diff --git a/src/react-components/Anchor.css b/src/react-components/Anchor.css
index 0f1a7b5b..c7d331ae 100644
--- a/src/react-components/Anchor.css
+++ b/src/react-components/Anchor.css
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 }
 
 .graph-block-anchor.graph-block-position-absolute {
-  --x: var(--graph-block-anchor-x, 0px);
-  --y: var(--graph-block-anchor-y, 0px);
+  --x: var(--graph-block-anchor-x, -99999px);
+  --y: var(--graph-block-anchor-y, -99999px);
   --x-offset: calc(var(--width) / 2);
   --y-offset: calc(var(--height) / 2);
 
diff --git a/src/react-components/hooks/useBlockAnchorState.ts b/src/react-components/hooks/useBlockAnchorState.ts
index 37f87db5..22cf31e9 100644
--- a/src/react-components/hooks/useBlockAnchorState.ts
+++ b/src/react-components/hooks/useBlockAnchorState.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { Graph } from "../../graph";
 import { AnchorState } from "../../store/anchor/Anchor";
 
 import { useBlockState } from "./useBlockState";
-import { useComputedSignal, useSignalEffect } from "./useSignal";
+import { useComputedSignal, useSignalLayoutEffect } from "./useSignal";
 
 export function useBlockAnchorState(graph: Graph, anchor: TAnchor): AnchorState | undefined {
   const blockState = useBlockState(graph, anchor.blockId);
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export function useBlockAnchorPosition(
   state: AnchorState | undefined,
   anchorContainerRef: React.MutableRefObject<HTMLDivElement> | undefined
 ) {
-  useSignalEffect(() => {
+  useSignalLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (!state || !anchorContainerRef?.current) {
       return;
     }
diff --git a/src/react-components/hooks/useSignal.ts b/src/react-components/hooks/useSignal.ts
index 6cb21c2f..20f02a2d 100644
--- a/src/react-components/hooks/useSignal.ts
+++ b/src/react-components/hooks/useSignal.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { DependencyList, useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useSyncExternalStore } from "react";
+import { DependencyList, useCallback, useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useMemo, useSyncExternalStore } from "react";
 
 import { computed, effect } from "@preact/signals-core";
 import type { Signal } from "@preact/signals-core";
@@ -65,3 +65,21 @@ export function useSignalEffect(effectFn: () => void, deps: DependencyList) {
     return effect(() => handle());
   }, deps);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Like useSignalEffect but runs synchronously after DOM mutations, before the browser paints.
+ * Use when signal changes must be reflected in the DOM without a visible frame delay.
+ *
+ * @example
+ * ```tsx
+ * useSignalLayoutEffect(() => {
+ *   ref.current?.style.setProperty("--x", `${signal.value}px`);
+ * }, [signal]);
+ * ```
+ */
+export function useSignalLayoutEffect(effectFn: () => void, deps: DependencyList) {
+  const handle = useFn(effectFn);
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    return effect(() => handle());
+  }, deps);
+}