Q:

Sending Email using PNG vs Base64 Encoding

I am currently working on send emails with image files included; they need to display as PNGs. My plan is to host the images on a server and then link them in the email. However, I am unsure of if I should send the emails as the PNGs themselves or if I should encode them to base64 before I send them. What is the best practice?
Thanks!

A:

Best practice is to reference external PNG, JPG, and JPG files.
base64 encoded images are not well supported in email. They aren't supported in most web email clients (including Gmail) and are completely blocked in Outlook. Even for the small clients that do support embedded images, file size can quickly become a problem. Gmail App (iOS, Android) and Outlook (iOS) truncate email messages whose file size exceeds 102KB. Remotely referenced images (Eg. <img src="http://www.website.com/image.png"> do not count towards the email's file size, but base64 encoded images do and can quickly blow out an email's file size past the 102KB limit. Just something else to consider.

