Overview
Page backgrounds let you set a background color or background image around your email content, rather than within it. This helps your email stand out or match your brand, even in the space outside the main content block.
Key benefits / use cases
Reinforce your brand's look with a color or pattern behind your email content
Add visual interest without affecting the content blocks themselves
Combine a background image with a similar fallback color, so the email still looks intentional on email clients that don't support background images
Before you start
Page background images display correctly in most popular email clients, but not all of them.
Background images will show on:
Gmail
iOS Mail
Apple Mail
Yahoo!
Background images won't show on:
Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019
Outlook.com
Tip: Since background images won't render on Outlook, set a background color that closely matches your image. That way, the email still looks intentional and on-brand for subscribers using Outlook.
Add a page background
Click the border of your campaign within the email composer to open the Edit design elements panel.
Turn Page background on.
You'll see two options appear together:
Page background image — click Upload image, then drag and drop an image or browse for one on your device. Supported formats are JPG, PNG, or GIF, up to 5MB.
Background color — set a color using the swatch or by entering a hex code directly.
You can set both at once: the image displays on top, with the background color showing through as a fallback wherever the image doesn't cover (and for subscribers whose email client doesn't render the image at all).
Note: Patterns work best as page background images. The image displays at full size and repeats (tiles) if the subscriber's screen is larger than the image itself.
Tip: Keep background images between 1500–2500 pixels wide. Recommended height depends on how much content is in your email — keep in mind that larger images load more slowly.
Other considerations
Important: SmartrMail supports background images on header and footer blocks only. Background images aren't supported on individual body blocks within the email.
FAQs
Will my background image show up for every subscriber?
No — background images don't render in several versions of Outlook (2003 through 2019) or Outlook.com. It's recommended to set a similar background color as a fallback so the email still looks intentional for those subscribers.
Can I add a background image to an individual content block?
No — background images are only supported on header and footer blocks, not individual body blocks.
What image size should I use for a page background?
Keep it between 1500–2500 pixels wide. The ideal height depends on how much content your email has, and larger images will load more slowly.
What image formats and file size are supported for a page background?
JPG, PNG, or GIF, up to 5MB.
What plan do I need to use page backgrounds?
Page backgrounds are available on all SmartrMail plans.