Insert a PDF into an email body, so people see it without opening anything

Why an image, and why not only an image

Mail apps show pictures inside the message; a PDF they always show as an attachment, a file the reader has to tap and open. So every way of “embedding a PDF in an email” comes down to the same thing: a picture of the page in the body, and the PDF itself attached.

The picture does the job of getting attention: the event flyer or the 1-page offer is right there when the message opens. The attachment does the job of the document: it prints at full quality, its text can be searched and copied, and it is the file people save. Send both.

Step 1: turn the page into an image

1. Drop the PDF on the converter above. It opens in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
2. Pick the page in Pages, usually 1. For a 2-page flyer, 1-2 gives 2 images.
3. Leave Resolution at 150. An A4 page becomes 1240 x 1754 pixels: enough for a sharp picture on a high-resolution laptop or phone screen, without making the email heavy.
4. Choose the format. The converter above makes PNG; for a page with photos, use PDF to JPG instead.
5. Press Make the images and download. A 1-page PDF gives 1 image named after the file and page, such as offer-1.png.

How big the image is, measured on a 1-page test invoice (text, a table, a coloured logo block):

Setting	Image size	File size
PNG, 150 dpi	1240 x 1754 px	157 KB
JPG quality 85, 150 dpi	1240 x 1754 px	167 KB
JPG quality 60, 150 dpi	1240 x 1754 px	130 KB
PNG, 72 dpi	595 x 842 px	61 KB
JPG quality 85, 72 dpi	595 x 842 px	52 KB

For a page of text the PNG is smaller than the JPG and sharper too, because it keeps the letters’ edges exactly. JPG wins on photos. 72 dpi is too soft for reading on today’s screens; use it only for a small preview next to other text.

PDF to JPGFor a flyer or a page with photos. Free, runs on your device.Open

If the page has wide white margins, crop it first with Crop PDF (Trim white margins): the image then holds only the content, and the text shows larger in the message.

Step 2: put it in the body

Gmail on a computer. Put the cursor where the image should go, then either drag the image file into the writing area or copy it and paste it there. Gmail’s help says a pasted image goes into the body by default, and only becomes an attachment if you press Attach files first. Once it is in, you can give it alt text: Gmail’s accessibility help describes an Edit alt text link on an inline image.

Gmail app on an iPhone. Gmail’s help says that when you pick 1 photo, it goes into the message text; when you pick several, they are added as attachments. To move one of those into the text, tap it and choose Send inline.

Outlook (new Outlook and Outlook on the web). Put the cursor where the image should go, then Insert, Pictures, pick the file and Open. Microsoft’s support page notes that in Outlook on the web, attachments always appear above the body, while pictures inserted this way sit wherever you put them. Drag a corner handle to make the picture smaller.

These steps follow Gmail Help and Microsoft Support, checked on 11 October 2026.

Why does drag and drop sometimes attach instead? Where you drop decides it. Dropped onto the text, the image is inserted; dropped onto an attachments area or the attach button, it is attached. If it lands as an attachment, delete it and paste it into the text instead.

Step 3: attach the PDF, and write the message in text

1. Attach the original PDF with the paperclip. That is the copy people print, forward and file.
2. Write the key facts as text above the image: what it is, the date, the price, what you want the reader to do. Jane Cooper sends a quote for a renovation in Vienna as an image of the 1-page offer, with 3 lines above it: the total, the start date, and “the full offer is attached as a PDF”.
3. Check the size. The picture and the attachment both count towards the mail service’s limit, 25 MB per message in Gmail and Outlook.com. A 1-page image of 150 to 200 KB is nothing next to that; a 40-page scanned PDF may not be, and the attachment limits guide has the numbers for each service.

The honest part: what an image in an email cannot do

An image says nothing to someone who cannot see it. A screen reader reads the alt text if you wrote any, and nothing else. A reader whose mail app is set not to show pictures sees an empty frame. That is why the key message belongs in the text, always, with the image as the visual.

The words in the image cannot be searched, copied or clicked. A phone number in the picture is not a link, a web address in it does not open. Put those in the text too.

The image is not the document. If the PDF has form fields, a signature or 10 pages, nobody can fill, verify or read it from a picture of page 1. That is what the attachment is for. If the PDF is too big to attach, see the PDF is too big to email before you send.

getPDF converts the page; it does not write or send email, and it has no inline-image setting of its own. The mail app decides the rest. For more on resolution and format choices, see PDF to images.