Images/GIFs/Videos

When used wisely, images and multimedia are a great way to punch up your visuals and grab the attention of your readers. When used incorrectly, however, they can lead to a frustrating user experience. Not only that but using images that you do not have permission to use can lead to some unintended consequences. Here is some guidance around when and how to use photos and multimedia correctly.

Images

It might be tempting to take any photo from the internet and use it in your emails. Before you add an image to your email though, the most important thing that you should ask yourself is “Do I have permission to use this photo?” Don’t use any photos in your emails that you don’t have permission to use to avoid any copyright infringement issues.

Some great places to find images to use in your emails include:

Canto
Canto is the U of A’s centralized digital asset management system. Here you can find official U of A photos, which anybody in the U of A community has permission to use. To access Canto, you’ll need to log in using your CCID and password. Click ‘Login using SSO’ and you will be redirected to the ‘UAlberta Login’ page.
Canva
This is a great place to find all sorts of copyright-free graphics and designs, many of which you can use at no cost. You may already have access to a U of A Canva account (check with your supervisor). Otherwise, it is free and easy to create a basic account.
Free stock photo sites
Some popular stock photo sites include Pexels and Unsplash . Make sure that you read the terms and conditions of any free stock photo sites before you use any images from their site.
Paid stock photo sites
You can also purchase licensing for paid stock photo sites. Some popular sites include Shutterstock , Adobe Stock , and iStock .

Here are some best practices around using images in your emails:

  • JPG or PNG are the best formats to use. Use JPG for photography and PNG for graphics or imagery with transparency.
  • Images should not make up the majority of your email design. Aim for a 60%/40% proportion of text to images at most.
  • Make sure that your images are not too small or hard to see on mobile devices.
  • Be mindful of the file size of your email when using images. Campaign supports images up to 20MB in size, but you should keep your image sizes as low as possible because images increase the load time of your email, and increased load times can have an impact on your engagement. Also, many email providers clip emails if the file size is too long (102KB on Gmail). The combined file size of the imagery in your email shouldn’t exceed 2 MB.
  • Don’t use images that have overlaid text that isn’t also included in the body of the email. Screen readers cannot read overlaid text on images, making them inaccessible.
  • Make sure that you use alt text in your images so that people that use screen readers can “read” your images. Provide enough description so that your audience can understand the meaning that you are trying to convey in the photo.
  • Make sure that any photos that you use follow the UofA Safety Guidelines for Photos

GIFs

Emails can include GIFs. Largely, they should be treated the same as images (outlined above), but there are a few important differences:

  • Keep your GIF files under 1 MB — the smaller, the better, especially if you have multiple GIFs on the same page.
    • As mentioned above, the combined file size of imagery in your email shouldn’t exceed 2 MB.
    • Keeping GIFs short and using fewer colours are good ways to keep GIF size low
  • Make sure to test your GIFs beforehand to ensure that they’re playing properly.
  • Make sure that you use alt-text along with your gif.
  • Bear in mind that not all email service providers allow gifs to be displayed. Outlook 2007-2019, for example, cannot display gifs and will only display the first frame. Because of this, it is best practice to make sure the first frame contains everything you need as a static fallback.
  • Content flashing rates between 2 Hz and 55 Hz can harm users with photosensitive epilepsy. In addition, users who are visually impaired may have difficulty reading or reviewing the content on a GIF before the animation changes. So, ensure your animated GIFs either have smooth transitions or don’t animate from one frame to the next at a high rate.

Videos

Videos cannot be directly included in emails. Because spam filters are unable to determine video content, emails that contain video are much more likely to end up in the spam folder. However, you can link to videos within your email that, when clicked, lead the reader to the video landing page on Youtube, Vimeo, etc. 

The best way to include a video in an email is to include a thumbnail of the video with a play button overlaid linking to the video page.

Eg:

Screenshot of U of A Youtube video