diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 4bf9dbc5..a10ee917 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -47,6 +47,20 @@ jobs:
             > .tmp/release-evidence/checks.json
       - name: Verify lockfile
         run: uv lock --check
+      - name: Verify immutable package-page banner
+        run: |
+          python - <<'PYBANNER'
+          import pathlib, re, tomllib, urllib.request
+          root = pathlib.Path('.')
+          project = tomllib.loads((root / 'pyproject.toml').read_text())['project']
+          url = re.findall(r'!\[[^\]]*\]\(([^)]+)\)', (root / 'README.md').read_text())[0]
+          expected = f"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/e-south/reader/v{project['version']}/assets/reader-banner.png"
+          assert url == expected, 'Banner must be bound to the released version'
+          with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=30) as response:
+              published = response.read(10_000_001)
+          assert published == (root / 'assets/reader-banner.png').read_bytes(), 'Published banner differs from source'
+          assert len(published) < 10_000_000 and published.startswith(b'\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n')
+          PYBANNER
       - name: Build distributions
         run: |
           export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH="$(git show -s --format=%ct HEAD)"
@@ -83,6 +97,7 @@ jobs:
               'name': project['name'], 'version': project['version'],
               'revision': os.environ['GITHUB_SHA'], 'tag': os.environ['GITHUB_REF_NAME'],
               'python': platform.python_version(), 'uv_lock_sha256': sha(root / 'uv.lock'),
+              'readme_sha256': sha(root / 'README.md'), 'banner_sha256': sha(root / 'assets/reader-banner.png'),
               'uv': subprocess.check_output(['uv', '--version'], text=True).strip(),
               'build_lock_sha256': sha(evidence / 'build-requirements.lock'),
               'checks': json.loads((evidence / 'checks.json').read_text()),
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index ebf72c31..02cf9bad 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 include CITATION.cff
+include assets/reader-banner.png
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9f7e71ed..d276a12e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# ![Reader data workbench](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/e-south/reader/main/assets/reader-banner.svg)
+# ![Reader data workbench](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/e-south/reader/v1.0.0/assets/reader-banner.png)
 
 [![Checks](https://github.com/e-south/reader/actions/workflows/checks.yaml/badge.svg?branch=main)](https://github.com/e-south/reader/actions/workflows/checks.yaml)
 [![Python 3.12](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.12-3776AB.svg)](https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3120/)
@@ -14,11 +14,10 @@ The distribution and import package are named `reader-workbench` and
 
 ## Install
 
-Reader has not yet been published to PyPI. Install the current source release as
-a command-line tool:
+Install Reader as a command-line tool:
 
 ```bash
-uv tool install git+https://github.com/e-south/reader.git
+uv tool install reader-workbench
 ```
 
 For development, install from a checkout:
diff --git a/assets/reader-banner.png b/assets/reader-banner.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8714a8eb
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/reader-banner.png differ
diff --git a/docs/guides/releases.md b/docs/guides/releases.md
index 2691b444..d91d5047 100644
--- a/docs/guides/releases.md
+++ b/docs/guides/releases.md
@@ -72,3 +72,16 @@ an additional archival identifier, not a substitute for the executable version.
 
 See [PyPI Trusted Publishing](https://docs.pypi.org/trusted-publishers/creating-a-project-through-oidc/)
 and the [namespace migration](./package_namespace_migration.md).
+
+### Package-page images
+
+The README is also the PyPI description. Keep its links absolute and use a
+PNG banner at an immutable source commit or the matching `v<version>` tag.
+Never use a relative asset path or a mutable branch for a release image. Keep
+published tags and their assets; changing a new banner must not change older
+release pages. When incrementing the version, update a version-bound README
+image URL in the same change. The package tests enforce this relationship.
+
+Before publishing, fetch the banner URL after the tag exists and compare its
+bytes with the source PNG. Check the rendered PyPI page after upload. The PNG is
+a package-page export; its editable SVG remains the artwork source.
diff --git a/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_docs_routes.py b/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_docs_routes.py
index bb31e671..07c2db56 100644
--- a/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_docs_routes.py
+++ b/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_docs_routes.py
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ def test_root_readme_is_a_human_first_landing_page() -> None:
     text = (REPO_ROOT / "README.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     assert text.startswith("# ![Reader")
     assert not text.startswith("# reader\n")
-    assert "uv tool install git+https://github.com/e-south/reader.git" in text
+    assert "uv tool install reader-workbench" in text
     assert "python -m pip install reader-workbench" not in text
     assert "uv tool install ." not in text
     assert "python -m pip install ." not in text
-    assert "not yet been published to PyPI" in text
+    assert "not yet been published to PyPI" not in text
     assert "\nreader demo\n" in text
     assert "\nreader protocols\n" in text
     assert "uv run reader demo" in text
diff --git a/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_package_metadata.py b/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_package_metadata.py
index e5fb5dd9..a14298d1 100644
--- a/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_package_metadata.py
+++ b/src/reader_workbench/tests/repo/test_package_metadata.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import re
 import tomllib
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -56,3 +57,21 @@ def test_compile_checks_target_the_existing_import_package() -> None:
         assert "compileall -q src/reader_workbench" in text, path
         assert "compileall src/reader`" not in text, path
         assert "compileall -q src/reader\n" not in text, path
+
+
+def test_package_readme_uses_durable_images_and_absolute_links() -> None:
+    root = REPO_ROOT
+    project = tomllib.loads((root / "pyproject.toml").read_text())["project"]
+    assert project["readme"] == "README.md"
+    text = (root / "README.md").read_text()
+    targets = re.findall(r"\]\(([^)]+)\)", text)
+    assert all(target.startswith(("https://", "#")) for target in targets)
+    images = re.findall(r"!\[[^\]]*\]\(([^)]+)\)", text)
+    banner = images[0]
+    prefix = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/e-south/reader/"
+    assert banner.startswith(prefix)
+    revision, relative = banner.removeprefix(prefix).split("/", 1)
+    assert revision == "v" + project["version"] or re.fullmatch(r"[0-9a-f]{40}", revision)
+    assert relative.endswith(".png")
+    data = (root / relative).read_bytes()
+    assert data.startswith(b"\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n") and len(data) < 10_000_000