Maximum file size for a gif to use in an email | Community
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A
Anonymous
June 16, 2017
Question

Maximum file size for a gif to use in an email

  • June 16, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 18535 views

What is the maximum file size that we can have for the gif to load in an email?

I have a gif that is 1.7mb but it takes a couple seconds (seems like a lot) to load in the inbox.

Can someone share any best practices around this?

Much Appreciated.

Khushboo

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    2 replies

    SanfordWhiteman
    SanfordWhiteman
    Level 10
    June 17, 2017

    1.7 MB???   That's a big web image in any context, let alone in an email (where it's likely only downloaded once, so caching is of no use).

    There's no absolute max single file size, since as you can see the GIF still loads, it just is a bad user experience.

    I'd strive to keep individual images under 100K, the total of all images under 500K. But it's flexible: if you only have only image, maybe that one could be 200K.

    You can use your browser to get a rough idea of end-user download times. On Chrome, it's Developer Tools » Network tab » Throttling dropdown. On a quality 4G link, a 1.7 MB img takes ~4s to download, and you feel it for sure.

      T
      TMatrix11
      Level 3
      May 10, 2019

      Hey @Sanford Whiteman!  I'm currently looking for the best documentation for image sizing in Marketo, my colleague pointed me to this post which is super helpful.  Was wondering if you have the "definitive guide" to image sizing and best practices overall.  I'm hearing 30k, 50k, then 100k.  I know you answered that but was wondering is there a Marketo specific best practice?  Thanks!  -T

      A
      Anonymous
      June 19, 2017

      Hi Khushboo,

      Your .gif image size doesn't matter as you can use any size, but going with perspective of best practices, its not at all correct to use 1.7 mb file.

      1) many email servers may spam your IP address as usually such large content is not part of good emails.

      2) also many Email servers or ISP's in countries of Asia-pacific may also reject your email due to its large size.

      3) The emails should be brief and quick that grabs the users interest and such emails may take a lot of time in loading all its contents which may make you loose your leads due to their loss of interest.

      Thanks

      Ranvijay

      SanfordWhiteman
      SanfordWhiteman
      Level 10
      June 19, 2017

      also many Email servers or ISP's... may also reject your email due to its large size.

      This isn't really correct.  Image tags that refer to remote (non-embedded) images do not contribute to email size detection at connection time. Looking only at the markup of an email doesn't tell you the bytes on the wire if images are enabled.

      A
      Anonymous
      June 22, 2017

      Hi Stanford,

      Thanks for correcting me here, but what I meant was.

      Many office servers and Domains restrict the size of email( Body+content +Attachments) to be received. That is what i meant above and if you are planning to create an email that would not be fully viewed/ read by the lead, then you are loosing an opportunity.

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