Email Image Size Guide (2026)

Use CaseLast verified: June 2026

Email images should be 600 px wide (1200 px for retina) at 72 DPI. Keep total email weight under 500 KB and every image file under 200 KB to avoid Gmail clipping and spam filters.

Email clients render images differently from browsers. Outlook still runs Microsoft Word's HTML engine, Gmail clips messages over 102 KB, and every major client caps display width around 600 px.

Get any of that wrong and your email looks broken — clipped headers, blurry logos, or a "Message clipped" link that hides your call to action.

Common email image dimensions

AssetDimensionsRatioFormatMax size
Header Image (display)600 × 2003:1PNG / JPG150 KB
Header Image (retina export)1200 × 4003:1PNG / JPG300 KB
Full-Width Hero600 × 4003:2JPG200 KB
Inline / Product560 × 4007:5JPG100 KB
Logo (retina)400 × 2002:1PNG40 KB
Social Icon48 × 481:1PNG5 KB

Resize an image for email

The tool below is preset to the email header size. Nothing uploads — every resize runs in your browser.

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600 × 200 px

Why email image size matters

Email is unforgiving. Unlike a browser that can shrink an oversized image, most email clients render at fixed widths — anything over 600 px gets cut off on Outlook desktop and gets a horizontal scroll bar on mobile.

File size matters too. Gmail's 102 KB HTML clipping rule counts every inline base64-encoded image against the limit, and Apple Mail's spam heuristic weighs total message size. Keep every image compressed and dimensionally correct or your subscribers see "Message clipped" instead of your content.

Frequently asked questions

What size should an email header image be?

Email header images should be 600 px wide (up to 1200 px for retina) at 72 DPI. Height varies but keep total header under 200 px so the preheader stays visible.

Why do emails clip images at 600 pixels?

600 px is the historical width of the Outlook rendering engine and remains the safe maximum across Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and Yahoo. Anything wider gets clipped or forces horizontal scroll on mobile.

Should email images be retina?

Yes — export at 2x (1200 px wide for a 600 px display) and set the HTML width attribute to 600. This keeps images sharp on high-DPI screens without breaking layout.

What file format works best in email?

JPG for photos, PNG for logos and graphics with text. WEBP is not supported in Outlook, so avoid it for email.

How big is too big for an email image?

Keep individual images under 200 KB and total email weight under 500 KB. Gmail clips messages over 102 KB of HTML, and heavy emails drop into spam more often.

Do dark mode email clients affect images?

Yes. Transparent PNG logos designed for white backgrounds often look washed out in dark mode. Provide both light and dark versions where possible, or use a PNG with a subtle white/dark backdrop.

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