How to add image blocks
In order to add an image to your legacy* campaign, you need to first drag in an image block. You will need to use the Image block, Images block, or the combination blocks that are listed as Right or Left in the legacy* editor. The combination blocks give you both image and text options, so if you are looking to use both text and an image in one block, it is best to use one of the combo blocks because images cannot be added to a Text block.
When you’re ready to add an image, just click on Select from library to open your library. In the library, you can select images that you’ve previously uploaded, import images from your Flickr account, or choose to upload new images. For more information on how to use the image library, check out this article and navigate to the Using your asset libraries in the legacy editor heading.
How to remove image blocks
To remove an image block from your campaign, simply hover your cursor over that block to reveal the yellow toolbar and then click on the trash can icon.
If a block has multiple images in it, or if you’re using a combo block, there will be two trash can options. The trash can icon in the yellow toolbar above the block which will delete the entire block. The second trash can icon in the upper right corner of the image section of the block will delete just the image and turn your combo block into a plain text block.
Image block overview
When working in the legacy* editor, you can edit any of your campaign images directly from the image block. To bring up the image editor, simply click on an image that’s already in your campaign. A pop-up window will appear, giving you the option to adjust the content and style of your image.
Content tab
The pop-up that appears will open on the Content tab where you will have the option to add a link and alt text. If you add a link, contacts who click on that image will be sent to that page. Alternate text, or alt text, is what screen readers use to describe an image for blind and visually impaired people. To add alt text, just click in the box and type a description of your image.
When you are done making your selections at this point, be sure to click Save at the bottom of the pop-up window. If you just click elsewhere in the campaign, the pop-up will close without saving the image you just chose.
Style tab
Click on the Style tab to adjust the size of your image and see it change accordingly in your campaign. Simply use the slider to change the size with the height and width settings locked. Or, you can change the size of your image to a specific width or height by adjusting one of the dimensions, and the other one will automatically adjust to scale.
Below that, you’ll find the options for padding, which determines the amount of white space that surrounds your image. The padding defaults to 10 pixels on all sides, but you can change it as you see fit. You can either adjust all four sides of the image at once by moving the slider, or you can click on Customize to adjust the padding for the sides separately.
If you would like to further customize an image, click on the Edit image button to open up the image editor where you can crop, rotate, or flip the image. Just be sure to click Save at the bottom of the pop-up window when you’re done making changes.
How to use the image editor
Our legacy* image editor gives you the ability to crop, rotate, and flip uploaded images. However, these options only become available after you add an image to an image block — which means that you cannot use our image editor unless you are in an open legacy* campaign draft. Additionally, you can only edit one image at a time.
Any edits that you make and save to an image will overwrite the original file in your image library. Edits made in the editor will not affect the original file that’s saved to your device, only the file in your image library.
To access the image editor, you will first need to click on an image block in your campaign. After the pop-up window appears, head to the Style tab and then click on the Edit image button to bring up the image editor.
How to crop an image
The image editor offers a couple of options when cropping. By default, you have the ability to change the image dimensions by clicking on the cropper handles and dragging. The pixel dimensions update as you drag the corners and the cropping region changes. Should you want to retain the ratio of the original image, hold shift while dragging to adjust the size altogether.
You can also select a specified image ratio from the Image ratio dropdown menu. Choosing one of these predefined ratios will automatically resize your cropping region to that ratio. Click the Apply button when you are satisfied with the look of the image.
How to rotate an image
Images can be rotated 90-degrees both clockwise and counterclockwise by using the first two buttons below Orientation. Click the Apply button when you are satisfied with the look of the image.
How to flip an image
You can also flip your image vertically or horizontally by using the third and fourth buttons below Orientation. Click the Apply button when you are satisfied with the look of the image.
Saving edited images
After you click on the Apply button, you’ll then return to the Content tab. At this point, your original image has not been overwritten. If you are satisfied with the look of your image and want to proceed with your changes, go ahead and click the Save button. This action will modify the original image uploaded or the selected image from the image library, so make sure you have a copy of your original image stored on your device.
