Inserting Images Has Never Been Easier

We’ve been putting our best foot forward when it comes to freshening up our marketing tools lately. Here and there you’ve probably seen new colors, brighter graphics, and snazzier buttons. However, when it came to looking at the Image Library, we’ve not only straightened up the cushions, so to speak, but we went all out with new enhancements.

So, let me to walk you through the new process for uploading and inserting images so I can point out the differences!

Thumbnails Make It Easier

Ever struggle to remember what you named an image? Ever have to open up your images one-by-one to find the one you needed?

Well, search no longer! Now, when you click to insert an image into your email, you’ll instantly see thumbnails of all your uploaded images.



You can select different folders to examine, sort the images by alphabetical order, and even see the dimensions of an image just by hovering over it.

Plus, we’ve kept the options for adding new images at the top of your screen as tabs. That’s where you’ll find the ability to enter an image URL. Or, if you have My Library Plus, you’ll be able to access all of the Stock Images.

A Bunch of Customization Options

Once you’ve found the image you need, just rest your cursor on it and you’ll see the choices to Customize or Insert it. Insert will put that image right into your email, while Customize allows you to select even more options and take things a little further.

There are several things you can add to your image to make it work even harder for you in your email:

• Make the image clickable. Images that are clickable links to a webpage are often helpful additions. And not only can you add a link like that, you can also test it out right from your image editing screen. Oh, and make sure that you check the “Track” option so you’ll see reporting on everyone who clicked the image.
• Add a caption.
  Captions are great ways to add humor, clarify what’s in an image, or give some balance to a design layout. Just type the caption right in the appropriate field and you are good to go.
• Always include an image description.
  Image descriptions are a smart failsafe meant to be seen when an email client can’t display the image itself. Having something written in this field ensures that you won’t lose out if some of your subscribers don’t have image viewing enabled.
• Altering your alignment.
  How your image interacts with the text around it in the block is a very important design feature. By changing the alignment, you can wrap the text around your image to the left, right, or leave it alone.
  
  

If you find that an image needs a little tweaking or editing, we’ve also got you covered:

• Slide to resize.
  A slider bar at the bottom of your editing screen gives you a straight-forward way to resize your image. You can lock the proportions by the padlock symbol to the right and you can even use the ruler function that appears at the top of the screen to get an idea of what sort of dimensions you are in.
  
  Best of all, the resizing is smart! It’s already set to keep you from accidentally resizing your images larger than the block you are working with.
  
  
• Adding extras with Picnik.
  Picnik offers you any number of stamps, text overlay options, and border features that can really help an image to jump off the screen. Accessing all of those options is still as easy as clicking the Edit with picnik button.
  
  
  

Look for new improvements to the Image Library, and Constant Contact's other marketing tools, to be added in the future.

For more information on how to add, edit, and use images in your emails, take a look at:

FAQ 3315: Help Overview: Use Images with Constant Contact
FAQ 2867: Add space or padding around an image
FAQ 1778: Why won't my image upload?
FAQ 2884: Optimize images for upload into Constant Contact
FAQ 4299: Rotating an image
FAQ 2134: Unable to edit my image with Picnik
Support Blog: Using Images for Great Looking Emails

Contributed by: Jaime McCall, Knowledge Base Writer, Constant Contact