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Jasbirka
Jasbirka
Level 5
February 18, 2026
Question

Background Image module in Marketo New Email Editor

  • February 18, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 59 views

Hi Everyone,

I am encountering an issue when creating a background images section using the new drag-and-drop Email Editor. If I use the Drag-and-Drop option, the background image is not visible in Outlook clients. However, if I create it using custom HTML, everything works fine, but I cannot change the background image externally; there is no variable or option in the window. I have to modify it directly within the custom HTML, which is quite difficult for a non-technical person.

Do we have any workaround for this?

3 replies

uditmathur
Community Advisor
uditmathurCommunity Advisor
Community Advisor
February 19, 2026

Hi ​@Jasbirka ,

Outlook Classic does not support back ground images you will have to add CSS for the same.

However New Outlook directly support background images.

To change the image from the navigation tree, select the Structure & than from the right pan change the image.

 

Hope this Helps 😊

    Jasbirka
    JasbirkaAuthor
    Level 5
    February 20, 2026

    Hi ​@uditmathur 

    Thanks for your response. Can you please answer my questions below:

    • Which CSS are you referring to?
    • What do you mean by "New Outlook"?

    I'm checking in Outlook 2016, and the background images are not working there.

    Disha_Goyal6
    Community Advisor
    Disha_Goyal6Community Advisor
    Community Advisor
    February 20, 2026

    ​@Jasbirka, I tried with using default functionality and BG images did not work.

    Also, with custom HTML only one column layout will be responsive. If we create 2 column layout with BG image in custom HTMl then stacking will not work in mobile devices.

      Dave_Roberts
      Dave_Roberts
      Level 10
      February 23, 2026

      It’s not at all that background images are not supported in Outlook 2016 (pre 2023) -- it’s that the “new Email Editor” (aka the same ol’ AJO Universal Editor rebuilt in Marketo) is incapable of natively creating background images in Outlook b/c the codebase behind the scenes isn’t all that great. Email developers have been adding background images to Outlook 2016+ for years, this isn’t a new thing, it’s just that the codebase from the Acrite tool used in the editor isn’t written in a best-practice, industry-leading way. This is the kind of thing you can expect when you make poor choices with your code in pursuit of rushing something shiny to market.

      Here is a look at Outlook 2016 sporting a background image in a banner section with an image (Adobe tag) atop the background image and some text and a button above the background image for reference:

      Email on Acid render test of background images in modules in an email. The background image is the pink/orange background abstract design. The Adobe logo, text and button sit atop the background image in both top modules.

       

      Dave_Roberts
      Dave_Roberts
      Level 10
      February 24, 2026

      … apparently the new Email editor isn’t the only thing that’s moving backwards in terms of capability, this is the 3rd time I’ve tried to type a reply to your post - the first 2 just reloaded the page when I clicked the Send button and nothing posted.

      This is not an issue of Outlook 2016 not supporting background images -- professional email developers have been doing that for years and it sounds like you’re able to accomplish it with custom code so you probably already knew that. This is an issue with the new Email Editor (aka the same ol’ AJO Universal Editor being crammed into Marketo) and its poor codebase. Unfortunately this tool doesn’t seem to have been developed by folks that understand email best practices so things like this just don’t work without custom coding -- which is kind of the opposite of the impact that Adobe was looking to have with the new editor. 

      My advice would be to use the EM 2.0 editor until the bugs are worked out of the new EM editor (if they ever are) because at least that way you can create handles for users to update background images rather than being stuck with the faulty controls in the new editor.

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