How to embed images in HTML email on the mail server?

Question

How does one embedd an image in HTML so that the image is delivered with the html file content and does not need a separate trip to the server to retrieve the image? We need this to embed company logo's into signatures before they leave the mail server. We don't want to use a client side solution like thunderbird's or outlook's functionality to add signatures.

thanks

Answer 1

What you need to do is encode the file to Base64, and include it like this:

<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhUAA..(the rest of your base64 encoded file)..">

http://www.sweeting.org/mark/blog/2005/07/12/base64-encoded-images-embedded-in-html

http://dean.edwards.name/weblog/2005/06/base64-ie/

Answer 2

The standard solution for that is to add the image as an attachment. Every attachment has a ContentID, so you can embed the image using: <img src="cid:ContentID" />.
This will embed the image in the email, not in the html.