2022.2

Using CSS files with HTML email
EmailclientsdonotreadCSSfilesandsomeevenremovea<style>tagwhenitispresentinthe
email'sheader.Nevertheless,CSSfilescanbeusedwiththeEmailcontextintheDesigner.
WhengeneratingoutputfromtheEmailcontext,allCSSrulesthatapplytothecontentoftheemailcan
beprocessedandaddedeithertotheheaderoftheemailortoinlinestylepropertiesasiflocalformat-
tingwasapplied,dependingontheEmailsectionproperties.See"Emailsectionproperties"on
page483.
Usingimagesinemailcampaigns:tips
Host images on a public server
IntheDesigneryoucanaddimagesasresourcetothetemplatedocument.Whenusedinemailmes-
sagestheseimagesareautomaticallyembeddedonsendingtheemail.Theseembeddedimages
appearinstantlywhenviewingthemessageinyouremailclient.
Thereis,however,adownsidetothismethod:embeddedimagescan'tbeusedtotrackemailopen
rates.Emailserviceslikemandrillapp.comembedatinytracerimageatthebottomofyourmessage.
Eachtimearecipientopenstheemailthetracerimage(akabeaconimage)isdownloadedandyet
another'open'isregistered.OnmobiledevicesthishappenswhentheuserclickstheDisplayImages
button.
So,whentrackingopenratesinyouremailcampaigns,storeyourimagesonapublicly-accessible
server(preferablyyourownserver)orareputableimagehostingservice,likephotobucket.com.Don't
forgettosettheAlternateTextforyourimagesontheAttributespane.
Do not capture your email in one big image
Moste-mailclientsdonotautomaticallydownloadimages,sodonotcaptureyouremailinonebig
image.Therecipientinitiallyseesablankmessageandprobablydeletesitrightaway.
Do not resize images in your email
Manymailclientsdonotsupportimageresizingandwillshowtheimageinitsoriginaldimensions.Res-
izetheimagesbeforeyoulinktoorembedthem.
Use background images wisely
Mostmailclientsdonotsupportbackgroundimages:averygoodreasontostayawayfromthemin
yourmainstreamemailcampaign.Thereisonesituationinwhichtheydocomeinhandy.BothiPhone
andAndroiddefaultmailhavesolidCSSsupportandcovermostofthemobilemarketspace.Youcould
usebackgroundimagestosubstituteimageswhenviewedonthesedevices.Thisisdonebyhidingthe
actualimageandshowingamobile-friendlyimageasbackgroundimageinstead.Thisisatechnique
usedinResponsiveEmailDesign.
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