diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 600774dc96f..8af55657a3b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -51,6 +51,17 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         set -x
         scripts/rip-environment runtests -p
+    - name: Upload UI smoke screenshots
+      if: always()
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
+      with:
+        name: ui-smoke-screenshots-gcc
+        path: |
+          tests/ui-smoke/**/screenshot.png
+          tests/ui-smoke/**/confirm.png
+          tests/ui-smoke/**/diff.png
+        if-no-files-found: ignore
+        retention-days: 14
     - name: Verify no untracked or modified files after test
       run: |
         .github/scripts/verify-clean-repo.sh
@@ -112,6 +123,17 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         set -x
         scripts/rip-environment runtests -p
+    - name: Upload UI smoke screenshots
+      if: always()
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
+      with:
+        name: ui-smoke-screenshots-clang
+        path: |
+          tests/ui-smoke/**/screenshot.png
+          tests/ui-smoke/**/confirm.png
+          tests/ui-smoke/**/diff.png
+        if-no-files-found: ignore
+        retention-days: 14
     - name: Verify no untracked or modified files after test
       run: |
         .github/scripts/verify-clean-repo.sh
diff --git a/debian/control.top.in b/debian/control.top.in
index 596063ea377..0ff33203770 100644
--- a/debian/control.top.in
+++ b/debian/control.top.in
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ Build-Depends:
     tk@TCLTK_VERSION@-dev,
     xvfb <!nocheck>,
     x11-xserver-utils <!nocheck>,
+    imagemagick <!nocheck>,
     python3-opengl <!nocheck>,
     python3-pyqt5 <!nocheck>,
     python3-pyqt5.qsci <!nocheck>,
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/.gitignore b/tests/ui-smoke/.gitignore
index 05fea704e9d..a740b9a71da 100644
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/.gitignore
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,9 @@ linuxcnc.err
 linuxcnc.pid
 ui-smoke.out
 ui-smoke.err
+# confirm.png is the per-run shot; diff.png is its comparison to the
+# committed reference.png (which IS tracked, so it is not listed here).
+screenshot.png
+confirm.png
+ui-smoke-qt.png
+diff.png
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/README b/tests/ui-smoke/README
index eb9ea8ef0ff..3a816fdcdb0 100644
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/README
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/README
@@ -19,6 +19,35 @@ Shared helpers live in _lib/:
   checkresult.sh      shared pass/fail predicate
   skip-if-missing.sh  shared skip predicate
 
