diff --git a/editor/src/node_graph_executor/runtime.rs b/editor/src/node_graph_executor/runtime.rs
index 227999143c..da92ad313b 100644
--- a/editor/src/node_graph_executor/runtime.rs
+++ b/editor/src/node_graph_executor/runtime.rs
@@ -328,6 +328,18 @@ impl NodeRuntime {
 			return;
 		}
 
+		// Skip thumbnails if the layer is too complex (for performance)
+		if graphic_element.render_complexity() > 1000 {
+			let old = thumbnail_renders.insert(parent_network_node_id, Vec::new());
+			if old.is_none_or(|v| !v.is_empty()) {
+				responses.push_back(FrontendMessage::UpdateNodeThumbnail {
+					id: parent_network_node_id,
+					value: "<svg viewBox=\"0 0 10 10\"><title>Dense thumbnail omitted for performance</title><line x1=\"0\" y1=\"10\" x2=\"10\" y2=\"0\" stroke=\"red\" /></svg>".to_string(),
+				});
+			}
+			return;
+		}
+
 		let bounds = graphic_element.bounding_box(DAffine2::IDENTITY, true);
 
 		// Render the thumbnail from a `GraphicElement` into an SVG string
diff --git a/node-graph/gcore/src/lib.rs b/node-graph/gcore/src/lib.rs
index 1333ec7433..4f1f0aaf0b 100644
--- a/node-graph/gcore/src/lib.rs
+++ b/node-graph/gcore/src/lib.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ pub mod ops;
 pub mod raster;
 pub mod raster_types;
 pub mod registry;
+pub mod render_complexity;
 pub mod structural;
 pub mod text;
 pub mod transform;
diff --git a/node-graph/gcore/src/render_complexity.rs b/node-graph/gcore/src/render_complexity.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c137c87e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node-graph/gcore/src/render_complexity.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+use crate::instances::Instances;
+use crate::raster_types::{CPU, GPU, Raster};
+use crate::vector::VectorData;
+use crate::{Artboard, Color, GraphicElement};
+use glam::DVec2;
+
+pub trait RenderComplexity {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		0
+	}
+}
+
+impl<T: RenderComplexity> RenderComplexity for Instances<T> {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		self.instance_ref_iter().map(|instance| instance.instance.render_complexity()).fold(0, usize::saturating_add)
+	}
+}
+
+impl RenderComplexity for Artboard {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		self.graphic_group.render_complexity()
+	}
+}
+
+impl RenderComplexity for GraphicElement {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		match self {
+			Self::GraphicGroup(instances) => instances.render_complexity(),
+			Self::VectorData(instances) => instances.render_complexity(),
+			Self::RasterDataCPU(instances) => instances.render_complexity(),
+			Self::RasterDataGPU(instances) => instances.render_complexity(),
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+impl RenderComplexity for VectorData {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		self.segment_domain.ids().len()
+	}
+}
+
+impl RenderComplexity for Raster<CPU> {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		(self.width * self.height / 500) as usize
+	}
+}
+
+impl RenderComplexity for Raster<GPU> {
+	fn render_complexity(&self) -> usize {
+		// GPU textures currently can't have a thumbnail
+		usize::MAX
+	}
+}
+
+impl RenderComplexity for String {}
+impl RenderComplexity for bool {}
+impl RenderComplexity for f32 {}
+impl RenderComplexity for f64 {}
+impl RenderComplexity for DVec2 {}
+impl RenderComplexity for Option<Color> {}
+impl RenderComplexity for Vec<Color> {}
diff --git a/node-graph/gsvg-renderer/src/renderer.rs b/node-graph/gsvg-renderer/src/renderer.rs
index 70f7c18206..a71cdf1b56 100644
--- a/node-graph/gsvg-renderer/src/renderer.rs
+++ b/node-graph/gsvg-renderer/src/renderer.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use graphene_core::instances::Instance;
 use graphene_core::math::quad::Quad;
 use graphene_core::raster::Image;
 use graphene_core::raster_types::{CPU, GPU, RasterDataTable};
+use graphene_core::render_complexity::RenderComplexity;
 use graphene_core::transform::{Footprint, Transform};
 use graphene_core::uuid::{NodeId, generate_uuid};
 use graphene_core::vector::VectorDataTable;
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ pub struct RenderMetadata {
 }
 
 // TODO: Rename to "Graphical"
-pub trait GraphicElementRendered: BoundingBox {
+pub trait GraphicElementRendered: BoundingBox + RenderComplexity {
 	fn render_svg(&self, render: &mut SvgRender, render_params: &RenderParams);
 
 	#[cfg(feature = "vello")]
@@ -1151,7 +1152,7 @@ impl GraphicElementRendered for GraphicElement {
 }
 
 /// Used to stop rust complaining about upstream traits adding display implementations to `Option<Color>`. This would not be an issue as we control that crate.
-trait Primitive: std::fmt::Display + BoundingBox {}
+trait Primitive: std::fmt::Display + BoundingBox + RenderComplexity {}
 impl Primitive for String {}
 impl Primitive for bool {}
 impl Primitive for f32 {}