Tutorial: How to Add Background Images in Email

You can now add background images to your emails. We promise this is going to be your new favorite email design trick, so let's dive in!

Background images in action

Start looking for them, and you'll find images with text overlay in most emails in your inbox. Adding text to images is a great way to customize stock photos to make them your own, encourage readers to click on an image, and bring text "above the fold" in your email (instead of positioning text beneath an image).

However, these "email background images" aren't really background images at all. That's because the text and the image are part of a single JPG, PNG, or other image file. The text isn't plain text; it's part of the image, added in Photoshop or with another tool. As a result, if the image doesn't show up because of image-blocking, the text doesn't appear either, and changing the text requires editing the image. There's a better way: creating true email background images with plain text on top. This means that even if your images don't load, your text will be preserved, and changing the text does not require editing the image. You can also repeat an image across an entire row to create pattern or texture.

Using email background images

Choose an email template

Choose a template to get started. A basic one-column template is a good place to begin.

Enable the row background image

Simply click on any row of content, and you'll see there's a Row background image option in the Structure menu. Enable it, then click "Change image" to browse for a photo.

Browse for an image

You can find free, high-resolution stock photos directly in the editor, or upload your own image, or paste in an image URL.

Drag-and-drop content

Using the image placeholder that's already in the template, add your image by dragging it in, then continue adding content placeholders for a logo, text, and CTA button. Notice how the text, images, and even the CTA button sit on top of the background image. This allows for plain text and a bulletproof CTA, both email design best practices, to build the entire email. To finish up, add other necessary images and text, then format the styles, colors, and padding.

Background image settings

Once you select your background image, you can also adjust how it appears in your email. There are three key settings: Full width, Repeat, and Center. Use them to find the best fit for your background image. Select "repeat," for example, to create a pattern. This is especially useful if your image doesn't span the entire width of the email but you want it to. You can also edit it using a built-in photo editor to crop, filter, add special effects, and more.

Email client compatibility and setting up a fallback background color

Just like with any advanced email design, you need to keep an eye on whether mobile and email clients support background images. For those email clients that don't (and for best results when images are blocked), make sure that you set a background color in the necessary row as a fallback background color in case your background image doesn't render. To set a background color, simply select the row, then use your Structure menu to choose a Row background color or Content background color.