+Failure diagnostics (failure path only, no cost on a green run):
+  crashdump.sh   arms a core dump and prints a native backtrace if a GUI
+                 segfaults (the Qt/dbus/GL frames PYTHONFAULTHANDLER misses)
+  screenshot.sh  photographs the Xvfb root window before teardown. On a
+                 failure it captures the cause (a GUI hung on a blocking
+                 modal leaves no core and no traceback); on a clean Phase 2
+                 run it captures confirm.png, the GUI in its post-movement
+                 idle state (final DRO / toolpath) for visual confirmation.
+                 CI uploads both as build artifacts (ui-smoke-screenshots-*
+                 in ci.yml).
+  compare.sh     on a clean run, compares confirm.png to the committed
+                 known-good reference.png (ImageMagick) and writes a
+                 highlighted diff.png, also uploaded as an artifact.
+
+Reference images:
+  reference.png  committed per-GUI known-good shot (in a --run-program test
+                 directory); diff.png is confirm.png compared against it.
+                 The comparison NEVER fails a test: freetype/font versions
+                 differ across distros, so some drift is expected. The diff
+                 is only recorded, not used to gate the test.
+
+  Create or refresh the references on a built run-in-place tree:
+      . scripts/rip-environment
+      tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh           # all run-program GUIs
+      tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh axis      # just one
+  This sets UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE=1, which makes compare.sh save each
+  clean confirm shot as that test's reference.png. Review the PNGs before
+  committing; they are baselines from the generating machine's fonts.
+
 Skip vs fail policy: the only condition we skip on is xvfb-run absence
 (rare local dev env). Python and gi typelib deps the GUIs need are
 declared in debian/control under !nocheck so apt-get build-dep
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/compare.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/compare.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a1f368b65cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/compare.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Known-good image comparison for the UI smoke confirm shots. Complements
+# screenshot.sh: that grabs confirm.png on a clean run; this compares it to
+# a committed reference.png and writes a visual diff.png. Like screenshot.sh
+# it carries no state and is a logged no-op whenever it cannot run, so it can
+# never turn a pass into a fail.
+#
+# Policy: we never fail a test on the image difference. freetype/font
+# versions differ across distros, so some drift is expected; the diff is
+# here to record what changed, not to gate. The function always returns 0.
+#
+# Local "make a known-good image" workflow: run a test with
+# UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE=1 (see make-references.sh) and the freshly
+# captured shot is saved as the committed reference instead of compared.
+
+# Pick the ImageMagick compare entry point: IM7 "magick compare", else IM6
+# "compare". Echoes nothing and returns 1 if neither is present.
+_compare_cmd() {
+    if command -v magick >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "magick compare"
+    elif command -v compare >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "compare"
+    else
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# compare_to_reference <shot> <reference> <diff>
+# Compare the captured shot to the committed reference, writing a highlighted
+# diff image. Always returns 0.
+compare_to_reference() {
+    shot="$1"
+    reference="$2"
+    diff="$3"
+
+    if [ ! -s "$shot" ]; then
+        echo "compare: no shot at $shot, skipping"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    # Update mode: adopt this shot as the new known-good reference.
+    if [ "${UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE:-}" = "1" ]; then
+        if cp -f "$shot" "$reference"; then
+            echo "compare: saved reference $reference (UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE=1)"
+        else
+            echo "compare: failed to save reference $reference"
+        fi
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    if [ ! -s "$reference" ]; then
+        echo "compare: no reference at $reference yet, skipping (run with UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE=1 to create one)"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    cmd=$(_compare_cmd) || {
+        echo "compare: no ImageMagick compare available, skipping"
+        return 0
+    }
+
+    # -metric AE: count of differing pixels (interpretable); -fuzz absorbs
+    # anti-aliasing jitter. compare exits 0 (identical), 1 (differ) or 2
+    # (error, e.g. the shots are different sizes). We log the outcome and
+    # always succeed.
+    metric=$($cmd -metric AE -fuzz 5% "$reference" "$shot" "$diff" 2>&1)
+    rc=$?
+    case "$rc" in
+        0) echo "compare: $shot matches $reference (AE=$metric)" ;;
+        1) echo "compare: $shot differs from $reference (AE=$metric differing pixels); diff at $diff" ;;
+        *) echo "compare: could not compare $shot to $reference (rc=$rc): $metric" ;;
+    esac
+    return 0
+}
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/drive.py b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/drive.py
index ad7e89a01fe..35deb1d3d7c 100755
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/drive.py
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/drive.py
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@
 # stability check catches that.
 STATE_STABILITY_S = 0.5
 STATE_RETRY_BUDGET = 6
+# Pause after homing before requesting AUTO. gmoccapy only enables AUTO
+# once it has processed the all-homed signal in its own event loop (and
+# re-asserts MANUAL itself on that signal). Requesting AUTO before then is
+# rejected: it bounces back to MANUAL with an "It is not possible to
+# change to Auto Mode" warning. ensure_mode would retry and win, but the
+# warning lingers on screen; this settle lets the GUI catch up first.
+POST_HOME_SETTLE_S = 2.0
 
 # linuxcnc launcher PID, written to linuxcnc.pid by the launcher and read
 # once at startup. The driver watches it so a GUI crash, which tears
@@ -297,6 +304,11 @@ def run_program(cmd, stat, ngc_path, expect_delta_mm, tol, run_timeout):
     if not home_all(cmd, stat, timeout=60.0):
         return False
 
+    # Let the GUI react to the all-homed transition before requesting AUTO,
+    # so it does not reject the mode change (see POST_HOME_SETTLE_S).
+    time.sleep(POST_HOME_SETTLE_S)
+    stat.poll()
+
     if not ensure_mode(cmd, stat, linuxcnc.MODE_AUTO, "MODE_AUTO"):
         return False
 
