I want to allow users to upload full-width background images that would take up the entire width of the page (with a set height of 500 pixels). However, the issue is, what should be the minimum dimensions for the image that is to be uploaded?

I don't want people uploading tiny images that have to be stretched to ugly proportions to meet my needs of full-width backgrounds. So how can I find the sweet spot between required dimensions and user friendless of uploading?

Note: I am of course able to resize the uploaded images.


Take a look at the image guidelines for Medium- which lists a minimum of 1200px and recommends 1400px. This falls in line with the statistics presented in sources like StatCounter and W3Schools. There's also interesting tidbits on how they scale and crop in order to support a responsive layout. Larger screens may be subjected to upscaled images with loss of detail. However, do note that screen resolution ≠ browser width and this is especially true with larger resolutions.

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