diff --git a/ui/pageview.cpp b/ui/pageview.cpp
index d96a0906b02b2a6b6da15ae0c7145a84c33d4f67..77b4f324513566998a8e554b20cdfc10348f6715 100644
--- a/ui/pageview.cpp
+++ b/ui/pageview.cpp
@@ -3500,55 +3500,24 @@ void PageView::drawDocumentOnPainter( const QRect & contentsRect, QPainter * p )
     else
         backColor = viewport()->palette().color( QPalette::Dark );
 
-    // when checking if an Item is contained in contentsRect, instead of
-    // growing PageViewItems rects (for keeping outline into account), we
-    // grow the contentsRect
-    QRect checkRect = contentsRect;
-    checkRect.adjust( -3, -3, 1, 1 );
-
     // create a region from which we'll subtract painted rects
     QRegion remainingArea( contentsRect );
 
+    // This loop draws the actual pages
     // iterate over all items painting the ones intersecting contentsRect
     for ( const PageViewItem * item : qAsConst( d->items ) )
     {
         // check if a piece of the page intersects the contents rect
-        if ( !item->isVisible() || !item->croppedGeometry().intersects( checkRect ) )
+        if ( !item->isVisible() || !item->croppedGeometry().intersects( contentsRect ) )
             continue;
 
         // get item and item's outline geometries
-        QRect itemGeometry = item->croppedGeometry(),
-              outlineGeometry = itemGeometry;
-        outlineGeometry.adjust( -1, -1, 3, 3 );
+        QRect itemGeometry = item->croppedGeometry();
 
         // move the painter to the top-left corner of the real page
         p->save();
         p->translate( itemGeometry.left(), itemGeometry.top() );
 
-        // draw the page outline (black border and 2px bottom-right shadow)
-        if ( !itemGeometry.contains( contentsRect ) )
-        {
-            int itemWidth = itemGeometry.width(),
-                itemHeight = itemGeometry.height();
-            // draw simple outline
-            p->setPen( Qt::black );
-            p->drawRect( -1, -1, itemWidth + 1, itemHeight + 1 );
-            // draw bottom/right gradient
-            static const int levels = 2;
-            int r = backColor.red() / (levels + 2) + 6,
-                g = backColor.green() / (levels + 2) + 6,
-                b = backColor.blue() / (levels + 2) + 6;
-            for ( int i = 0; i < levels; i++ )
-            {
-                p->setPen( QColor( r * (i+2), g * (i+2), b * (i+2) ) );
-                p->drawLine( i, i + itemHeight + 1, i + itemWidth + 1, i + itemHeight + 1 );
-                p->drawLine( i + itemWidth + 1, i, i + itemWidth + 1, i + itemHeight );
-                p->setPen( backColor );
-                p->drawLine( -1, i + itemHeight + 1, i - 1, i + itemHeight + 1 );
-                p->drawLine( i + itemWidth + 1, -1, i + itemWidth + 1, i - 1 );
-            }
-        }
-
         // draw the page using the PagePainter with all flags active
         if ( contentsRect.intersects( itemGeometry ) )
         {
@@ -3567,15 +3536,70 @@ void PageView::drawDocumentOnPainter( const QRect & contentsRect, QPainter * p )
         }
 
         // remove painted area from 'remainingArea' and restore painter
-        remainingArea -= outlineGeometry.intersected( contentsRect );
+        remainingArea -= itemGeometry;
         p->restore();
     }
 
-    // fill with background color the unpainted area
-    const QVector<QRect> &backRects = remainingArea.rects();
-    int backRectsNumber = backRects.count();
-    for ( int jr = 0; jr < backRectsNumber; jr++ )
-        p->fillRect( backRects[ jr ], backColor );
+    // fill the visible area around the page with the background color
+    for (const QRect& backRect : remainingArea )
+        p->fillRect( backRect, backColor );
+
+    // take outline and shadow into account when testing whether a repaint is necessary
+    auto dpr = devicePixelRatioF();
+    QRect checkRect = contentsRect;
+    checkRect.adjust( -3, -3, 1, 1 );
+
+    // Method to linearly interpolate between black (=(0,0,0), omitted) and the background color
+    auto interpolateColor = [&backColor]( double t )
+    {
+        return QColor( t*backColor.red(), t*backColor.green(), t*backColor.blue() );
+    };
+
+    // width of the shadow in device pixels
+    static const int shadowWidth = 2*dpr;
+
+    // iterate over all items painting a black outline and a simple bottom/right gradient
+    for ( const PageViewItem * item : qAsConst( d->items ) )
+    {
+        // check if a piece of the page intersects the contents rect
+        if ( !item->isVisible() || !item->croppedGeometry().intersects( checkRect ) )
+            continue;
+
+        // get item and item's outline geometries
+        QRect itemGeometry = item->croppedGeometry();
+
+        // move the painter to the top-left corner of the real page
+        p->save();
+        p->translate( itemGeometry.left(), itemGeometry.top() );
+
+        // draw the page outline (black border and bottom-right shadow)
+        if ( !itemGeometry.contains( contentsRect ) )
+        {
+            int itemWidth = itemGeometry.width();
+            int itemHeight = itemGeometry.height();
+            // draw simple outline
+            QPen pen( Qt::black );
+            pen.setWidth(0);
+            p->setPen( pen );
+
+            QRectF outline( -1.0/dpr, -1.0/dpr, itemWidth + 1.0/dpr, itemHeight + 1.0/dpr );
+            p->drawRect( outline );
+
+            // draw bottom/right gradient
+            for ( int i = 1; i <= shadowWidth; i++ )
+            {
+                pen.setColor( interpolateColor( double(i)/( shadowWidth+1 ) ) );
+                p->setPen( pen );
+                QPointF left( (i-1)/dpr, itemHeight + i/dpr );
+                QPointF up( itemWidth + i/dpr, (i-1)/dpr );
+                QPointF corner( itemWidth + i/dpr, itemHeight + i/dpr);
+                p->drawLine( left, corner );
+                p->drawLine( up, corner );
+            }
+        }
+
+        p->restore();
+    }
 }
 
 void PageView::updateItemSize( PageViewItem * item, int colWidth, int rowHeight )