diff --git a/packages/evo_megamenu_json/Classes/Service/MenuBuilder.php b/packages/evo_megamenu_json/Classes/Service/MenuBuilder.php
index d234866..d7c4d57 100644
--- a/packages/evo_megamenu_json/Classes/Service/MenuBuilder.php
+++ b/packages/evo_megamenu_json/Classes/Service/MenuBuilder.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Domain\Repository\PageRepository;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Resource\FileRepository;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Service\FlexFormService;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility;
+use TYPO3\CMS\Extbase\Service\ImageService;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Frontend\ContentObject\ContentObjectRenderer;
 
 /**
@@ -349,13 +350,33 @@ final class MenuBuilder
             return null;
         }
         try {
-            return [
-                'url' => $reference->getPublicUrl(),
-                'alternative' => (string)$reference->getProperty('alternative'),
-                'title' => (string)$reference->getProperty('title'),
-                'width' => (int)$reference->getProperty('width'),
-                'height' => (int)$reference->getProperty('height'),
-            ];
+            // Menu tiles are small: ship a processed 640px webp instead of the
+            // original upload - multi-MB teaser images went over the wire
+            // (found 2026-10-23). 640 matches the search-tile convention; the
+            // original URL stays the fallback when processing fails, so the
+            // menu never loses an image over a converter hiccup.
+            try {
+                $imageService = GeneralUtility::makeInstance(ImageService::class);
+                $processed = $imageService->applyProcessingInstructions(
+                    $reference,
+                    ['maxWidth' => 640, 'fileExtension' => 'webp']
+                );
+                return [
+                    'url' => $imageService->getImageUri($processed),
+                    'alternative' => (string)$reference->getProperty('alternative'),
+                    'title' => (string)$reference->getProperty('title'),
+                    'width' => (int)$processed->getProperty('width'),
+                    'height' => (int)$processed->getProperty('height'),
+                ];
+            } catch (\Throwable) {
+                return [
+                    'url' => $reference->getPublicUrl(),
+                    'alternative' => (string)$reference->getProperty('alternative'),
+                    'title' => (string)$reference->getProperty('title'),
+                    'width' => (int)$reference->getProperty('width'),
+                    'height' => (int)$reference->getProperty('height'),
+                ];
+            }
         } catch (\Throwable) {
             return null;
         }