diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dd92c7f1..0227d523 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ Release date: UNRELEASED
 ### New features and improvements
 
 * Added support for Python 3.12 and dropped support for Python 3.9 (#681)
-* Added an option to the `reverse` command to also flip the line direction (#654)
+* Added a `--no-bbox` option to the `layout` command to use the pre-existing page size instead of the geometry bounding box as basis for layout (#682)
+* Added a `--flip` option to the `reverse` command to also flip the line direction (#654)
 * Added a `--hyphenate LANG` option to the `text` command (thanks to @pepijndevos) (#668)
 
 ### Bug fixes
diff --git a/tests/test_commands.py b/tests/test_commands.py
index 5387231b..53fdbd77 100644
--- a/tests/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/test_commands.py
@@ -82,6 +82,14 @@ class Command:
     Command("reverse"),
     Command("reverse --flip"),
     Command("layout a4", keeps_page_size=False),
+    Command("layout -m 3cm a4", keeps_page_size=False),
+    Command(
+        "layout --no-bbox a4",
+        keeps_page_size=False,
+        exit_code_one_layer=2,
+        exit_code_no_layer=2,
+        exit_code_two_layers=2,
+    ),
     Command("squiggles"),
     Command("text 'hello wold'"),
     Command("penwidth 0.15mm", preserves_metadata=False),
@@ -569,6 +577,12 @@ def test_layout_tight():
     assert doc.page_size == pytest.approx((4 * CM, 5 * CM))
 
 
+def test_layout_no_bbox():
+    doc = vpype_cli.execute("pagesize 10x10cm rect 0 0 1cm 1cm layout --no-bbox 30x30cm")
+    assert doc.page_size == pytest.approx((30 * CM, 30 * CM))
+    assert doc.bounds() == pytest.approx((10 * CM, 10 * CM, 11 * CM, 11 * CM))
+
+
 def test_layout_empty():
     """page size is set to size provided to layout, unless it's tight, in which case it is
     unchanged"""
diff --git a/vpype_cli/operations.py b/vpype_cli/operations.py
index 2a2719b1..eff7aa28 100644
--- a/vpype_cli/operations.py
+++ b/vpype_cli/operations.py
@@ -529,6 +529,10 @@ def pagesize(document: vp.Document, size, landscape) -> vp.Document:
 geometries. If `--fit-to-margins` is used, the page size is increased to accommodate the
 margin. By construction, `--align` and `--valign` have no effect with `tight`.
 
+By default, `layout` considers the bounding box of the existing geometries as the area to
+fit on the page. Alternatively, the current page size can be used with the `--no-bbox` option.
+Using `--no-box` without a page size set is an error.
+
 On an empty pipeline, `layout` simply sets the page size to SIZE, unless `tight` is used. In
 this case, `layout` has no effect at all.
 
@@ -571,6 +575,13 @@ def pagesize(document: vp.Document, size, landscape) -> vp.Document:
     default="center",
     help="Vertical alignment",
 )
+@click.option(
+    "-b",
+    "--no-bbox",
+    is_flag=True,
+    default=False,
+    help="Use existing page size instead of the geometry bounding box",
+)
 @global_processor
 def layout(
     document: vp.Document,
@@ -579,11 +590,24 @@ def layout(
     margin: float | None,
     align: str,
     valign: str,
+    no_bbox: bool,
 ) -> vp.Document:
     """Layout command"""
 
     size = _normalize_page_size(size, landscape)
-    bounds = document.bounds()
+    if no_bbox:
+        page_size = document.page_size
+        if page_size is None:
+            raise click.BadParameter("no page size defined and --no-bbox used")
+        bounds: tuple[float, float, float, float] | None = (
+            0.0,
+            0.0,
+            page_size[0],
+            page_size[1],
+        )
+    else:
+        bounds = document.bounds()
+
     tight = size == vp.PAGE_SIZES["tight"]
 
     # handle empty geometry special cases