There are a lot of people interested in learning how to insert an image into the body of a Gmail email message rather than adding images as attachments which your reader will have to download. It’s a simple process to have your photos show in full when someone first opens your message.
It’s good to note before we start that if you’re trying to send an image out as an e-blast to a group list, you might want to consider using an email service provider such as MailChimp.
MailChimp is free up to 2,000 contacts on your mailing list, and it’s easy to use. Emails delivered by an email service provider company will have better delivery rates than you’ll get from your email account. And your recipients will be able to opt-out of receiving your messages should they want to.
Offering an unsubscribe link when sending bulk emails is mandated by the law as specified in the Can-Spam Act. But actually, you’ll want to provide the unsubscribe button to avoid irritating your recipients who otherwise won’t be able to unsubscribe.
Now that we got the warning out of the way let’s get started with step-by-step instructions on how to insert a photo into the body of a Gmail email.
1. Start by choosing Compose in your Gmail app.
2. If you want to have text above the image, we suggest starting your message first before uploading your pictures. Add your copy and then put your cursor where you want it to show up. Then select, “Insert Image”.
3. Once you click on the insert image button at the bottom of the email screen, you will be prompted to choose from “photos,” “albums,” “upload” or “web address”. You will most likely want to use either “upload” to upload an image from your computer or choose “web address” to insert an image that is on the Internet by typing in its URL.
4. First, select the image to insert. Then you’ll be able to choose whether to insert the image either “inline”, which has the image display in the body of the message or to add it as an attachment which would show up as a downloadable file at the bottom of the message.
5. Here is the image automatically resized and inserted into the body of my email message.
4. You may want to send a test email to yourself and view it on both desktop and mobile devices. You have a couple of options to resize the image if you’d like it to be a different size. You can click on the image and see a box of options for resizing. Select the new size: “small,” “best fit,” “original size,”.
Another way to have more control over changing the size of the image is to click on the image to get the blue border with square “handles” on the corners. Grab a handle with your mouse and drag the corner in or out to the desired size.
I hope that gives you what you need to add this skill to your bag of tricks. If you have problems go ahead and reach out to us in the comments below.
I see often a "designed" text in word or other including pictures, like a newsletter or so, direct in the body of an gmail, so not as an attachment. Hoe they do that? If you know, let me know, please.
Thank you for such a nice tip.I will use for my email promotion through this.
I have followed this step by step, However DO NOT have an INSERT IMAGE Lab to enable. It does not show at all even in searches so am trying to find if there is any other way to post images directly into the body of my email instead of as an attachment.
Hi Waldir. In order to insert an image into the body of a Gmail Email you can follow these simple steps:
1. Open Gmail.
2. Click Compose.
3. Click the picture icon at the bottom.
4. You’ll see a box pop up with tabs for all the ways you can add photos. You can add photos from Google+, your computer, or the web.
5. Click Insert.
I have a newer version of gmail and I do not have the “Insert Images” opt. in labs. Got another idea?
Thanks,
Buddy
Hey Buddy, we recently updated this post. Try these directions, and let us know if you have any issues.
Thank you for this. Showing what to do helped as I got it within a minute and I mean a minute.
I am following all these steps but keep getting the “Inline Image” message sent instead of the actual pictures. Ideas?
This is so frustrating! I used to be able to copy and paste an e-blast/newsletter that was drafted in a word doc., complete with pictures and borders, directly into my Gmail and it would easily paste and send, looking exactly as I designed it in the word .doc Now I either have to do each painstaking step or save the e-blast as a word. doc. and share as an attachment which is too clunky. NEVER had this issue until Gmail updated without my wishes. And now I can’t even see the option to return to an earlier version of Gmail. I am extremely displeased and am seeking other options at this time.
Shannon, You shouldn’t be using Gmail to do eblasts. Get yourself a MailChimp account. It is free up to 2,000 people on your mailing list. The emails will have better delivery rates and your recipients will be able to opt-out of receiving them should they not want to get them. This is required for bulk emails or you violate the Can Spam Act. Here is an article about that: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/06/06/is-your-email-marketing-compliant-with-the-can-spam-act/#4f33071a32d0
Please can you tell me how to insert an image into the body of an email so that when recipients open the emails the image exactly (or nearly) fills their screens? I have an image which fits my screen exactly when I email it to myself but when I email it to others, it is too big. I am currently trying to embed a jpeg image. I prefer to use Outlook (2017) but even when I do as you suggest in webmail, the same occurs. I have tried many different sizes for the image as trial and error without finding one that seems to work for my guinea pigs.
There must be a way because advertisers are always emailing me with pretty graphics which fit my screen ……
Maryanne, When we take photos or buy stock photos they are huge. So before you can upload them to your email or a website you need to reduce the size in a photo editing program first. Here is a link https://www.freemake.com/blog/how-to-resize-an-image/ that offer several methods you can use to resize your photos. I suggest making the largest edge of the image, less than 1000 pixels. If the largest side is the width and you make that 1000 Pixels, the other dimension will automatically change to keep the same aspect ratio of width to length.