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/gmoccapy-prepare.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/gmoccapy-prepare.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..08bfaffc5ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/gmoccapy-prepare.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Sourced by the gmoccapy ui-smoke tests (smoke and quit) to run gmoccapy
+# against a writable copy of its sim config. Sets GMOCCAPY_INI to the
+# mirrored ini path; the caller then execs run-gui.sh or quit-launch.sh
+# with "$GMOCCAPY_INI". Must be sourced with LIB_DIR already set.
+#
+# gmoccapy writes its preferences file next to the config: with no
+# PREFERENCE_FILE_PATH in the ini, getiniinfo falls back to
+# <config-dir>/<MACHINE>.pref. CI mounts the workspace read-only for the
+# runtime user, so that write raises PermissionError partway through
+# __init__ (during _get_pref_data, before the MDIHistory widget's
+# _hal_init runs). gmoccapy pops an error dialog and limps on in a
+# half-initialised state: the interp-idle handler then hits a widget with
+# no .stat and throws a second dialog. Both vanish once the config dir is
+# writable. Mirror it to tmp, same fix qtdragon-prepare.sh uses.
+
+: "${LIB_DIR:?gmoccapy-prepare.sh must be sourced with LIB_DIR set}"
+
+SRC_DIR="$(cd "$LIB_DIR/../../../configs/sim/gmoccapy" && pwd)"
+
+WORK_DIR="$(mktemp -d -t ui-smoke-gmoccapy.XXXXXX)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"' EXIT
+cp -r "$SRC_DIR/." "$WORK_DIR/"
+
+# Seed the preference file (config dir + <MACHINE>.pref; MACHINE=gmoccapy)
+# so the first-run "Important change(s)" modal stays hidden. That dialog
+# runs a nested gtk loop, so under xvfb it never gets dismissed: it sits
+# on top of the UI in the confirm shot and, worse, swallows the SIGTERM
+# in the quit test (the loop keeps running after main_quit). A real user
+# ticks "Don't show this again" once; hide_startup_messsage replicates
+# that. The triple-s key matches gmoccapy's own (sic).
+cat >"$WORK_DIR/gmoccapy.pref" <<'PREF'
+[DEFAULT]
+hide_startup_messsage = 99
+PREF
+
+# Consumed by the sourcing test.sh, which execs the launcher with it.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+GMOCCAPY_INI="$WORK_DIR/gmoccapy.ini"
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch-env.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch-env.sh
index 110319195be..0de0dca2ac3 100644
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch-env.sh
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch-env.sh
@@ -29,3 +29,10 @@ export SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy
 # names the line; for a C/C++ crash (Qt, dbus, GL) it shows the Python
 # frame that called in. The native side is captured by crashdump.sh.
 export PYTHONFAULTHANDLER=1
+
+# Xvfb virtual screen for the launchers' xvfb-run. There is no window
+# manager under xvfb-run, so a GUI's maximize() is a no-op and it renders
+# at its natural size; a screen smaller than the window clips the grab
+# (the failure/confirm screenshot then misses panels). 1920x1080 fits
+# every sim GUI so the whole window is captured.
+export UI_SMOKE_XVFB_SCREEN="${UI_SMOKE_XVFB_SCREEN:-1920x1080x24}"
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch.sh
index b66b4af1d00..ba2827c2aa6 100755
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch.sh
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/launch.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@ DRIVER_TIMEOUT=180
 . "$LIB_DIR/crashdump.sh"
 crashdump_arm
 
+# Absolute path the offscreen-Qt self-grab writes to. An offscreen GUI
+# runs with its cwd at the (writable) config mirror, not the test dir, so
+# a relative name would land out of reach; pin it to the test dir, which
+# is this shell's cwd. Harmless for the GTK GUIs, which ignore it.
+export UI_SMOKE_QT_SHOT="$PWD/ui-smoke-qt.png"
+
 # Export the per-invocation values so the inner bash -c receives them
 # as proper env vars (avoids embedding paths into the inner script
 # via quoting, which breaks on apostrophes / spaces).
@@ -52,7 +58,7 @@ export CONFIG_INI LIB_DIR DRIVER_TIMEOUT
 # LIB_DIR and DRIVER_TIMEOUT are expanded by the inner bash (which sees
 # them via the exported env), not by the outer shell.
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016
-xvfb-run -a --server-args="-screen 0 1024x768x24" \
+xvfb-run -a --server-args="-screen 0 $UI_SMOKE_XVFB_SCREEN" \
     timeout "$LINUXCNC_TIMEOUT" \
     bash -c '
         # Run linuxcnc in its own process group so we can signal the
@@ -70,6 +76,29 @@ xvfb-run -a --server-args="-screen 0 1024x768x24" \
         timeout "$DRIVER_TIMEOUT" python3 "$LIB_DIR/drive.py" "$@" >ui-smoke.out 2>ui-smoke.err
         DRIVE_RC=$?
 
