If I'm not being clear about anything let me know... I'm new to SO.
I'm having troubles getting Gmail to approve of my image URL that will activate my PHP script to track when people open my emails.
Gmail only allows me to "insert" photos that are specifically image files, such as png or jpg files. I have tried using a file-include mechanism:
http://www.example.com/?file=image.png with a two-line PHP script that includes the png file and then writes to a log all the tracking info. However, I have found this doesn't work since I'm technically referencing index.php in the URL.
I have also tried http://www.example.com/script.php where script.php would look like this:
<img src=image.png>
<?php
// write "Someone viewed your mail" in logs
?>
This doesn't work either because I'm still referencing a PHP file.
I'm using the Insert Photo > Web Address feature in Gmail... should I be inserting the file differently to fix my problem? I need to find a way to directly reference an image file on my server but also activate the PHP script.
Any ideas? Am I overlooking something obvious?
Figured out I can do this with Thunderbird:
Write --> Insert --> HTML
In the HTML box:
<img src="www.mysite.com/script.php">
Hopes this helps anyone who had my problem
I'm currently trying out the TinyButStrong library with openTBS plugin to edit an OpenOffice writer template.
If I correctly understand, you can change a default picture to something else using this:
[b.number;ope=changepic;from='pic_[val].png';default=current;adjust]
I tried changing the from='pic_[val].png' to from='example.jpg', this didn't change the picture however.
Anyone knows how to get this working? Help will be greatly appreciated.
Put a fixed value in parameter "from" should force the image (it worked for me).
If your field has been merged (that is it does not appear in the result file) and you have no error message, then having the image unchanged means that the target file cannot be found.
I think the 'example.jpg' file should be placed in the folder with the script that manages TBS and OpenTBS. Otherwise, you have to specify a path.
You don't actually need to the 'from' parameter to just switch a picture out. OpenTBS gets the path of the picture from the first parameter - in your case b.number (which hopefully contains a path to an image). Adjust is also not required, unless you are resizing the picture.
[b.number;ope=changepic;default=current;]
Assuming:
$b->number = '/path/to/image.png'
Also keep in mind, if b.number is a block, you may need to define your block boundary for the data to populate. (If you are able to see the path in the $TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML_SHOW) mode don't worry about this) Try using [b.number] if you are not sure your data is being processed.
I'm trying to test the PHPmailer class to embed image (http://www.google.gr/intl/en_com/images/srpr/logo1w.png) inside an e-mail
I'm using this code (along with standard one, that 100% works, mail is delivered):
$mail->AddEmbeddedImage($src, 'test', basename($src));
and this is placed the e-mail body:
<img src="cid:test">
Image is not showing up. What may I doing wrong?
Taken from some piece of the documentation:
$path is the path of the filename. It can be a relative one (from your
script, not the PHPMailer class) or a full path to the file you want
to attach.
Have you tried using a local image?
cid:test isn't valid url for image.
I need to embed an image in e-mail. How do I do it?
I do not want to use third party tool, nor am I interested in language specific answer (but it is PHP, in case you are wondering).
I am merely interested in format of resulting e-mail body.
As you are aware, everything passed as email message has to be textualized.
You must create an email with a multipart/mime message.
If you're adding a physical image, the image must be base 64 encoded and assigned a Content-ID (cid). If it's an URL, then the <img /> tag is sufficient (the url of the image must be linked to a Source ID).
A Typical email example will look like this:
From: foo1atbar.net
To: foo2atbar.net
Subject: A simple example
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example"; type="text/html"
--boundary-example
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
... text of the HTML document, which might contain a URI
referencing a resource in another body part, for example
through a statement such as:
<IMG SRC="cid:foo4atfoo1atbar.net" ALT="IETF logo">
--boundary-example
Content-Location: CID:somethingatelse ; this header is disregarded
Content-ID: <foo4atfoo1atbar.net>
Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64
R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNv
cHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5LiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHV
wbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A etc...
--boundary-example--
As you can see, the Content-ID: <foo4atfoo1atbar.net> ID is matched to the <IMG> at SRC="cid:foo4atfoo1atbar.net". That way, the client browser will render your image as a content and not as an attachement.
the third way is to base64 encode the image and place it in a data: url
example:
<img src="data:image/png;base64,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" width="32" height="32">
Here is how to get the code for an embedded image without worrying about any files or base64 statements or mimes (it's still base64, but you don't have to do anything to get it). I originally posted this same answer in this thread, but it may be valuable to repeat it in this one, too.
