# Medium image size: 1400×788 story headers that crop well [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/medium-story-image-size) Your header image appears in more places than your story does: the feed, a reader's list, a link someone shares. Each one crops it a little differently. ## The short version - A good Medium image size for a story header is 1400×788 pixels, roughly a 16:9 landscape frame. - Medium uses one image from a story as its preview, and you can choose which in the publishing settings. - Medium crops preview images to different shapes in different places, so the subject and any words belong in the centre. - When a Medium story is shared on social networks, its preview image is cropped again to the wider link preview shape. - Images inside a Medium story can sit in the text column, slightly wider, or across the full width of the screen. The best **Medium image size** for a story header is 1400×788 pixels, a landscape frame close to 16:9. Medium scales it for every screen, and 1400 pixels wide stays sharp at full width. Medium uses one image as your story's preview, choosable when you publish, and crops it to different shapes in the feed, in lists and in shared links. So keep the subject and any words in the centre of the frame, with plain background towards every edge. ## Medium image sizes at a glance | Image | Size to design at | Ratio | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Story header | 1400×788 px | 16:9 | Also the usual preview image | | Full width image | 1400×788 px or wider | Any landscape | Spans the whole screen | | Image in the text column | 1400 px wide | Any | Scaled down to the column | | Shared link preview | Cropped from your preview image | About 1.91:1 | How X, LinkedIn and others show it | 1400 pixels wide covers every placement inside Medium. Wider images are fine but rarely look sharper. - Medium header 1400×788: 1400 × 788 - Link preview 1200×630: 1200 × 630 - Blog banner 1200×600: 1200 × 600 - Square 1080×1080: 1080 × 1080 The Medium header beside the shapes it gets cropped towards. A square thumbnail in a list keeps only the middle of the frame. ## How Medium crops your featured image Your header is not shown the same way twice. At the top of the story it appears in full. In the home feed and in topic pages it can be trimmed to a wider or narrower rectangle. In some lists it shrinks to a small, nearly square thumbnail. When someone shares the link on another network, that network crops it again to the link preview shape, which is a little wider than 16:9, so a sliver comes off the top and bottom. | Area of the 1400×788 frame | Survives | Use it for | | --- | --- | --- | | Centre 788×788 square | Every crop | Title words, the subject, a logo | | Left and right thirds | Wide crops only | Background, supporting shapes | | Top and bottom 30 px | Not on shared links | Background only | The centre square is the one region every crop keeps. Anything outside it is atmosphere. A wide Medium story header reading Notes from a year of writing daily, centred on a gradient The full header: words centred, background reaching to every edge. The same header cropped to a square, with the title still fully visible in the middle The same header as a square thumbnail. Because the words were centred, they survive. ## How to set the preview image on Medium 1. **Put the header first** Add your 1400×788 image at the top of the story, before the first paragraph. 2. **Open the publish options** Medium shows a story preview with a title, subtitle and image before you publish. 3. **Choose or change the image** If Medium picked the wrong image, change it in the preview to the one you designed for it. 4. **Write a real subtitle** The preview subtitle travels with the image into the feed. One clear sentence beats a teaser. 5. **Check a shared link** After publishing, paste the link into a draft post on another network to see the preview crop. Add alt text to every image while you're there: Medium has a field for it on each image, and it is how screen reader users and search engines understand what the picture shows. ## Images inside a Medium story Below the header, Medium gives each image a layout: in the text column, a little wider than the column, or across the full width of the screen. Upload every image at least 1400 pixels wide and choose the layout by job, not by habit. - **In the column** for diagrams, screenshots and charts that the reader studies alongside the text. - **Slightly wider** for a photo or illustration that deserves a pause without breaking the flow. - **Full width** for one or two moments in a long piece, such as a section opener. Used on every image, it stops feeling special. - **Side by side** for comparisons, with images of the same shape so their heights match. ## Header images that suit long reads A Medium header sets the tone before the first word. Stock photos of laptops and coffee cups are everywhere on the platform, which is exactly why a simple typographic header on a considered background stands out. It also tells readers it's yours. [Editorial design](https://gradiently.design/guide/editorial-design-for-social) has more on making words the image. ### Avoid - A generic stock photo of a desk - The full title in small type across the width - Words pushed to the left edge - A new style for every story - Heavy JPG compression on a gradient ### Do - A typographic header on a background you own - Three to six words, large, in the centre - Plain background toward the edges - One look across every story you publish - PNG, or a high quality JPG with a little grain Keep the header's words shorter than the story title. The title is printed right below it, so the image can carry a phrase, a theme or just your series name. If the words sit on a gradient, [text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) explains how to keep them readable across the whole line. ## One header for Medium, Substack and LinkedIn Many writers publish the same piece in several places. Each platform's header is a slightly different rectangle: [Substack headers](https://gradiently.design/guide/substack-header-size) are 1456×816, [LinkedIn newsletter covers](https://gradiently.design/guide/linkedin-newsletter-cover) have their own frame, and every shared link becomes a [link preview image](https://gradiently.design/guide/link-preview-image). Cropping one file for all of them moves the words. In Gradiently, a header is a design that can be laid out again at each of those sizes in one step with Pro, with the Mark rendered fresh for every frame, so the words stay centred and readable rather than clipped. Put your heading font in the Pro brand kit once and the Designer uses it on every header it lays out, so each story looks like part of the same series. ## FAQ ### What is the best image size for Medium? 1400×788 pixels for a story header. Images inside the story should be at least 1400 pixels wide to stay sharp at full width. ### How do I change the preview image on Medium? In the story preview shown when you publish, choose the image you want Medium to use. You can also edit it later from the story's settings. ### Why is my Medium image cropped? Medium trims preview images to different shapes in the feed and in lists, and other networks crop shared links again. Keep important content in the centre. ### Does Medium support alt text? Yes. Each image has an alt text field. Write a short description of what the image shows. ### What size should images inside a Medium story be? At least 1400 pixels wide. Medium scales them to the column, a slightly wider layout or the full screen width, depending on the layout you pick.