+        # Photograph the root window before teardown, while DISPLAY is the
+        # Xvfb server and the GUI is still up. On failure the picture shows
+        # the cause (a hung GUI on a blocking modal leaves no core for
+        # crashdump.sh and no Python traceback). On a clean Phase 2 run it
+        # is a confirmation shot of the GUI in its post-movement idle state
+        # (final DRO / toolpath), so a reviewer can eyeball the result. The
+        # short settle lets the GUI repaint the final position first.
+        . "$LIB_DIR/screenshot.sh"
+        if [ "$DRIVE_RC" -ne 0 ]; then
+            screenshot_grab screenshot.png
+        else
+            case " $* " in
+                *" --run-program "*)
+                    sleep 0.5
+                    screenshot_grab confirm.png
+                    # Compare the confirm shot to the committed known-good
+                    # reference and write a visual diff. Never fails the test.
+                    . "$LIB_DIR/compare.sh"
+                    compare_to_reference confirm.png reference.png diff.png
+                    ;;
+            esac
+        fi
+
         # Clean shutdown: GUI-specific quit first (lets linuxcnc end
         # its own SIGTERM trap run Cleanup which unloads halrun and
         # reaps shared memory). axis-remote works only for axis but is
@@ -109,4 +138,10 @@ echo "=== ui-smoke.err ==="
 # If the GUI dumped a core, print its native backtrace.
 crashdump_report
 
+# Note any screenshot so the CI artifact step and reviewer know it is
+# there to download: screenshot.png on failure, confirm.png on a clean run.
+[ -f screenshot.png ] && echo "=== screenshot: $TEST_DIR/screenshot.png ==="
+[ -f confirm.png ] && echo "=== confirm: $TEST_DIR/confirm.png ==="
+[ -f diff.png ] && echo "=== diff: $TEST_DIR/diff.png ==="
+
 exit "$RC"
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..c8cd2136e25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Generate (or refresh) the committed known-good reference.png images by
+# running the ui-smoke tests with UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE=1, which makes
+# compare.sh save each clean confirm shot as that test's reference.png
+# instead of comparing against it.
+#
+# Run from a built run-in-place tree with the rip environment sourced:
+#   . scripts/rip-environment
+#   tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh            # all run-program GUIs
+#   tests/ui-smoke/_lib/make-references.sh axis       # just one
+#
+# Only the GUIs that capture a confirm shot (the --run-program tests) have a
+# reference. Review the resulting PNGs before committing; they are baselines
+# from this machine's fonts and will drift on other distros (which is why the
+# comparison never fails a test, only records a diff).
+
+set -u
+
+LIB_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+SMOKE_DIR="$(cd "$LIB_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "$SMOKE_DIR/../.." && pwd)"
+
+if ! command -v runtests >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "make-references: 'runtests' not found; source scripts/rip-environment first" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# GUIs whose tests grab a confirm shot (i.e. run a program).
+GUIS=("$@")
+if [ "${#GUIS[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
+    GUIS=(axis gmoccapy touchy qtdragon)
+fi
+
+export UI_SMOKE_UPDATE_REFERENCE=1
+
+rc=0
+for gui in "${GUIS[@]}"; do
+    dir="$SMOKE_DIR/$gui"
+    if [ ! -x "$dir/test.sh" ]; then
+        echo "make-references: no test at $dir, skipping"
+        continue
+    fi
+    echo "=== make-references: $gui ==="
+    runtests "$dir" || rc=1
+    if [ -s "$dir/reference.png" ]; then
+        echo "make-references: wrote $dir/reference.png"
+    else
+        echo "make-references: WARNING no reference.png produced for $gui" >&2
+        rc=1
+    fi
+done
+
+exit "$rc"
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/qtdragon-prepare.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/qtdragon-prepare.sh
index 19741978d73..94818873f10 100644
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/qtdragon-prepare.sh
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/qtdragon-prepare.sh
@@ -71,6 +71,46 @@ class _BlockFinder(MetaPathFinder):
         return None
 
