diff --git a/zero/Media/ImageDimensionReader.cs b/zero/Media/ImageDimensionReader.cs
index 263bd813..06ddf966 100644
--- a/zero/Media/ImageDimensionReader.cs
+++ b/zero/Media/ImageDimensionReader.cs
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public class ImageDimensionReader : IImageDimensionReader
 
     MemoryCacheEntryOptions cacheEntryOptions = new();
     cacheEntryOptions.AddExpirationToken(FileProvider.Watch(resolvedPath));
-    //cacheEntryOptions.SetSize(value.Length * sizeof(char));
+    cacheEntryOptions.SetSize(1);
     Cache.Set(path, value, cacheEntryOptions);
 
     return value;
diff --git a/zero/Media/MediaCreator.cs b/zero/Media/MediaCreator.cs
index 3a187e97..f8195c9b 100644
--- a/zero/Media/MediaCreator.cs
+++ b/zero/Media/MediaCreator.cs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ public class MediaCreator : IMediaCreator
 
 
   /// <inheritdoc />
-  public async Task<Result<Media>> UploadFile(Stream fileStream, string filename, string folderId = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+  public virtual async Task<Result<Media>> UploadFile(Stream fileStream, string filename, string folderId = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
   {
     string fileExtension = Path.GetExtension(filename);
     string normalizedFilename = Safenames.File(filename);
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public class MediaCreator : IMediaCreator
 
 
   /// <inheritdoc />
-  protected virtual MediaMetadata GetImageMetadata(Image<Rgba32> image)
+  protected virtual MediaMetadata GetImageMetadata(IImageInfo image)
   {
     PngMetadata pngMetadata = image.Metadata.GetPngMetadata();
     //WebpMetadata webpMetadata = image.Metadata.GetWebpMetadata();
diff --git a/zero/Media/Models/CachedMedia.cs b/zero/Media/Models/CachedMedia.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index 413d7173..00000000
--- a/zero/Media/Models/CachedMedia.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,70 +0,0 @@
-namespace zero.Media;
-
-/// <summary>
-/// A cached media entity comes from the IMemoryCache
-/// and is therefore reduced to only necessary properties
-/// (Id, ParentId, Path, Metadata, AltText, Caption)
-/// </summary>
-public sealed class CachedMedia : Media
-{
-  internal static CachedMedia Create(MediaCacheEntry entry)
-  {
-    return new()
-    {
-      Id = entry.Id,
-      ParentId = entry.ParentId,
-      Path = entry.Path,
-      AltText = entry.AltText,
-      Caption = entry.Caption,
-      Metadata = entry.Metadata
-    };
-  }
-}
-
-
-internal class MediaCacheEntry
-{
-  /// <summary>
-  /// Id of the entity
-  /// </summary>
-  public string Id { get; set; }
-  
-  /// <summary>
-  /// Id of the parent folder
-  /// </summary>
-  public string ParentId { get; set; }
-
-  /// <summary>
-  /// Path of the media item
-  /// </summary>
-  public string Path { get; set; }
-  
-  /// <summary>
-  /// Alternative text which is used when the media can't be loaded
-  /// </summary>
-  public string AltText { get; set; }
-  
-  /// <summary>
-  /// Additional caption text
-  /// </summary>
-  public string Caption { get; set; }
-  
-  /// <summary>
-  /// Meta data for images/videos
-  /// </summary>
-  public MediaMetadata Metadata { get; set; }
-  
-  
-  internal static MediaCacheEntry Create(Media entry)
-  {
-    return new()
-    {
-      Id = entry.Id,
-      ParentId = entry.ParentId,
-      Path = entry.Path,
-      AltText = entry.AltText,
-      Caption = entry.Caption,
-      Metadata = entry.Metadata
-    };
-  }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/zero/Media/StaticMediaCreator.cs b/zero/Media/StaticMediaCreator.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..347627a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zero/Media/StaticMediaCreator.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.FileProviders;
+using SixLabors.ImageSharp;
+using System.IO;
+
+namespace zero.Media;
+
+public class StaticMediaCreator : MediaCreator, IStaticMediaCreator
+{
+  protected IMemoryCache Cache { get; set; }
+
+  protected IFileProvider FileProvider { get; set; }
+
+
+  public StaticMediaCreator(IMediaFileSystem fileSystem, IZeroOptions options, IWebHostEnvironment hostingEnvironment, MediaMetadataCache cacheProvider) : base(fileSystem, options)
+  {
+    FileProvider = hostingEnvironment.WebRootFileProvider;
+    Cache = cacheProvider.Cache;
+  }
+
+
+
+  /// <inheritdoc />
+  public virtual async Task<Result<Media>> GetMedia(string path, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+  {
+    if (Cache.TryGetValue(path, out Media media))
+    {
+      return Result<Media>.Success(media);
+    }
+
+    string filename = Path.GetFileName(path);
+    string fileExtension = Path.GetExtension(filename);
+
+    bool isImage = Options.AllowedImageFileExtensions.Contains(fileExtension, StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
+    bool isDocument = !isImage && Options.AllowedOtherFileExtensions.Contains(fileExtension, StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
+
+    if (!isImage && !isDocument)
+    {
+      return Result<Media>.Fail("This file type is not supported");
+    }
+
+    Media model = new();
+    model.Name = filename;
+    model.Path = path;
+    model.IsFolder = false;
+
+    // we need file metadata to get info about file size and the physical path for image modification
+    IFileMeta fileInfo = await FileSystem.GetFileInfo(model.Path, cancellationToken);
+    model.Size = fileInfo.Length;
+
+    if (isImage)
+    {
+      IImageInfo info = await Image.IdentifyAsync(fileInfo.AbsolutePath, cancellationToken);
+      model.Metadata = GetImageMetadata(info);
+    }
+
+    MemoryCacheEntryOptions cacheEntryOptions = new();
+    cacheEntryOptions.AddExpirationToken(FileProvider.Watch(fileInfo.AbsolutePath));
+    cacheEntryOptions.SetSize(1);
+    Cache.Set(path, model, cacheEntryOptions);
+
+    return Result<Media>.Success(model);
+  }
+}
+
+
+
+public interface IStaticMediaCreator
+{
+  /// <summary>
+  /// Builds a media file from a path
+  /// </summary>
+  Task<Result<Media>> GetMedia(string path, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/zero/Media/ZeroMediaModule.cs b/zero/Media/ZeroMediaModule.cs
index 48869e7a..fdb9571e 100644
--- a/zero/Media/ZeroMediaModule.cs
+++ b/zero/Media/ZeroMediaModule.cs
@@ -33,11 +33,11 @@ internal class ZeroMediaModule : ZeroModule
     {
       IOptions<MediaOptions> options = svc.GetRequiredService<IOptions<MediaOptions>>();
       IWebHostEnvironment env = svc.GetRequiredService<IWebHostEnvironment>();
-      Console.WriteLine("media path: " + options.Value.FolderPath);
       return new(Path.Combine(env.WebRootPath, options.Value.FolderPath), options.Value.PublicPathPrefix + options.Value.FolderPath.EnsureStartsWith('/'));
     });
 
     services.AddScoped<IMediaCreator, MediaCreator>();
+    services.AddScoped<IStaticMediaCreator, StaticMediaCreator>();
     services.AddScoped<IMediaManagement, MediaManagement>();
     services.AddScoped<IZeroMediaStoreDbProvider, EmptyZeroMediaStoreDbProvider>();
     services.AddSingleton<IImageDimensionReader, ImageDimensionReader>();