diff --git a/src/pages/social-cards/[slug].png.ts b/src/pages/social-cards/[slug].png.ts
index cfd06d1e..fe36715a 100644
--- a/src/pages/social-cards/[slug].png.ts
+++ b/src/pages/social-cards/[slug].png.ts
@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@ import { html } from 'satori-html'
 import { dateString, getSortedPosts, resolveThemeColorStyles } from '~/utils'
 import path from 'path'
 import fs from 'fs'
+import sharp from 'sharp'
 import type { ReactNode } from 'react'
 
+const COVER_IMAGE_SIZE = 300
+
 // Load the font file as binary data
 const fontPath = path.resolve(
   './node_modules/@expo-google-fonts/jetbrains-mono/400Regular/JetBrainsMono_400Regular.ttf',
@@ -15,16 +18,10 @@ const fontPath = path.resolve(
 const fontData = fs.readFileSync(fontPath) // Reads the file as a Buffer
 
 const avatarPath = path.resolve(siteConfig.socialCardAvatarImage)
-let avatarData: Buffer | undefined
-let avatarBase64: string | undefined
-if (
-  fs.existsSync(avatarPath) &&
-  (path.extname(avatarPath).toLowerCase() === '.jpg' ||
-    path.extname(avatarPath).toLowerCase() === '.jpeg')
-) {
-  avatarData = fs.readFileSync(avatarPath)
-  avatarBase64 = `data:image/jpeg;base64,${avatarData.toString('base64')}`
-}
+const avatarBase64 =
+  fs.existsSync(avatarPath) ?
+    await convertImageToBase64(avatarPath) :
+    undefined
 
 const defaultTheme =
   siteConfig.themes.default === 'auto'
@@ -40,6 +37,19 @@ if (!bg || !fg || !accent) {
   throw new Error(`Theme ${defaultTheme} does not have required colors`)
 }
 
+async function convertImageToBase64(imagePath: string): Promise<string> {
+  const imageBuffer = await sharp(imagePath)
+    .resize(COVER_IMAGE_SIZE, COVER_IMAGE_SIZE, { fit: 'cover' })
+    .png({
+      compressionLevel: 9,
+      quality: 80,
+      progressive: true
+    })
+    .toBuffer()
+
+  return `data:image/png;base64,${imageBuffer.toString('base64')}`
+}
+
 const ogOptions: SatoriOptions = {
   // debug: true,
   fonts: [
@@ -54,29 +64,103 @@ const ogOptions: SatoriOptions = {
   width: 1200,
 }
 