 sys.meta_path.insert(0, _BlockFinder())
+
+
+# Native screenshot for the offscreen Qt platform. An X root grab gets a
+# black frame (offscreen never draws to the X server), so the launcher
+# signals this process instead: on SIGUSR1 we grab the main qtvcp window
+# to ui-smoke-qt.png in the cwd (the test dir). The grab is deferred into
+# the Qt event loop via singleShot so it never runs in signal context.
+import os
+import signal
+
+def _ui_smoke_grab():
+    try:
+        from qtpy.QtWidgets import QApplication
+        app = QApplication.instance()
+        if app is None:
+            return
+        target, best = None, -1
+        for w in app.topLevelWidgets():
+            if not w.isVisible():
+                continue
+            area = w.width() * w.height()
+            if area > best:
+                target, best = w, area
+        if target is not None:
+            out = os.environ.get('UI_SMOKE_QT_SHOT', 'ui-smoke-qt.png')
+            target.grab().save(out)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+def _ui_smoke_on_sigusr1(signum, frame):
+    try:
+        from qtpy.QtCore import QTimer
+        QTimer.singleShot(0, _ui_smoke_grab)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+try:
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, _ui_smoke_on_sigusr1)
+except Exception:
+    pass
 PY
 export PYTHONPATH="$SHIM_DIR${PYTHONPATH:+:$PYTHONPATH}"
 
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/quit-launch.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/quit-launch.sh
index ce6a172f8f7..c374c22e83d 100755
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/quit-launch.sh
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/quit-launch.sh
@@ -43,10 +43,14 @@ QUIT_GRACE=15
 . "$LIB_DIR/crashdump.sh"
 crashdump_arm
 
+# Absolute path the offscreen-Qt self-grab writes to (the test dir, this
+# shell's cwd); see launch.sh for why a relative name would miss.
+export UI_SMOKE_QT_SHOT="$PWD/ui-smoke-qt.png"
+
 export CONFIG_INI LIB_DIR DRIVER_TIMEOUT GUI_MATCH QUIT_GRACE
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016
-xvfb-run -a --server-args="-screen 0 1024x768x24" \
+xvfb-run -a --server-args="-screen 0 $UI_SMOKE_XVFB_SCREEN" \
     timeout "$LINUXCNC_TIMEOUT" \
     bash -c '
         setsid linuxcnc -r "$CONFIG_INI" >linuxcnc.out 2>linuxcnc.err &
@@ -95,6 +99,11 @@ xvfb-run -a --server-args="-screen 0 1024x768x24" \
 
         if kill -0 "$GUI_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
             echo "UI_SMOKE_QUIT_FAIL: GUI (pid $GUI_PID) still alive ${QUIT_GRACE}s after SIGTERM"
+            # A GUI that absorbs SIGTERM is usually blocked on a modal it
+            # cannot dismiss headless. Photograph it before teardown so the
+            # offending dialog is visible. The GUI is still up here.
+            . "$LIB_DIR/screenshot.sh"
+            screenshot_grab screenshot.png
             RC=1
         else
             echo "UI_SMOKE_QUIT_OK: GUI exited ${waited}s after SIGTERM"
@@ -126,4 +135,7 @@ echo "=== ui-smoke.err ==="
 # If the GUI dumped a core, print its native backtrace.
 crashdump_report
 
