         The trigger is the "A" every other text object wears (#550): a filled disc
+         here read as one more paper swatch, on a bar whose first six controls ARE
+         paper swatches. The label stays note-specific so it cannot collide with
+         TextGroup's "Text colour" in a name lookup. -->
     <Popover>
       <template #trigger>
         <ToolbarButton label="Note text colour">
           <template #icon>
-            <span class="size-4 rounded-full" :style="{ background: textStyle.color }" />
+            <span class="grid size-4 place-items-center rounded text-sm font-semibold" :style="{ color: textStyle.color }">A</span>
           </template>
         </ToolbarButton>
       </template>
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/TextGroup.vue b/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/TextGroup.vue
index 7bbf993c..8ec4fb04 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/TextGroup.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/toolbar/groups/TextGroup.vue
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 <script setup>
 // Text formatting for the current block selection (#361): font, size, the four
-// marks, alignment, colour and auto-fit.
+// marks, alignment and colour. Fitting text to its shape is automatic and no
+// longer a control here (#550) — see useAutoFitText.
 //
 // This group is shown for a shape whether or not its label is being edited. It
 // IS the text-only menu while editing (#259), and part of the shape menu
 // otherwise — which is why every control drives the live rich-text editor when
 // one is open and the shape-level base style when it is not.
-import { computed } from 'vue'
-import { Popover, Select } from 'frappe-ui'
+import { computed, ref, watch } from 'vue'
+import { Popover, Select, TextInput } from 'frappe-ui'
 import { useBlockSelection } from '@/composables/useBlockSelection.js'
 import { richCommands, isMarkActive } from '@/composables/useRichText.js'
 import EspressoSwatchGrid from '@/components/palette-right/EspressoSwatchGrid.vue'
@@ -64,9 +65,16 @@ const textAlign = computed(() => textRef.value?.text?.align || 'center')
 // on every shape that has never had a font chosen — which is most of them.
 const font = computed(() => textStyle.value.font || ESPRESSO_SANS)
 const fontSize = computed(() => textStyle.value.size ?? 16)
-const autoFit = computed(() => Boolean(textRef.value?.text?.autoFit))
 const currentTextColor = computed(() => textStyle.value.color || '#171717')
 
+// The typed draft, kept separate from `fontSize` so a half-typed value (the "3"
+// on its way to "32") never round-trips through the store. Re-synced whenever
+// the committed size changes from elsewhere (the +/- steppers, another shape).
+const fontSizeDraft = ref(String(fontSize.value))
+watch(fontSize, (value) => {
+  fontSizeDraft.value = String(value)
+})
+
 function updateTextStyle(patch) {
   if (textIds.value.length) store.updateShapes(textIds.value, { text: { style: patch } })
 }
@@ -109,8 +117,30 @@ function setFont(value) {
   updateTextStyle({ font: value })
 }
 
-function toggleAutoFit() {
-  if (textIds.value.length) store.updateShapes(textIds.value, { text: { autoFit: !autoFit.value } })
+// Applies the typed draft as the shape's base font size (#550): same clamp as
+// the +/- steppers, so typing "9999" lands at the same ceiling clicking + a
+// hundred times would. A draft that isn't a positive number is discarded —
+// the input snaps back to the last committed size via the `fontSize` watcher.
+//
+// Committed on Enter only, never on blur (matching ZoomGroup's typed-value
+// control) — clicking a different shape while a size is half-typed fires blur
+// AFTER the canvas's pointerdown has already moved the selection, which would
+// otherwise write the typed size onto whatever got clicked instead of the
+// shape the user was actually editing.
+function commitFontSizeDraft() {
+  const parsed = Number(fontSizeDraft.value)
+  if (Number.isFinite(parsed) && parsed > 0) {
+    updateTextStyle({ size: Math.max(6, Math.min(200, Math.round(parsed))) })
+  } else {
+    fontSizeDraft.value = String(fontSize.value)
+  }
+}
+
+// Blur with no Enter is a cancel: an edit abandoned by clicking elsewhere
+// reverts rather than silently committing to a shape the click may have
+// just changed the selection to.
+function resetFontSizeDraft() {
+  fontSizeDraft.value = String(fontSize.value)
 }
 
 // Recolours the caret selection live while editing, else sets the shape's base
@@ -127,7 +157,18 @@ function setTextColor(hex) {
 
   <div class="flex items-center rounded-md border border-outline-gray-2">
     <ToolbarButton class="!w-6" label="Decrease font size" icon="lucide-minus" @click="stepFontSize(-1)" />
-    <span class="w-6 text-center text-sm tabular-nums text-ink-gray-8">{{ fontSize }}</span>
+    <TextInput
+      v-model="fontSizeDraft"
+      type="text"
+      size="sm"
+      variant="ghost"
+      inputmode="numeric"
+      aria-label="Font size"
+      class="w-9 [&_input]:px-0 [&_input]:text-center [&_input]:tabular-nums"
+      @focus="$event.target.select()"
+      @keydown.enter="commitFontSizeDraft(); $event.target.blur()"
+      @blur="resetFontSizeDraft"
+    />
     <ToolbarButton class="!w-6" label="Increase font size" icon="lucide-plus" @click="stepFontSize(1)" />
   </div>
 
@@ -166,7 +207,7 @@ function setTextColor(hex) {
     <template #trigger>
       <ToolbarButton label="Text colour">
         <template #icon>
-          <span class="grid size-4 place-items-center rounded text-xs font-semibold" :style="{ color: currentTextColor }">A</span>
+          <span class="grid size-4 place-items-center rounded text-sm font-semibold" :style="{ color: currentTextColor }">A</span>
         </template>
       </ToolbarButton>
     </template>
@@ -176,11 +217,4 @@ function setTextColor(hex) {
       </div>
     </template>
   </Popover>
-
-  <ToolbarButton
-    label="Auto-fit text to shape"
-    icon="lucide-scaling"
-    :active="autoFit"
-    @click="toggleAutoFit"
-  />
 </template>
diff --git a/frontend/src/composables/useAutoFitText.js b/frontend/src/composables/useAutoFitText.js
index 879c4d7b..21fda1ce 100644
--- a/frontend/src/composables/useAutoFitText.js
+++ b/frontend/src/composables/useAutoFitText.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-// Shrink-to-fit text inside a shape (spec 6.4). When a shape's text.autoFit is
-// on, the rendered text is scaled DOWN from its base font size until it fits the
-// box (height first, then width), never below a floor. Growing past the base
-// size is intentionally not done here — base size is the ceiling.
+// Shrink-to-fit text inside a shape (spec 6.4). Always on for a shape that isn't
+// being edited (#550) — the rendered text is scaled DOWN from its base font size
+// until it fits the box (height first, then width), never below a floor. Growing
+// past the base size is intentionally not done here — base size is the ceiling.
 //
 // Driven from ShapeView: pass the inner text element ref and a getter for the
 // fit inputs. We re-measure whenever the box, content, or base size changes.