HTML and CSS in Outlook 2007
I'm posting this so that it can give a starting point for any
other people searching for information on CSS support in Outlook
2007.
When formatting email newsletters, I've been designing primarily for display in Outlook 2003, but it was recently pointed out to me that the layouts were breaking in Outlook 2007. In the name of security, Outlook 2007 no longer supports some of the CSS that Outlook 2003 did. As more organizations adopt Outlook 2007, it is important to keep these in mind when sending out emails.
To be fair, this isn't solely a Microsoft thing, as Gmail also doesn't support background images. I've always thought that Outlook displayed the background images because it was a desktop application as opposed to being web-based mail displaying in a browser; however, there is more blurring between desktop / internet applications, so I suppose I could see where they are coming from.
If you are interested in reading a more technical description of what is/isn't supported, you can read it on Microsoft.Com - what affects my own work the most is the removal of background image support in emails. So if you want text on top of an image, the text would have to be part of the image. Otherwise, you'll have to be content with solid backgrounds. And no more fancy wrapping of text around curvy pictures.
I'd be interested in hearing thoughts on content versus design in emails. What's important to you?
When formatting email newsletters, I've been designing primarily for display in Outlook 2003, but it was recently pointed out to me that the layouts were breaking in Outlook 2007. In the name of security, Outlook 2007 no longer supports some of the CSS that Outlook 2003 did. As more organizations adopt Outlook 2007, it is important to keep these in mind when sending out emails.
To be fair, this isn't solely a Microsoft thing, as Gmail also doesn't support background images. I've always thought that Outlook displayed the background images because it was a desktop application as opposed to being web-based mail displaying in a browser; however, there is more blurring between desktop / internet applications, so I suppose I could see where they are coming from.
If you are interested in reading a more technical description of what is/isn't supported, you can read it on Microsoft.Com - what affects my own work the most is the removal of background image support in emails. So if you want text on top of an image, the text would have to be part of the image. Otherwise, you'll have to be content with solid backgrounds. And no more fancy wrapping of text around curvy pictures.
For a quick visual example of the differences, check out these images.
Fortunately, what could come out of this is more of a return to content-driven emails. The email newsletters I actually read on a regular basis are the ones that have a simple table of contents at the top and are purely text, but I have to wonder if I'm biased simply because I grew up on text-only emails from the mid-90s.I'd be interested in hearing thoughts on content versus design in emails. What's important to you?
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