diff --git a/frontend/src/__tests__/pin-inspector-layout.test.ts b/frontend/src/__tests__/pin-inspector-layout.test.ts
index 8e553c4b..e0a93663 100644
--- a/frontend/src/__tests__/pin-inspector-layout.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/__tests__/pin-inspector-layout.test.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,27 @@ describe('layoutInspectorPins — small parts', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('layoutInspectorPins — a crowded header fits its edge', () => {
+  it('packs 8 top pins inside the art width (they are drawn as vertical text)', () => {
+    // The SSD1306's 8-pin header measured 240px wide in the dialog. With
+    // horizontal labels this demanded ~288px and the labels escaped the
+    // dialog; vertical labels use the side spacing instead.
+    const pins: InspectorPinInput[] = Array.from({ length: 8 }, (_, i) => ({
+      name: ['DATA', 'CLK', 'DC', 'RST', 'CS', '3V3', 'VIN', 'GND'][i],
+      x: 14 + i * 13,
+      y: 2,
+    }));
+    const r = layoutInspectorPins(pins, { width: 128, height: 119 });
+    for (const p of r.pins) expect(p.edge).toBe('top');
+    const xs = r.pins.map((p) => p.labelX).sort((a, b) => a - b);
+    expect(xs[0]).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(xs[xs.length - 1]).toBeLessThanOrEqual(r.artWidth);
+    for (let i = 1; i < xs.length; i++) {
+      expect(xs[i] - xs[i - 1]).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(16 - 1e-6);
+    }
+  });
+});
+
 describe('layoutInspectorPins — interior pins', () => {
   it('detects a pin far from every edge and anchors its label on the dot', () => {
     const r = layoutInspectorPins(
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/simulator/PartInspectorDialog.css b/frontend/src/components/simulator/PartInspectorDialog.css
index 2c88deb5..5192767c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/simulator/PartInspectorDialog.css
+++ b/frontend/src/components/simulator/PartInspectorDialog.css
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
   justify-content: center;
+  /* Labels are laid out inside the reserved gutters; clip anything that still
+     overshoots rather than letting it escape over the header or the canvas. */
+  overflow: hidden;
 }
 
 .pid-preview-art {
@@ -248,8 +251,16 @@
   transform: translate(-100%, -50%);
 }
 
+/* Top/bottom labels are VERTICAL, like a printed pinout diagram: a header row
+   packs pins every ~12px, where horizontal text would need ~36px and spill
+   out of the dialog (an 8-pin SSD1306 header is 240px wide). */
+.pid-pin-label--top,
+.pid-pin-label--bottom {
+  writing-mode: vertical-rl;
+}
+
 .pid-pin-label--top {
-  transform: translate(-50%, -100%);
+  transform: translate(-50%, -100%) rotate(180deg);
 }
 
 .pid-pin-label--bottom {
diff --git a/frontend/src/pro b/frontend/src/pro
new file mode 120000
index 00000000..84e7b926
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/pro
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/home/dave/velxio-prod/pro/frontend/src/pro
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/pinInspectorLayout.ts b/frontend/src/utils/pinInspectorLayout.ts
index 27d10a64..af8877f6 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/pinInspectorLayout.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/pinInspectorLayout.ts
@@ -69,10 +69,14 @@ export interface PinLayoutOptions {
 
 /** Horizontal gutter for left/right label columns (room for "GND2" etc.). */
 const SIDE_GUTTER = 72;
-/** Vertical gutter for top/bottom labels (one text line + leader). */
-const CAP_GUTTER = 28;
-/** Top/bottom labels are horizontal text, so they need more room than 16px. */
-const CAP_MIN_SPACING = 36;
+/**
+ * Vertical gutter for top/bottom labels. Those are drawn as VERTICAL text —
+ * the way printed pinout diagrams do it — because horizontal ones do not fit:
+ * an SSD1306 has 8 pins along a 240px edge, and at the ~36px a horizontal
+ * "DATA" needs they demand 288px and spill out of the dialog. Vertical text
+ * needs only the same spacing as a side column, and the gutter grows instead.
+ */
+const CAP_GUTTER = 52;
 /** Small parts (a resistor is 107x11) are upscaled, but only this far. */
 const MAX_UPSCALE = 2;
 
@@ -197,7 +201,7 @@ export function layoutInspectorPins(
     const group = byEdge(edge);
     const { out, nudged } = stackLabels(
       group.map(([c]) => c.x),
-      Math.max(minSpacing, CAP_MIN_SPACING),
+      minSpacing,
       W,
     );
     group.forEach(([c, i], k) => {