To do this, you need Mozilla Thunderbird, you can fetch the html code for an image like this:
Copy a bitmap to clipboard.
Start a new email message.
Paste the image. (don't save it as a draft!!!)
Double-click on it to get to the image settings dialogue.
Look for the "image location" property.
Fetch the code and wrap it in an image tag, like this:
You should end up with a string of text something like this:
<img src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAaIAAAGcCAIAAAAUGTPlAAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAPbklEQVR4nO3d2ZbixhJAUeku//8vcx/oxphBaMgpIvd+c7uqmqakQ6QkxHq73RaA3tZ13fNlJ5K1yhzQy860fbS/XTIHtHOla9/8jJjMARXV6No332omc0BhLdP27r1pMgeU0bduz16yJnPAVeME7uG5bDIHxTzv7bn3rAG79u7xK/in7+OArNY14QwRom7v/tf7AUASQROw07qu4f6Bjwcsc1BLuC58FDFwD/dHbtEKtWwvWl/aMeAKN27dXpjmoIyLnRqtKaM9ntPWdTXNQRWHRrmhjPzYzjHNQXnnJrsR+jLCYyjONAej6Ht4LmXg7kxzUMahTAx1wiH0udQ9ZA6G0Ct8uQN3Z9EKBeyPxThvCJshcHcJ348CFx29ou1jLz7cDmikC+Xmadxi0Qo/XS/C+8EvjWvJohX+42gCtr9+56DX0myNW0xzsMeJNHw7falx7Znm4Lyj1ThxmK9gFuds3GKagxdfPzblr+c/afWgCoj1aMtyphVevZ8uKNKIc2ds93zjTzM3brFohXc1Xvs7zhOTN24xzcFOvWKR7P5OXTg2ByRnmoO9ak9GxXdGo9yyLLfbzTQHQ9C4ekxzcECNdtTYBzXu7v7cmubggOJJMmc0IHPQTaXGGeXuHk+v6+agg3pDnMa9M83BAW3eDsF1z0+yzMFe4zfOKPeRzEFT9UqkcQ8vryUyB7sUjEiNHmncBqcg4LfiEbn/wPd7nzhsd937c2iagx9aLjPP/V1GuW2mOdhSqiCPEaPSYMjdx3FY5uCr6wV53+ue/+Tjz19Xb8EsTObgsyuNu9KpQ99rlHv27amTOfjgXD6O1q3U7dfZJnPwqvjndVX6URL5bOOpkzn4j0PtuB44h+GK2H4aXVACf3z7AOlvNj7qsNAj2mKU2880B8tybaG6ffmbea22358M6XcAZRv381uuM8o97HliTXNpeRfRTlcWqvu/t8jVcOp2jszNwkWnH51uXMviqNs3OzdpmcvJjrHH4G8g9UssReYmYqB7diIiTqEOZf/GLHNhXD/WpnEPA6ZkwIc0skMbs+vmYjh6xx5F2zBUUNa/ej+QSI5u3qa5WQjf3ThBGeeRpCdzgW0fa7v/r8ddats9rIGNUJYRHkNoJzZmmQtMvA7p3pfuDyCBc9u8zGVmv7rzPORw+nXdKYgYTvyC7dt3ngdMc2FcuQR/5xVzyd4fJnCZXNkaTXOBbezGRa59DZ2J0A+eFxdfcWUuNjvzR56WTK6vKmQuocl38sn/+ckUOXIic+HZq595NjIpdXRY5kLauOvZuaNyH78r3CkIjcuk4ObnTOu83qMQrmtkVXZTNM0lcW/WnnOvWd8rnu9fNK3iL7emuTx+7uduasL4amyHpjmWReMYQ6XtUObQOJKTudlpHIOotyk6NjeiZO8thW21t3CZG87H95ZW2g72/1jlpZIG25JFa1TXN47Tjfv4J3BCm9dLmYuheFaMY/R1u92abYQyF4MqkUnj7VnmZpQymin/Ufm0HOIeZG44tTeCIp9jPWBTHC4cXJfA3dU6hUcpz3vvxo1Jdkr56xa4wXXf6mQugG+lO7p7p/ld61ogI2x1rpsLpt41dCGujBO4EEbbeGQuntOl21j/FvxbKhG42h6/7tNP9VAbzLOxNmW++XYLzCI7/+12G/PuwdLWTPffdVUyF0OvHb7bqTGBa2WGArighK80Lr0ZGrfIXBT1NsfbX5V+/lEa18w4v/TanIKY1M9NvP0+IHAtzdO4xbG5cC62YMxft8C1NOY2UJVpbgrDbtkC19iwW0JVjs3lN+yWrXGNDbsl1GaaowOBa2/axi0yl96hjbvBRcIC197MgbuzaGVZlmVd128BKhgmjWtP4xbTXG7bm/j+6Ny/8soOI3BdaNydzM2oZXQErguBe+a6uUgOJePjb7bxZXca14Wd+oVjc7PYOPp26IdU+mJK0bh3MpfT9dupX6RxXWjcR47NZdalNQLXhcBtkLmEvt0ms4jtuwprXBfNGhfiTvrvZC6Mo9d/NCZwvexszaFb5P/8CbE4NkcBcXeA6E407v0/T4vyezfNxTDy9jTyY0ts/0TmF2Sa4xK7UBfXD4qV+rCk6z+kAZnjpCIX4nHO9Wf+RKGiRO2dd0EEoCZs2LMLf/sAzP0ePyFiMUxzENueV8GXNk3VuEXmxmeU46eql0lGb9ziTCvwUabXV9Mc5Hf0urnrx/KGYpobWqZXVEJocKP89kxzEN6JDH3MWdaXVdPcuLJuczS2Z0Pa+Jroo9wiczC57QgmaNwic8MyylHExoY0zzbm2BzEVm/gyjHKLaa5Mc3zMstFVUuU4MLgO5mDqH7Wp/h95d7/xut362zAW/eHY5RjfPduRLmK2DQHHBbrxdgpiLHE2nrgxZgbsGkOKPY+ijEXraa5gYz5SsgMTmx7YxbtI5kDluXUXe8v3q2zGWdaR2GUYxzJsmCaA14le9E1zQ0h2VZFGjn6YJoDvsrxAixzwJYEH8jrujngt3Vd39/gFWVJ69jcEKK/WhLIx13+9BYYIiAy15/G0dLpz6Iu9QPbs2iFuTyWnzs9f3HQl2SnIGA6QWt1msxBErfbrfb68f3nj79iXWQOcnjkZmfsigx0IRq3OAUxgtlWEJS1vQvP8PmEPzkFAVHtidTja2Z+NTXN9Tfz9sc5p3fbOYc7metP5tiv1A77batLGQSZG4LSsa3GfhroLucXOdMKQ2twmcizlK+4TkEM4Xa7pdy8OK3XVGWao6KUmxcnNBvf5tnkHJsbi5kuqCvzeN99MOKNlY6SuXFJXiDv92Lb+S00IHMxSN7I7ESDk7nY5K87e9D4nIIITOO607gQZC4qjYOdXDcXksZ1Z44LxDQXj8Z1p3GxyBwco3HhyFwwRrm+NC4imYO9NC4omYNdNC4umYvEirUXjQtN5sLQuF40LjrXzcFXApeDaS4Go1x7GpeGzMEHGpeJRSv8h8DlI3Pwh8BlJXMBODBXm8Dl5tgcs9O49GRudEa5qjRuBhatTErg5iFzTEfgZiNzQ7NiLUvg5iRzTEHgZiZzJCdwONM6LivW6zSOxTRHVgLHg2mOhDSOZ6a5QVmxnqBufCRzZCBwbLBoJTyNY9tqExmQFes5NmY+Ms2Rx7quXiF4J3Nko3S8kDkSUjqeydxw7KJFeBp5kDkgOZkjLQMddzIHJCdzYzGAQHEyByQnc0ByMkda3vvFncwNxIE5qEHmgORkjpysWHmQOSA5mSMhoxzPZA5ITubIxijHC5kjFY3jncwBycncKFwbfJ1Rjo9kjiQ0jm9kjgw0jg0yByT3T+8HAFf9HOVejnsa/WZjmhuC8w+nHW0cE5I5Ajs3lwnfbGSOqKw92UnmCOlK4/RxNk5BkNztdju3Sn3+LmUMzTRHPKejc7vddn7vSxkdzgtN5vqzCx1isOIomSOSE40r9Sri1SgumSOMjo0797czCJkjhsaNE7VMnGklgJaN+/iNqheazDG6Nol5r5u0pSFzjK7qsf9vP1zjMpE5ZrSdTo1LRuaYyJ7BUOPycaYV/qVxKckc/KFxWckcLIvGpSZzoHHJyRws67p6y2pizrTCH4/SvQx3PjEnOtMcvFr/+vZ/Gz8eLjLNwVeKloPM8cd9LTbVjr1n+fnxCVnX1dI1EItWluVph7f37uFZikXmOhtweppnH/ber0lYtPJhTz79aVilbJ/r7Ev4wnGIobPuO/DGBtDmsbn1ObXJXGcjZ+6h7IMsvsldfHh