SVG in Email vs PNG — Image Format Comparison for HTML Emails
SVG has poor email client support — compare SVG vs PNG for HTML emails across Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and mobile clients.
SVG Email Client Support
SVG has inconsistent support in email clients. Apple Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird render SVG. Gmail blocks SVG. Outlook doesn't render SVG inline. For email marketing to broad audiences, PNG is the safe, universal choice for images.
- Gmail: blocks SVG — renders blank or broken image
- Outlook: poor SVG support — use PNG fallback
- Apple Mail, Thunderbird: render SVG (but can't guarantee recipient's client)
PNG as Email Standard
PNG is universally supported in all email clients. For email: export logos and icons as PNG at 2x resolution (e.g., 300×90px image displayed at 150×45px for Retina displays). Keep total email image size under 1MB for deliverability. Use CSS background-color fallbacks for all image blocks.
- Export PNG at 2× resolution for Retina/HiDPI displays
- Total email images: keep under 1MB for deliverability
- Add alt text to every email image for accessibility
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use SVG in emails?
SVG works only in select email clients (Apple Mail, Thunderbird). Since Gmail and Outlook — the most popular email clients — don't support SVG, PNG is the required format for broad-audience email campaigns.
How do I make PNG logos look sharp in emails?
Export PNG at 2× the display resolution — for a 150px wide logo slot, export at 300px wide. Set the width attribute in the HTML: <img src='logo.png' width='150' alt='Logo'> so it renders at 1× display size with 2× pixel density.
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