Prepare images for upload

Optimize image quality to help avoid errors when uploading to your Library

If you want to protect the image quality in your emails and landing pages, and prevent errors during the upload process, make sure your images have the right properties before you upload them into your Library. The following general recommendations can help you determine the ideal properties for your images, or can help you figure out why your image isn't displaying properly:

• Image size
• Image resolution
• Image file size
• Image file types

Be a better marketer: Learn more about using impactful images in your email marketing efforts.

Image size

"Image Size" refers to the dimensions of your image—the image height and width. Constant Contact compresses any image that's over 1200 pixels wide, and the image's height is reduced proportionally. This may cause the image to lose quality, leading to grainy, fuzzy, or blurry images. If an image's height is greater than its width, then it'll be compressed to 1800 pixels. Not sure what dimension or file size your image has? Find out here.

Width

Most Constant Contact email templates are about 600 pixels wide, and landing page templates are 800 to 1200 pixels wide. If your images are larger, you don't have to worry about them stretching your email with our Cross Device Editor!

• If you want an image to span the full width of your email when viewed on a desktop, we recommend using an image that's at least 600 to 650 pixels wide, or 800-1200 pixels wide for landing pages. Anything smaller could look blurry if resized to fit the email width or landing page width.
• If you'd like an image to span the width of an email when viewed on a mobile device, we recommend using an image that's at least 480 pixels wide.

Height

There usually isn't a recommended height because each block will adjust to fit the image's height. However, older versions of Outlook may crop images that are more than 1728 pixels in height.

Design tip: For the sharpest image on Apple's retina displays, the industry standard recommendation is to make an image twice the size (2x) of the template maximum. For example, if your image is in an email template that has a maximum 600 pixel width, the image will look crisper on a retina display if you insert an image that is 1200 pixels wide (or larger).

Image resolution

"Resolution" refers to the number of pixels in an image. When you create an image, certain image editing programs allow you to set the resolution.

What is the recommended resolution for my image?

Whenever possible, we recommend that you save the original design file with a resolution of 72PPI (pixels per inch). This will minimize image compression when you bring the image into the Constant Contact Library.

Did you know? Image size for the web is described in pixels, while images for print media are designed in dots per inch (DPI). Check your computer's DPI settings, as they can cause image distortion when viewing in certain desktop clients.

Image file size

While "Image Size" is the height and width of the image, "File Size" is the amount of storage space your image occupies. Factors like image size and compression contribute to the file size of your image.

What is the recommended file size for my image?

Constant Contact won't allow you to upload a file larger than 5MB. If your file is too large, here are some steps you can take to reduce its size:

• If your image editor has an option to "Save for Web & Devices" or to "Optimize" the image, choose a resolution that shrinks the image's file size to less than 5MB.
• Remember to flatten any layers when you save the final image. This will help to reduce the file size.

Keep in mind that larger images may also take longer to load in a subscriber's inbox. If you are running into problems, try keeping your images under 1MB each.

Image file types

"File Type" is a name given to a specific kind of file. Some types of images look better when saved as a specific type of file. The following chart shows you which file types work best with certain types of images:

The Constant Contact Library doesn't allow image files in TIFF or BMP format, but you can use any basic image editing program to save them as a PNG, GIF, or JPG.

Design tip: If an image won't upload as a JPG file, try saving it as a PNG or GIF file.

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