2gfQsWqe2cw+/eBK2dkcmPEfMIaa5zoY6BBbdxpO5ncJkzwMvTHPk8XOs+/YFz38iefm4oIRsPp44fvnP7ideaEnm5pV4bNnzT9uOHZnIHPkdHdAMdMnIXE92p2YOPdWmvGRkblK59+T9Ucv9PHAnc8xiZ/uELx8XlDCLb/3StfRMcySkXDyTuRlNWIEJ/8k8WLSSk67xYJoDkpO56RhzmI3MAcnJ3FyMckxI5oDkZG4iRjnmJHNAcjIHJCdzQHIyByQnc7Nw/oFpyRyQnMwByclcNz4IAtqQuSk4MMfMZA5ITuaA5GQuPytWJidzQHIyByQnc8lZsYLMAcnJHJCczGVmxQqLzPXinV7QjMylZZSDO5kDkpO5nIxy8CBzQHIyByQnc0ByMgckJ3MJOf8Az2SuA9cGQ0syByQnc9lYscILmQOSkzkgOZkDkpO51qqeZnVgDt7JHJCczAHJyVweVqzwkcwByclcU/XOPxjl4BuZA5KTOSA5mcvAihU2yByQnMy1U+n8g1EOtskckJzMAcnJXGxWrPCTzAHJyVwjNc4/GOVgD5kDkpM5IDmZi8qKFXaSOSA5mQvJKAf7yVwLVT/mBtgmc0ByMhePFSscInNAcjIXjFEOjpK56px/gL5kDkhO5uoqO8pZscIJMgckJ3NhGOXgHJmryMkHGIHMAcnJXAxWrHCazNVixQqDkLkAjHJwhcwByclcFQVXrEY5uEjmgORkbmhGObhO5oDkZG5cRjkoQubKc8UcDEXmBmWUg1JkrjCjHIxG5kZklIOCZA5ITuZKsmKFAclcMaUaZ8UKZcncWDQOipO5MixXYVgyNxCjHNQgcwUY5WBkMjcKoxxUInNXFRnlNA7qkTkgOZnrzygHVcncJU4+wPhk7jxH5SAEmQOSk7mTjHIQhcwBycncGc48QCAy140VK7Qhc4c5KgexyFwHGgctydwx10c5jYPGZA5ITuYOMMpBRDK3l8ZBUDK3i8ZBXDIHJCdzvxnlIDSZ+0HjIDqZ2+K9q5CAzH3lTV2Qg8wBycncZ0Y5SEPmPtA4yETmXmkcJCNz5WkcDEXm/sNVcpCPzP1L4yAlmftD4yArmVsWjYPUZM47uiC52TPn8hFIb+rMaRzMYN7MaRxMYtLMaRzMY8bMaRxMZbrMaRzMZq7MaRxM6J/eD6CRUhfHaRyEM8U0p3Ews/yZ0ziYXOZFa8F3cWkcxJV2mtM44C7nNGehCjxky5whDniRJ3Nl76ekcZBGhswJHLAhduaK3xFT4yCfwGdaNQ7YI+Q0J3DAfsEyV+NzGzQOcguTuUofTKNxkF6AzAkccMW4mav3uYICB1MZMXNVPzhV42A2Y2VO4IDiRsmcwAGV9Mxc1bTdCRzQJ3MCBzTTOnO1A6duwIsWmWswuy0CB3xRJXNtuvYgcMCGYplrnLY7gQN+upq5LnVbBA7Y7VjmekXtmcABh+zKXPe6SRtw2mvmuhftQdqAIv5kbpC6SRtQXP+6SRtQ1XqvjCvdgKzW9+L42FMgk/8DDsgw4HlIEQ0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" alt="" height="211" width="213">
You can wrap this up into a string variable and place this absolutely anywhere that you would present an html email message - even in your email signatures. The advantage is that there are no attachments, and there are no links. (this code will display a lizard)
A picture is worth a thousand words:
Incidentally, I did write a program to do all of this for you. It's called BaseImage, and it will create the image code as well as the html for you. Please don't consider this self-promotion; I'm just sharing a solution.