-const markup = (title: string, pubDate: string | undefined, author: string) =>
-  html(`<div tw="flex flex-col max-w-full justify-center h-full bg-[${bg}] text-[${fg}] p-12">
-    <div style="border-width: 12px; border-radius: 80px;" tw="flex items-center max-w-full p-8 border-[${accent}]/30">
-      ${
-        avatarBase64
-          ? `<div tw="flex flex-col justify-center items-center w-1/3 h-100">
-            <img src="${avatarBase64}" tw="flex w-full rounded-full border-[${accent}]/30" />
-        </div>`
-          : ''
-      }
-      <div tw="flex flex-1 flex-col max-w-full justify-center items-center">
-        ${pubDate ? `<p tw="text-3xl max-w-full text-[${accent}]">${pubDate}</p>` : ''}
-        <h1 tw="text-6xl my-14 text-center leading-snug">${title}</h1>
-        ${author !== title ? `<p tw="text-4xl text-[${accent}]">${author}</p>` : ''}
+type Props = InferGetStaticPropsType<typeof getStaticPaths>
+
+// for some reason the path metadata doesn't contain the original path to the cover image
+// instead it has only a reference to the "dist" directory of the build
+// since we don't want to rely on the location of that directory and on the timing of when the image
+// appears there, we try to recreate the original image path by inspecting the assets and matching them
+// to the mangled name we got from the post
+function findOriginalImagePath(mangledSrc: string, assetImports: string[], postDir: string): string | null {
+  // Extract the filename without hash from the mangled path
+  // e.g., "/_astro/cover.DX2hdcLU.png" -> "cover.png"
+  const mangledFilename = path.basename(mangledSrc)
+  const originalName = mangledFilename.replace(/\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\./, '.')
+
+  // Find matching asset import
+  const matchingAsset = assetImports.find(assetPath =>
+    path.basename(assetPath) === originalName
+  )
+
+  return matchingAsset ? path.resolve(postDir, matchingAsset) : null
+}
+
+async function getCoverImage(coverImageSrc: string | undefined, assetImports: string[], postDir: string) {
+  if (!coverImageSrc) return undefined
+
+  const originalPath = findOriginalImagePath(coverImageSrc, assetImports, postDir)
+  if (!originalPath || !fs.existsSync(originalPath)) {
+    console.warn(`Could not find original image for ${coverImageSrc}`)
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  return convertImageToBase64(originalPath)
+}
+
+const getMarkup = ({
+  title,
+  pubDate,
+  author,
+  coverImageBase64,
+  avatarBase64,
+  bg,
+  fg,
+  accent,
+  imageSize }: SocialCardProps) => {
+
+  // this formatting does not look good...
+  const titleFontSize =
+    title.length > 80 ? 'text-3xl' :
+      title.length > 60 ? 'text-4xl' :
+        title.length > 40 ? 'text-5xl' :
+          'text-6xl'
+
+  const image =
+    coverImageBase64 ? `
+      <div tw="flex flex-col justify-center items-center w-1/3">
+        <img src="${coverImageBase64}" tw="w-full max-w-xs rounded-xl" width=${imageSize} height=${imageSize} />
+      </div>`:
+      avatarBase64 ? `
+      <div tw="flex flex-col justify-center items-center w-1/3">
+        <img src="${avatarBase64}" tw="w-full max-w-xs rounded-full" width=${imageSize} height=${imageSize} />
+      </div>`: ''
+
+  return html(`
+    <div tw="relative w-full h-full flex bg-[${bg}] text-[${fg}]">
+      <!-- Fixed border frame -->
+      <div tw="absolute flex inset-12 border-4 rounded-3xl border-[${accent}]/30"></div>
+
+      <!-- Date at fixed position -->
+      ${pubDate ? `<p tw="absolute top-16 left-18 text-2xl text-[${accent}]">${pubDate}</p>` : ''}
+
+      <!-- Centered content -->
+      <div tw="absolute inset-12 p-8 flex items-center">
+        ${image}
+        <div tw="flex flex-1 flex-col justify-center items-center">
+          <h1 tw="${titleFontSize} text-center leading-snug">${title}</h1>
+          ${author !== title ? `<p tw="text-4xl mt-8 text-center text-[${accent}]">${author}</p>` : ''}
+        </div>
       </div>
     </div>
-  </div>`)
+  `)
+}
+export async function GET(context: APIContext) {
+  const { pubDate, title, author, coverImage, assetImports, postDir } = context.props as Props
+  const coverImageBase64 = await getCoverImage(coverImage, assetImports, postDir)
 
-type Props = InferGetStaticPropsType<typeof getStaticPaths>
+  const markup = getMarkup({
+    title,
+    pubDate,
+    author,
+    coverImageBase64,
+    avatarBase64,
+    bg,
+    fg,
+    accent,
+    imageSize: COVER_IMAGE_SIZE
+  })
 
-export async function GET(context: APIContext) {
-  const { pubDate, title, author } = context.props as Props
-  const svg = await satori(markup(title, pubDate, author) as ReactNode, ogOptions)
+  const svg = await satori(markup as ReactNode, ogOptions)
   const png = new Resvg(svg).render().asPng()
   return new Response(png, {
     headers: {
@@ -88,19 +172,46 @@ export async function GET(context: APIContext) {
 
 export async function getStaticPaths() {
   const posts = await getSortedPosts()
-  return posts
-    .map((post) => ({
+
+  const postPaths = posts.map(post => {
+    const postDir = path.dirname(path.resolve(post.filePath))
+
+    return {
       params: { slug: post.id },
       props: {
         pubDate: post.data.published ? dateString(post.data.published) : undefined,
         title: post.data.title,
         author: post.data.author || siteConfig.author,
+        coverImage: post.data.coverImage?.src.src,
+        assetImports: post.assetImports || [],
+        postDir,
       },
-    }))
-    .concat([
-      {
-        params: { slug: '__default' },
-        props: { pubDate: undefined, title: siteConfig.title, author: siteConfig.author },
-      },
-    ])
+    }
+  })
+
+  const defaultPath = {
+    params: { slug: '__default' },
+    props: {
+      pubDate: undefined,
+      title: siteConfig.title,
+      author: siteConfig.author,
+      coverImage: undefined,
+      assetImports: [],
+      postDir: '',
+    },
+  }
+
+  return [...postPaths, defaultPath]
+}
+
+interface SocialCardProps {
+  title: string
+  pubDate?: string
+  author: string
+  coverImageBase64?: string
+  avatarBase64?: string
+  bg?: string
+  fg?: string
+  accent?: string
+  imageSize: number
 }