Medium is one of the most popular long-form publishing platforms, but its image requirements are not always clearly documented. Upload the wrong size for your story cover and it looks blurry in social previews; upload an oversized inline image and readers on mobile wait longer than necessary. This guide covers every Medium image type with exact recommended dimensions for 2026.

Medium Image Sizes — Quick Reference

Story cover (featured image): 1200×680 px recommended (1.76:1 ratio) — JPG or PNG, max 25 MB
Inline images (full-width): 1400 px wide — JPEG for photos, PNG for screenshots
Inline images (in-column): 700 px wide — Medium scales down from 1400 px
Profile photo: 400×400 px (1:1 square, displayed as circle) — PNG or JPEG
Publication logo: 200×200 px minimum — PNG with transparent background recommended
Publication header/cover: 4000×2000 px recommended (2:1 ratio)

Story Cover Image (Featured Image)

The story cover is the most important image in any Medium article. It appears at the top of the article, as the preview card in the Medium feed, and as the social preview image (og:image) when you share the link on social media. Medium also uses this image for the story card in topic feeds and collections.

Recommended size: 1200×680 px (1.76:1 aspect ratio, close to 16:9)
Minimum size: 900×500 px — below this, images look blurry on retina screens
Formats: JPG or PNG, max 25 MB
Keep important visual elements centered — Medium crops the cover for different feed card sizes
Medium auto-generates WebP for modern browsers during delivery

If your source image has a different aspect ratio, use the image cropper to trim it to 1.76:1 before uploading. Centering your subject ensures it survives any automatic cropping in feed previews.

Inline Images (Within Article Body)

Images embedded in a Medium article can appear either full-width (spanning the entire content area) or within the text column. The display width differs significantly between these two modes, so choosing the right upload size matters for both quality and loading speed.

Full-width images: displayed at max 1400 px wide on desktop
In-column images: displayed at max ~700 px wide (Medium's text column width)
Upload at 1400 px wide for full-width images — Medium scales down for narrower contexts
JPEG at quality 85 for photos — significantly smaller than PNG with near-identical visual quality
PNG for screenshots with text — preserves sharp edges and legible characters
Target under 200 KB per inline image for a fast reading experience

Use the image compressor to bring photo file sizes under 200 KB before uploading. Readers often consume Medium articles on mobile networks, so smaller images directly improve the reading experience.

Profile Photo

Your Medium profile photo appears next to your name on every article you publish, on your profile page, and in follower notifications. Medium displays it as a circle, so keep your subject centered.

Recommended size: 400×400 px (1:1 square)
Minimum size: 200×200 px — below this looks pixelated
PNG for illustrations and logos; JPEG for photos
Ensure there is no important content in the corners — the circular crop removes corner areas

Use the image resizer to scale and crop your profile photo to exactly 400×400 px before uploading.

Publication Logo

If you run a Medium publication, the publication logo appears in the article byline next to the publication name. It is displayed at approximately 24 px in most contexts, so simplicity is critical — complex logos become unreadable at small sizes.

Minimum size: 200×200 px
Max file size: 4 MB
PNG with transparent background recommended — integrates cleanly at any scale
Use a simple, bold design — fine details and thin text disappear at 24 px display size

Publication Header / Cover

The publication cover is the large background image shown at the top of your publication homepage on Medium. It spans the full page width on desktop and is cropped by height on different screen sizes.

Recommended size: 4000×2000 px (2:1 ratio)
Keep important content in the center — edges are cropped on smaller viewports
Upload the highest resolution available — Medium handles display scaling

How Medium Compresses Images

Medium automatically compresses and optimizes images on upload. This means you should always upload the highest-quality source and let Medium handle delivery optimization. There are a few important implications:

Upload high-quality originals — Medium's server-side optimization produces the best results from a clean source
Avoid uploading low-resolution or already-compressed images — you cannot upgrade quality after the story is published
Medium serves WebP to modern browsers automatically, regardless of your upload format
Pre-compress JPEG photos once at quality 85 using the image compressor before upload to limit file size while retaining quality — Medium will not significantly re-compress a JPEG that is already well-optimized

Performance Tips for Medium Writers

Use JPEG at quality 85 for photos — PNG for photos is unnecessarily large and slows article loading
Screenshot-heavy posts: use PNG for individual screenshots (to keep text sharp) but convert any photographic content to JPEG
Hero image drives social clicks — the cover is what shows in Twitter/X, Facebook, and LinkedIn previews; choose a compelling, high-contrast image
Test your social preview — paste your Medium article URL into a social card previewer before publishing to verify how the cover image appears when cropped to social card dimensions
Resize before uploading — use the image resizer to match recommended dimensions exactly rather than relying on Medium to scale down a very large file