# Embedding image makes Outlook invite too large **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965 "2012-10-26T19:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Petrichord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Petrichord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrichord)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/1 "2012-10-26T19:42:54Z")
Sorry, terribly specific Outlook question here. (I guess this is an odd question to post, but Google has failed me. Solution? Ask Dopers!) _The setup:_ Windows XP/Windows 7 (tried on both systems), Outlook 2007 _The scenario:_ I am emailing an Outlook calendar invite to a large group of people. The body of the invite contains one large embedded image (~700x1100). I do not want the invite to be a big mail file in everyone’s Inboxes. The image (.png) is less than 800kb on my hard drive. If emailed to myself (copied & pasted from Microsoft Paint into body of a new email), the mail item is about 600kb. A very good size for an image-heavy Outlook invite, thinks I, and so the image is copied and pasted into the company-wide invite, then sent. _The gaffe:_ It is 3MB. 😕 (This happens regardless of whether I copy & paste the image or go to Insert \> Picture and select the image file. Tried it with a .jpg file too. Same result.) So sending the image embedded in a regular email keeps the small file size, but sending it in a calendar invite blows it up to 5x the original. It looks like Outlook is converting the image (only in invites!) to a .bmp because if someone hits Reply, the image in the reply email is replaced with the following text: OLE Object: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) And of course, bitmaps are huge. Does anyone know why this happens? Or more importantly, how to get around it? This is chafing my perfectionist gene. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/2 "2012-10-27T01:06:00Z")
I usually post the image online or on a shared folder - and paste the link in the outlook invite. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/3 "2012-10-27T03:19:02Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > I usually post the image online or on a shared folder - and paste the link in the outlook invite. And that doesn’t automatically embed the image? [This site](http://www.msoutlook.info/question/72) claims you have to change a registry setting, or the image is automatically embedded. So, OP, if the image still gets embedded when you include a link, try changing that registry setting. Another registry setting that may help is detailed in [this Microsoft support article](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224663). It’s actually for preventing Microsoft Word from embedding an uncompressed image, but Word and Outlook are linked pretty heavily, so it might work in Outlook, too. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of Outlook 2007 to check any of this. ---
**Author:** ![Petrichord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Petrichord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrichord)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/4 "2012-11-14T21:38:15Z")
Thanks for the suggestions, **am77494** and **BigT**. Unfortunately, I work with Very Important Busy Financial People who would nonetheless find time in their Very Important Busy schedules to complain about having to click through an extra link. I don’t think I could wheedle permission from IT to fiddle with my registry, but I’ll give that a try. Thanks again! (And apologies for the belated follow-up. The weather’s been rather troublesome around the northeast as of late.) ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/5 "2012-11-14T22:27:20Z")
Is the format of your email set to RTF or HTML? HTML should allow JPG and PNG images, but I’m not sure about RTF. ---
**Author:** ![Petrichord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Petrichord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrichord)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/6 "2012-11-15T22:06:13Z")
Thanks, **Blakeyrat**. Outlook is already set to HTML. I think it’s high time to give up while I still have a smidgeon of grace left. Ahh, the great mysteries of life! ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/7 "2012-11-16T12:16:14Z")
> [@Petrichord](#): > > Thanks, **Blakeyrat**. Outlook is already set to HTML. > > I think it’s high time to give up while I still have a smidgeon of grace left. Ahh, the great mysteries of life! No mystery - Outlook is just rubbish at handling images (amongst other things). It’s not you, it’s the software. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/8 "2012-11-18T06:17:53Z")
My advice would probably have only worked in RTF mode, anyway. (The first registry setting, IMO, was part of am77494’s advice.) I didn’t realize you were sending these invites from work. If it’s any consolation, if they are also opening them at work, the high bandwidth is probably not that big a deal. It’s a bigger deal when it has to travel the whole Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Tiermelk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Tiermelk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiermelk)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/9 "2013-05-08T11:52:39Z")
We just run into the same problem. After IT ran around in circles and could not come up with a solution the user figured out if she inserts a text box into the body of the email and insert the picture into the text box you do not get the explosion in message size. I don`t know why but it works – Outlook 2010. ---
**Author:** ![jumpstart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@jumpstart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jumpstart)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embedding-image-makes-outlook-invite-too-large/638965/10 "2015-12-17T06:50:45Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And that doesn’t automatically embed the image? [This site](http://www.msoutlook.info/question/72) claims you have to change a registry setting, or the image is automatically embedded. So, OP, if the image still gets embedded when you include a link, try changing that registry setting. > > Another registry setting that may help is detailed in [this Microsoft support article](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224663). It’s actually for preventing Microsoft Word from embedding an uncompressed image, but Word and Outlook are linked pretty heavily, so it might work in Outlook, too. > > Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of Outlook 2007 to check any of this. The first link worked for me… This is absolutely brilliant… I had been struggling with this issue for almost 2 years and this link is probably the only link on google that resolved my issue… Brilliant !!! Thanks a lot