+# Note any failure screenshot for the CI artifact step and reviewer.
+[ -f screenshot.png ] && echo "=== screenshot: $TEST_DIR/screenshot.png ==="
+
 exit "$RC"
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/screenshot.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/screenshot.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8088b25bdc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/_lib/screenshot.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Screen capture for the UI smoke launchers. Complements crashdump.sh:
+# that one fires only on a segfault, but a GUI can also fail by hanging
+# (a modal dialog blocking headless startup, a wedged event loop) with no
+# core and no Python traceback. A picture of the root window at failure
+# time shows what is actually on screen. Source with no state needed; the
+# grab is a no-op (with a logged reason) when there is no display or no
+# grabber, so it can never turn a pass into a fail.
+#
+# Must be called from inside the xvfb-run subshell, where DISPLAY points
+# at the Xvfb server and the GUI window still exists. CI uploads the PNG
+# as a build artifact (see .github/workflows/ci.yml).
+
+screenshot_grab() {
+    out="$1"
+    # Offscreen Qt (qtdragon) renders in memory, never to the X server, so
+    # an X root grab gets a black frame. Ask the GUI to grab itself
+    # instead: the qtdragon shim installs a SIGUSR1 handler that saves its
+    # top-level window to ui-smoke-qt.png in the test dir.
+    if [ "${QT_QPA_PLATFORM:-}" = "offscreen" ]; then
+        screenshot_grab_qt "$out"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if [ -z "${DISPLAY:-}" ]; then
+        echo "screenshot: no DISPLAY set, skipping $out"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    # ImageMagick's import grabs X11 directly with no xwd dependency and
+    # is the grabber present in the CI image. Fall back to xwd|convert for
+    # local dev boxes that have xwd but not import.
+    if command -v import >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if import -window root "$out" 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "screenshot: wrote $out"
+        else
+            echo "screenshot: import failed for $out"
+        fi
+    elif command -v xwd >/dev/null 2>&1 && command -v convert >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if xwd -root -display "$DISPLAY" 2>/dev/null | convert xwd:- "$out" 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "screenshot: wrote $out"
+        else
+            echo "screenshot: xwd|convert failed for $out"
+        fi
+    else
+        echo "screenshot: no grabber (import or xwd) available, skipping $out"
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
+
+# Native grab for an offscreen Qt GUI. Find the qtvcp python process,
+# SIGUSR1 it, and wait for the shim's handler to drop ui-smoke-qt.png in
+# the test dir (the GUI's cwd), then move it to $out. No-op (logged) if
+# the GUI or the grab is not found, so it can never fail a test.
+screenshot_grab_qt() {
+    out="$1"
+    # The GUI shim saves to this absolute path (set by the launcher),
+    # since the offscreen GUI's cwd is the config mirror, not the test dir.
+    shot="${UI_SMOKE_QT_SHOT:-ui-smoke-qt.png}"
+    rm -f "$shot"
+    pid=""
+    for p in $(pgrep -f "qtvcp" 2>/dev/null); do
+        arg0=$(tr '\0' '\n' <"/proc/$p/cmdline" 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+        case "$(basename "$arg0" 2>/dev/null)" in
+            python*) pid="$p"; break ;;
+        esac
+    done
+    if [ -z "$pid" ]; then
+        echo "screenshot: qtvcp process not found, skipping $out"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    kill -USR1 "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    waited=0
+    while [ "$waited" -lt 10 ]; do
+        [ -s "$shot" ] && break
+        sleep 0.5
+        waited=$((waited + 1))
+    done
+    if [ -s "$shot" ]; then
+        mv -f "$shot" "$out"
+        echo "screenshot: wrote $out (qt native grab)"
+    else
+        echo "screenshot: qt native grab produced no file for $out"
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/axis/reference.png b/tests/ui-smoke/axis/reference.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..898a9aab9a5
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/ui-smoke/axis/reference.png differ
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy-quit/test.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy-quit/test.sh
index 116481f3872..58e77903df1 100755
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy-quit/test.sh
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy-quit/test.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-exec "$(dirname "$0")/../_lib/quit-launch.sh" \
-    "$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../../../configs/sim" && pwd)/gmoccapy/gmoccapy.ini" \
-    "bin/gmoccapy"
+LIB_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../_lib" && pwd)"
+. "$LIB_DIR/gmoccapy-prepare.sh"
+exec "$LIB_DIR/quit-launch.sh" "$GMOCCAPY_INI" "bin/gmoccapy"
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/reference.png b/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/reference.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6d2de56f1e0
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/reference.png differ
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/test.sh b/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/test.sh
index de93beaed99..63dbfee3abe 100755
--- a/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/test.sh
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke/gmoccapy/test.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 LIB_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../_lib" && pwd)"
-exec "$LIB_DIR/run-gui.sh" gmoccapy/gmoccapy.ini \
+. "$LIB_DIR/gmoccapy-prepare.sh"
+exec "$LIB_DIR/run-gui.sh" "$GMOCCAPY_INI" \
     --run-program "$LIB_DIR/smoke.ngc" --expect-delta-mm 1,1,0
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/qtdragon/reference.png b/tests/ui-smoke/qtdragon/reference.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f15713c3380
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/ui-smoke/qtdragon/reference.png differ
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke/touchy/reference.png b/tests/ui-smoke/touchy/reference.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..196e08487e9
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/ui-smoke/touchy/reference.png differ