diff --git a/apps/client/src/common/utils/__tests__/imageDimensions.test.ts b/apps/client/src/common/utils/__tests__/imageDimensions.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa0e3a4d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/client/src/common/utils/__tests__/imageDimensions.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'vitest';
+
+import { getRememberedAspectRatio, rememberAspectRatio } from '../imageDimensions';
+
+/** stand-in for a loaded HTMLImageElement */
+function makeImage(naturalWidth: number, naturalHeight: number) {
+  return { naturalWidth, naturalHeight } as HTMLImageElement;
+}
+
+describe('image dimensions', () => {
+  test('remembers the aspect ratio of a loaded image', () => {
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/image.png')).toBe(null);
+
+    rememberAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/image.png', makeImage(1920, 1080));
+
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/image.png')).toBe(1920 / 1080);
+  });
+
+  test('handles images which have not loaded', () => {
+    rememberAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/broken.png', makeImage(0, 0));
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/broken.png')).toBe(null);
+  });
+
+  test('handles missing values', () => {
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio(undefined)).toBe(null);
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio('')).toBe(null);
+    expect(() => rememberAspectRatio('', makeImage(100, 100))).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  test('forgets the least recently used entries', () => {
+    for (let i = 0; i < 600; i++) {
+      rememberAspectRatio(`http://ontime.local/${i}.png`, makeImage(100, 50));
+    }
+
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/0.png')).toBe(null);
+    expect(getRememberedAspectRatio('http://ontime.local/599.png')).toBe(2);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/client/src/common/utils/imageDimensions.ts b/apps/client/src/common/utils/imageDimensions.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..27519dccf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/client/src/common/utils/imageDimensions.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * Images in the cuesheet live inside a virtualised table:
+ * rows are unmounted when they leave the viewport and mounted again when they come back.
+ * A re-mounted image has no dimensions until it is available,
+ * which makes the row change height and the table shift under the user.
+ *
+ * We remember the aspect ratio of the images we have already seen
+ * so that we can reserve the space they will take.
+ * This only holds two numbers per image: we leave the image data itself to the browser cache,
+ * which knows better than us when memory should be released.
+ */
+
+/** how many aspect ratios we remember, this is only a few bytes per entry */
+const maxSize = 500;
+
+const aspectRatios = new Map<string, number>();
+
+/**
+ * @returns the aspect ratio of a previously loaded image, if we have seen it before
+ */
+export function getRememberedAspectRatio(src: string | null | undefined): number | null {
+  if (!src) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  return aspectRatios.get(src) ?? null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Records the aspect ratio of a loaded image
+ */
+export function rememberAspectRatio(src: string | null | undefined, image: HTMLImageElement) {
+  if (!src || image.naturalHeight === 0) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // the map iteration order is our LRU queue, re-adding the entry marks it as recently used
+  aspectRatios.delete(src);
+  aspectRatios.set(src, image.naturalWidth / image.naturalHeight);
+
+  while (aspectRatios.size > maxSize) {
+    const oldest = aspectRatios.keys().next();
+    if (oldest.done) {
+      return;
+    }
+    aspectRatios.delete(oldest.value);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/__tests__/EditableImage.test.ts b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/__tests__/EditableImage.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a2f6ad4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/__tests__/EditableImage.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'vitest';
+
+import { isValidImageSource } from '../cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage';
+
+describe('isValidImageSource()', () => {
+  test('accepts images hosted elsewhere', () => {
+    expect(isValidImageSource('https://example.com/image.png')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isValidImageSource('http://example.com/image.png')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('accepts images served by ontime', () => {
+    expect(isValidImageSource('/user/image.png')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isValidImageSource('/external/image.png')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('rejects values which would not resolve to an image', () => {
+    expect(isValidImageSource('www.example.com/image.png')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidImageSource('example.com/image.png')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidImageSource('user/image.png')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidImageSource('some text')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.module.scss b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.module.scss
index 194d166b8..c86367533 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.module.scss
+++ b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.module.scss
@@ -5,6 +5,19 @@
   &:not(:read-only):hover::placeholder {
     opacity: 1;
   }
+
+  &[data-invalid] {
+    outline: 1px solid $red-500;
+  }
+}
+
+/** feedback on a value we cannot use, either rejected or failed to load */
+.message {
+  display: block;
+  padding: 0.25rem 0;
+  color: $red-500;
+  font-size: calc(1rem - 3px);
+  line-height: 1.2;
 }
 
 .imageCell {
diff --git a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.tsx b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.tsx
index a9bbc00be..bb7a3b28d 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.tsx
+++ b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/EditableImage.tsx
@@ -1,27 +1,49 @@
-import { memo } from 'react';
+import { memo, useState } from 'react';
 
 import Button from '../../../../common/components/buttons/Button';
 import Input from '../../../../common/components/input/input/Input';
+import { getRememberedAspectRatio, rememberAspectRatio } from '../../../../common/utils/imageDimensions';
 
 import style from './EditableImage.module.scss';
 
 interface EditableImageProps {
   initialValue: string;
+  fieldLabel: string;
   readOnly?: boolean;
   updateValue: (newValue: string) => void;
 }
 
 export default memo(EditableImage);
 
