You can add a logo, a signature or any other image to your email and letter templates. Because Rex templates and email signatures are built in HTML, the image has to be stored somewhere publicly available online and linked to, rather than uploaded into the template itself. Rex can do that hosting for you.
This article covers storing an image in Rex, then adding it to an email template or a letter merge. For creating the templates themselves, see Admin, Settings & Other Lists: Merge Templates: Creating and Editing Templates.
Before You Start
- Resize your image before you upload it, to the exact size you want it to appear. Some versions of Outlook ignore the height and width you set in the template and display the image at its original size, which can be very large.
- If your images are already hosted online (on your website, for example), you can skip straight to adding them and just use that address.
How Do I Store an Image in Rex?
If you do not have anywhere online to host images, store them on the Documents tab of a dummy contact record. Anything there can be given a public share link.
- Create a contact called something obvious like Do Not Delete or Storage. See Contacts In Rex: Adding a Contact.
- Check your image is already the exact size you want it to display at.
- Open the Documents tab on that contact and click Upload File.
- Choose the file from your computer and click Save.
- Hover over the uploaded file and click the drop-down button.
- Click Get Share Link.
- Copy the link. You will paste it into your template.
⚠️ Please Note: Name the contact clearly and do not delete it. If the record or the file goes, every template and signature pointing at that link will show a broken image.
The same stored link works for email signatures. See Admin, Settings & Other Lists: Adding an Email Signature.
How Do I Add an Image to an Email Template?
Email templates have a built-in image tool, so no HTML is needed.
- Copy the link to your stored image.
- Create a new email template, or open the one you are working on.
- Click the Image button, just below the Bold and Italic buttons.
- Paste your link into the URL field.
- Fill in any of the optional settings below.
- Click OK, then save the template.
The optional settings are:
- Alternative Text - a description of the image, shown if the image cannot load and read aloud by screen readers. Worth filling in.
- Height & Width - measured in pixels. Some versions of Outlook ignore these, which is why resizing before upload is the reliable approach.
- Border - measured in pixels, adds a black border around the image.
- HSpace & VSpace - measured in pixels, adds horizontal and vertical spacing around the image.
- Alignment - whether the image sits to the left or the right of the surrounding text.
How Do I Make an Image Clickable?
To have the image link through to a web page when a contact clicks it:
- In the image dialog, click the Link tab.
- Paste the address of the page you want the contact taken to.
- Click OK.
How Do I Add an Image to a Letter Merge?
Letter templates have no image button, so the image is added through the source view using a small piece of HTML.
- Copy the link to your stored image.
- Go to Settings > Tracks, Merge & Brochures > Letter Merges.
- Open the template you are working on.
- Click the source button.
- Paste the following where you want the image to appear, then replace http: with your image link:
<p style="text-align:right"><img src="http:" width="200" /></p>
- Adjust the width number if the image is too small or too large. It is measured in pixels.
- Change text-align:right to left or center if you want the image positioned differently.
- Save the template.
What Image Size Should I Use?
Resize the image to its final display size before uploading. This is the single most common cause of images appearing enormous in a received email, because some versions of Outlook ignore the height and width values set in the template and render the file at its native size.
As a rough guide, a signature logo usually sits between 150 and 250 pixels wide, and a header image spanning the width of an email around 600 pixels.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
My image shows as a broken image or a red cross. Why?
The link is no longer reachable. The usual causes are the stored file being deleted, the dummy contact record being deleted, or the share link not having been generated with Get Share Link. Re-upload the file and get a fresh link.
My image is huge in the email the client received, even though it looked right in Rex. Why?
Some versions of Outlook ignore the height and width set in the template. Resize the original file to its intended display size and re-upload it.
Can I upload an image directly into a template instead of linking to one?
No. Templates are HTML, so images must be hosted somewhere public and linked to.
Why is there no image button on my letter template?
Letter templates do not have one. Use the source view method above.
Can I use the same stored image in more than one template?
Yes. One stored image and one link can be reused across as many templates and signatures as you like, which is why a single storage contact works well.
Can I add an image to an SMS template?
No. SMS templates are plain text only.