Correct way of embedding images into Outlook and avoiding security problems is the next:
Use interop for Outlook 2003;
Create new email and set it save folder;
Do not use base64 embedding, outlook 2007 does not support it; do not reference files on your disk, they won't be send; do not use word editor inspector because you will get security warnings on some machines;
Attachment must have png/jpg extension. If it will have for instance tmp extension - Outlook will warn user;
Pay attention how CID is generated without mapi;
Do not access properties via getters or you will get security warnings on some machines.
public static void PrepareEmail()
{
var attachFile = Path.Combine(
Application.StartupPath, "mySuperImage.png"); // pay attention that image must not contain spaces, because Outlook cannot inline such images
Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application outlook = null;
NameSpace space = null;
MAPIFolder folder = null;
MailItem mail = null;
Attachment attachment = null;
try
{
outlook = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application();
space = outlook.GetNamespace("MAPI");
space.Logon(null, null, true, true);
folder = space.GetDefaultFolder(OlDefaultFolders.olFolderSentMail);
mail = (MailItem) outlook.CreateItem(OlItemType.olMailItem);
mail.SaveSentMessageFolder = folder;
mail.Subject = "Hi Everyone";
mail.Attachments.Add(attachFile, OlAttachmentType.olByValue, 0, Type.Missing);
// Last Type.Missing - is for not to show attachment in attachments list.
string attachmentId = Path.GetFileName(attachFile);
mail.BodyFormat = OlBodyFormat.olFormatHTML;
mail.HTMLBody = string.Format("<br/><img src=\'cid:{0}\' />", attachmentId);
mail.Display(false);
}
finally
{
ReleaseComObject(outlook, space, folder, mail, attachment);
}
}
Actually, there are two ways to include images in email.
The first way ensures that the user will see the image, even if in some cases it’s only as an attachment to the message. This method is exactly what we call as “embedding images in email" in daily life.
Essentially, you’re attaching the image to the email. The plus side is that, in one way or another, the user is sure to get the image. While the downside is two fold. Firstly, spam filters look for large, embedded images and often give you a higher spam score for embedding images in email (Lots of spammers use images to avoid having the inappropriate content in their emails read by the spam filters.). Secondly, if you pay to send your email by weight or kilobyte, this increases the size of your message. If you’re not careful, it can even make your message too big for the parameters of the email provider.
The second way to include images (and the far more common way) is the same way that you put an image on a web page. Within the email, you provide a url that is the reference to the image’s location on your server, exactly the same way that you would on a web page. This has several benefits. Firstly, you won’t get caught for spamming or for your message “weighing” too much because of the image. Secondly, you can make changes to the images after the email has been sent if you find errors in them. On the flip side, your recipient will need to actively turn on image viewing in their email client to see your images.
Generally I handle this by setting up an HTML formatted SMTP message, with IMG tags pointing to a content server. Just make sure you have both text and HTML versions since some email clients cannot support HTML emails.
I've got mailings that need to be sended using cron. When I load the script manualy all works fine. With cron i get broken images.
to change the src of my img i used:
$body = eregi_replace("managersrc_logo","images/managers/acertainlogo.jpg",$body);
Because i thaught that it is importent to use absolute paths i also tried:
$body = eregi_replace("managersrc_logo","http://www.site.com/images/managers/acertainlogo.jpg",$body);
In that case i even do not see the images when i run the cronscript manualy. Nor the automated cron will display me the images.
When i check the source of the mail that is received i always see "cid:encryptedstuff" even if i use absolute paths? Why is that? I just want my absolute paths being printed in the src attribute of the img tag. Who changes my absolute path to cid: ? is it php, phpmailer or outlook itself?
Any help someone?
can you post a sample html before and after being replaced (but before being sent)? maybe it has additional characters that break the url, ie src="/managersrc_logo". Also, maybe your mailing program has an option to integrate the images inside the message and can't find them?
The problem was an older version of phpmailer. I updated to the new version and the images are displayed perfectly now!!