-function EditableImage({ initialValue, readOnly, updateValue }: EditableImageProps) {
+/**
+ * An image is either hosted somewhere else
+ * or served by ontime itself (eg. a file placed in the user folder)
+ */
+export function isValidImageSource(value: string): boolean {
+  return value.startsWith('http://') || value.startsWith('https://') || value.startsWith('/');
+}
+
+function EditableImage({ initialValue, fieldLabel, readOnly, updateValue }: EditableImageProps) {
+  const [isRejected, setIsRejected] = useState(false);
+  /** we keep track of the source itself, so that the state follows the value being shown */
+  const [failedSource, setFailedSource] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [loadedSource, setLoadedSource] = useState<string | null>(null);
+
   const handleUpdate = (newValue: string) => {
-    if (newValue === initialValue) {
+    const value = newValue.trim();
+
+    if (value === initialValue) {
+      setIsRejected(false);
       return;
     }
-    if (newValue !== '' && !newValue.startsWith('http')) {
+
+    if (value !== '' && !isValidImageSource(value)) {
+      setIsRejected(true);
       return;
     }
-    updateValue(newValue);
+
+    setIsRejected(false);
+    updateValue(value);
   };
 
   const openInNewTab = () => {
@@ -36,22 +58,34 @@ function EditableImage({ initialValue, readOnly, updateValue }: EditableImagePro
 
   if (!initialValue) {
     return (
-      <Input
-        variant='ghosted'
-        className={style.imageInput}
-        fluid
-        placeholder='Paste image URL'
-        onBlur={(event) => handleUpdate(event.currentTarget.value)}
-        onKeyDown={(event) => {
-          if (event.key === 'Enter') {
-            handleUpdate(event.currentTarget.value);
-          }
-        }}
-        defaultValue={initialValue}
-      />
+      <>
+        <Input
+          variant='ghosted'
+          className={style.imageInput}
+          fluid
+          placeholder='Paste image URL'
+          data-invalid={isRejected || undefined}
+          onChange={() => setIsRejected(false)}
+          onBlur={(event) => handleUpdate(event.currentTarget.value)}
+          onKeyDown={(event) => {
+            if (event.key === 'Enter') {
+              handleUpdate(event.currentTarget.value);
+            }
+          }}
+        />
+        {isRejected && <span className={style.message}>Use a link (https://...) or a file in ontime (/user/...)</span>}
+      </>
     );
   }
 
+  /**
+   * The cuesheet is virtualised: rows are unmounted once they leave the viewport.
+   * When the row comes back, we reserve the space the image took
+   * so that the table does not shift while the browser makes it available.
+   */
+  const knownAspectRatio = getRememberedAspectRatio(initialValue);
+  const isLoaded = loadedSource === initialValue;
+
   return (
     <div className={style.imageCell}>
       {!readOnly && (
@@ -62,7 +96,22 @@ function EditableImage({ initialValue, readOnly, updateValue }: EditableImagePro
           </Button>
         </div>
       )}
-      {Boolean(initialValue) && <img loading='lazy' src={initialValue} className={style.image} />}
+      {failedSource === initialValue ? (
+        <span className={style.message}>Could not load image</span>
+      ) : (
+        <img
+          src={initialValue}
+          alt={fieldLabel}
+          className={style.image}
+          onLoad={(event) => {
+            rememberAspectRatio(initialValue, event.currentTarget);
+            setLoadedSource(initialValue);
+          }}
+          onError={() => setFailedSource(initialValue)}
+          /** until the image is available, we reserve the space it took the last time we saw it */
+          style={!isLoaded && knownAspectRatio !== null ? { aspectRatio: knownAspectRatio, width: '100%' } : undefined}
+        />
+      )}
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/cuesheetColsFactory.tsx b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/cuesheetColsFactory.tsx
index 9c7a8a463..a47a1cc34 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/cuesheetColsFactory.tsx
+++ b/apps/client/src/views/cuesheet/cuesheet-table/cuesheet-table-elements/cuesheetColsFactory.tsx
@@ -175,7 +175,14 @@ function LazyImage({ row, column, table }: CuesheetCellContext) {
 
   const canWrite = column.columnDef.meta?.canWrite;
   const initialValue = event.custom[column.id];
-  return <EditableImage initialValue={initialValue} updateValue={update} readOnly={!canWrite} />;
+  return (
+    <EditableImage
+      initialValue={initialValue}
+      fieldLabel={getColumnLabel(column)}
+      updateValue={update}
+      readOnly={!canWrite}
+    />
+  );
 }
 
 function MakeSingleLineField({ row, column, table }: CuesheetCellContext) {