image help -- blurry

[SusanF603]

i'm creating an ad for a client who has sent me images before which come out fine .. This time -- he's using the same method to create and send and every attempt shows the image as blurry in my template.  The properties show a 600 px width but everytime i upload it shoes smaller but more concerning is that it's blurry.  Can you urgently help?

[Lucas_D · Accepted solution]

Hi @SusanF603,

Thank you for reaching out to us through the Community. I am sorry to hear that your images are coming out blurry. The reason why it could be coming out blurry is because the image might be exceeding the height requirements which is 1728 pixels or that the file size is too large which ends up compressing the image when it is uploaded to the Library, ultimately reducing the quality. Make sure that the file size of the image is less than 5 megabytes. To check the file size of the image, please click here.  Also, I would suggest having the image file as PNG since it has the best quality for image files independent of content. Let me know if this helps.

[JuanitaL9]

It would nice if the Constant Contact image upload would prompt/give notice if the image is larger than recommended in height or width... or simply not allow the image to be uploaded.  Another option would be to note this information about image size limitations or maximums near the upload button.  Would have saved our firm hundreds of dollars in wasted time.

[Amber_L]

@JuanitaL9,

Thank you for submitting that feedback! I will send that right over to our developers and hopefully they can put something like that in place to make it easier to ensure that your images load perfectly every time. In the meantime, I recommend saving this guide as a reference for the future. 

Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns! 

[JamieA825]

I too am having this issue. I've tried low and high res, and the compression destroys the images. The words are not legible anymore. I also don't have the freedom to build my own graphics in Constant Contact, so I'm stuck with dumpy templates that don't meet my needs. So far not impressed with my trial..

[Zoe_H]

Hello @JamieA825,

I apologize that you are having this experience with your images as well. Please take a look at our article on preparing your images for upload to see if your image size needs to be changed before uploading into Constant Contact. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. Please let us know if you have anymore questions or concerns. 

[TheBishopsSchoolT]

These stock replies are really not helping. Has anyone been able to determine a way to be sure that Constant Contact does not reduce image quality?

Also, I am noticing that it places the image into the template much smaller than expected.

[Aaron_H]

Hello @TheBishopsSchoolT,

I'm sorry that the previous messages weren't helpful in clearing up the problem for you.  If during upload you ensure that your original images are smaller than 800x1728 pixels, that should prevent our system from needing to compress the image, which should help with image clarity.  The average email is 600 pixels wide, so that could give you a further reference to the actual display size.

Once you've inserted an image, you can resize it to fit the email as you see fit.  In the bottom right corner of an image there's a two-pointed arrow that you can click and drag up or down to change the display size of the image within your campaign.

The less our system has to resize or compress your image, the less chance there is of distortion or other reductions in quality.  I hope that the numbers here were more helpful to you.

[MarketingFSCI]

I make our graphics on photoshop before we put it into CC. I make sure its 600px and our problem is it goes into the template small and doesn't reach the sides so we have to drag it to be bigger(which you stated above) and that stretches it out so our emails become blurry. Is there a better sizing I should be starting off with in photoshop besides 600x1700px? It's been a year long battle trying to get an email out that isn't blurry. Again, i've followed everything on your sizing page, we have long lists of products we need to insert for emails. It looks fine on a phone, but terrible on a computer.

[Zoe_H]

Hello @MarketingFSCI,

I apologize that you are still experiencing this. I would try uploading your photo in a different format. An example could be uploading your image as a PNG instead of a JPG format. That could fix the blurriness you are having with your images. Again, I do apologize that you are experiencing this. I hope this helps! Have a great rest of your weekend. 

[RichardS7641]

Going through multiple blogs/ forums for Constant Contact's very long running problem... They always give the same generic answers instead of optimizing/ updating their software to be able to render high resolution images. Maybe have simple revisions such as dimension notes, or specifically note/state that the Constant Contact software can't render a high-resolution Retina display image properly.

From what I gathered they still have not fixed this issue and it doesn't seem like they plan to considering how long they have allowed this issue to continue.

To get semi-good quality, 800px seems to be the best bet, but don't expect it to look crisp and defined, even with standard resolution images...

[Frankie_P]

Hi @RichardS7641

Thank you for reaching out to the Community about your images! We are still trying to troubleshoot this experience as it does not happen to all customers. Having some further details will allow us to know what updates need to be made. For instance, are your images a PNG or a JPG? If your image editor has an option to "Save for Web & Devices" or to "Optimize" the image, can you choose a resolution that shrinks the image's file size to less than 5MB?This is valuable information needed for our Product Team.

[KenV19]

I'm uploading at 600 pixels and still having the issue with blurry images...

[Frankie_P]

Hi @KenV19 

I'm sorry to hear you're having this experience as well. Which images do you see this happening with? I took a look at your account and can see you have uploaded both a JPG and PNG version of some of your images. We always suggest saving your images as a PNG to get the best quality.

[BeaconPromotions]

I found this post because I'm also wondering why uploaded images into the CC library come out blurry. I only notice this now because I have an Apple Retina display. The only workaround I've found is to upload my images to imgur and then use the link image option. When I do that my email graphics look crisp.

It would be nice if Constant Contact didn't default compress images. Don't tell me you don't either because I've uploaded the exact same images to your library, and then imgur, and they look great in the email using imgur, but come out blurry/compressed looking when uploading to constant contact.

[Aaron_H]

Hello @BeaconPromotions,

Your workaround could work quite well in many cases.  We are very open about the fact that we do compress any images that are more than 800 pixels wide.  If your original images are larger than that, there is a good chance that many computers and mobile phones may have some display issues, or delays in downloading the images.  You're welcome to use an image URL instead, though we can not guarantee the speed at which the images will download for your recipients.

[BeaconPromotions]

Thanks for the info Aaron, I didn't know that about the 800px wide compression. This new retina display is just taking me for a spin, because things that looked fine before now look blurry.

[Celiahof]

Let me just pile on here. My images are showing up blurry and they are not over 5 MB or over the size requirements. It is very frustrating

[MainStreetCommunityFoundation]

It is several years later and I am also having this issue. Size requirements are fine - it is 600px by 200px, less than 1MB even. It is a PNG. The image is perfect when uploading and yet it is blurry when it is inserted.

[William_D]

Hello @MainStreetCommunityFoundation ,

does converting the image to JPG or another image format, then converting it back alleviate the issue? Does compressing the image resolve the blurriness when uploading?

[MainStreetCommunityFoundation]

No. I converted it to jpg and left it as that; and converted it to jpg then back to png. Both have the same blurriness. Compressing it doesn't do anything either.