Background image layout is not working with the New Email Designer

Is there any update?

Hi ​@Jasbirka ,
The background image not showing in Outlook is expected and not a Marketo bug. Outlook for Windows uses the Word engine and does not reliably support CSS background-image, which is what the New Email Designer uses for row/background images. This is tracked internally as a known limitation / won’t fix for Marketo/AJO emails

• Treat the background image as decorative only. 
• Always set a solid fallback background color so text is readable when Outlook drops the image.
• If you absolutely must see a background image in old Outlook, you need VML‑based HTML (table + <!--[if mso]> blocks) in a custom HTML template; this can’t be made “just work” through the New Designer’s background-image URL field.

“Variables” so non‑technical users can change the image:

• In the old Email Editor 2.0, you can build a template with mktoImg / mktoString variables so users swap images/URLs via the UI. https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/general/email-editor-2/email-template-syntax
• In the New Email Designer, classic template variables are not exposed at the email level; instead you should:
  • create a template with an image component in that hero/footer block, or
  • wrap that section as a Fragment and let users change the image in the Fragment or image settings. https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/email-designer/import-template

So: you can’t make the built‑in “background image URL” render reliably in Outlook; the supported pattern is solid fallback color + editable image block or fragment, and if you need pixel‑perfect Outlook background artwork you’ll have to keep that specific module as custom HTML (VML) and manage it via template design, not the background URL control.

Thanks,
Amit