If a subaccount edits an image shared to them from the parent account, their edits will be saved as a new image in their image library while the original image will remain unchanged.
How to add image captions
The caption controls are found in the image block settings which reside in the small yellow menu that appears above the block when you hover at the top of it. Click on the gear icon to bring it up, and then click on the Settings tab.
Toggle the Captions setting to On and you will see the captions area appear beneath the campaign image. You can then click directly on the captions area to edit it to your liking.
PNG file errors
If you’re getting an error when trying to add a png file, you might be trying to insert an interlaced png, which won’t work. The difference between an interlaced and non-interlaced png is how it appears to load to your audience. Because non-interlaced pngs produce smaller file sizes, they’re optimal for an email environment. To troubleshoot this, try resaving your png file as non-interlaced or just save it as a different file type altogether, like jpeg or gif, to see if that successfully uploads into your mailing.
Image styles
After you have added an image to a legacy* campaign, you can adjust its styles and settings. Simply hover over the image block and then click the gear icon on the yellow toolbar that appears to open your image styles and settings menu. It will open to the Styles tab, which allows you to adjust the styling of the background color, margin, padding, and border for that particular image block.
Switch to the Settings tab to see the options available. Here, you can use the toggles to turn Smart sizing and captions on or off, change the layout from horizontal to vertical, change the count of images, and change the position. Count will add or remove image placeholders from the block so that you can change a single image block to a multiple images block and vice versa. For best results, we always suggest keeping the Smart sizing option on.
How to change the image alignment
Using our flexible layouts with the legacy* editor to build unique campaigns allows you to do a variety of things. Starting with a horizontal row of images, here’s how to change them to be a vertical column instead.
- Drag the Images content block from the editor pane into your campaign; this block is set to display the images horizontally by default. Three image slots will appear in your mailing, side-by-side.
- To make the images display vertically, hover over the content block until you see the yellow toolbar appear, and then click on the gear icon.
- In the image styles and settings menu that appears, select the Settings tab, and change the Layout from Horizontal to Vertical. The three images will now be stacked on top of each other, instead of side-by-side.
How to rearrange images in a block
To change the order of the images in a block, just hover over an image and click the four-way location icon, then drag the image to where you want it inside that block. You will not be able to move a single image from a multiple images block to another block. Instead, you would need to add a new image block to that block.
Smart sizing
Smart sizing is a default setting that ensures images in the same block are proportionate. The result is a balanced, professional-looking email campaign. To show you how it works, let’s say you have a block with three side-by-side images, like the one shown below.
No matter the size of the individual images, the legacy editor will resize each to match the smallest image in the block so they all look uniform. Smart sizing is turned on by default, and while we suggest leaving it on, there may be times when you’ll want to adjust this setting to achieve a certain look in your mailing, so for this, you would just toggle it to Off.
To see how your images would look with Smart sizing turned off, simply adjust that setting manually:
- Hover over the images block, and click the gear icon in the yellow toolbar menu.
- Select the Settings menu and toggle Smart sizing to Off.
Your images will now show in their varying sizes and you can decide which looks best.
How to create a product image gallery
It’s easy to create an image gallery for products in your campaign using the legacy* editor. As an example, we’ll provide instructions on making a gallery of nine product images, but you can adjust that to include as many images as you like.
- To start, click on the Images block and drag it into your campaign. Repeat this three times, creating nine image placeholders.
- On the first block of three images, hover over it until you see the yellow toolbar appear above and click on the gear icon.
- Select the Settings menu and leave Smart sizing turned On, and then toggle the Captions to On so that you can write a product description beneath each image. Do this for each of the three Images blocks and it will look like this:
- After you add all of your product images, you can add each of the captions individually by clicking on Image caption below the image.
* In April 2022, our legacy editor was replaced with a new drag and drop editor. Accounts that existed prior to this change still have access to the legacy editor through their previously saved templates and campaigns, however new, from-scratch campaigns can only be created in the new drag and drop editor. Accounts that were created after this change only have access to the new drag and drop editor. Please refer to our new editor FAQ article for more information.