Inline Images are Broken

Question

I'm trying to send an email with an inline image. I've set the Content-ID and added a <img src="cid:image1@myemail"> to my html. The image arrives properly as an attachment, but mail clients show a broken image.

What am I doing wrong? The full source of the message is below:

Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2016 11:15:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: igal@lucee.org
To: igal@lucee.org
Message-ID: <489410968.5.1472753755600.JavaMail.Admin@IS16>
Subject: [Test] LDEV-545 html 5.0.0.200
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; 
    boundary="----=_Part_4_247149912.1472753754816"

------=_Part_4_247149912.1472753754816
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; 
    boundary="----=_Part_3_913848408.1472753754815"

------=_Part_3_913848408.1472753754815
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Text Message

------=_Part_3_913848408.1472753754815
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Inline Image: <img src="cid:image1@myemail">

------=_Part_3_913848408.1472753754815--

------=_Part_4_247149912.1472753754816
Content-Type: image/jpeg; name=test-image.jpg
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: inline; filename=test-image.jpg
Content-ID: image1@myemail

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEAYABgAAD/4QBoRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABAEaAAUAAAABAAAAPgEbAAUA
AAABAAAARgEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAARAAAATgAAAAAAAABgAAAAAQAAAGAAAAABcGFpbnQu
bmV0IDQuMC4xMAAA/9sAQwAKBwcJBwYKCQgJCwsKDA8ZEA8ODg8eFhcSGSQgJiUjICMiKC05MCgq
NisiIzJEMjY7PUBAQCYwRktFPko5P0A9/9sAQwELCwsPDQ8dEBAdPSkjKT09PT09PT09PT09PT09
PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09PT09/8AAEQgAIgBDAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/E
AB8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEBQYHCAkKC//EALUQAAIBAwMCBAMFBQQEAAABfQECAwAE
EQUSITFBBhNRYQcicRQygZGhCCNCscEVUtHwJDNicoIJChYXGBkaJSYnKCkqNDU2Nzg5OkNERUZH
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tre4ubrCw8TFxsfIycrS09TV1tfY2drh4uPk5ebn6Onq8fLz9PX29/j5+v/EAB8BAAMBAQEBAQEB
AQEAAAAAAAABAgMEBQYHCAkKC//EALURAAIBAgQEAwQHBQQEAAECdwABAgMRBAUhMQYSQVEHYXET
IjKBCBRCkaGxwQkjM1LwFWJy0QoWJDThJfEXGBkaJicoKSo1Njc4OTpDREVGR0hJSlNUVVZXWFla
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x8jJytLT1NXW19jZ2uLj5OXm5+jp6vLz9PX29/j5+v/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A9mooqvNfQW95bWsj
kTXO7ylwfm2jJ57cU0m9gLFFUdK1qx1uGWXT5xMkUhif5SpDDtggetGnazY6sbkWM4l+yymGUgEB
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TgASbdpyenPNP2NS7XK9N9Ng5l3NeisuPxFZTXr2sK3cskc3kOyWkrIr9wXC7RjPXNalTKEofErA
mnsFFFFQMKwtX/5Gvw/9bj/0XW7RWlOfI7+TX3poTVzzLSGutB0y3uLBCzawJbUYHC3PnP5bn22s
2fZBV4xto9l4g03TR/pEs9vY22TglmgRdxPrjcxPtXfUV3SzDmk5OO++u+qav6JWMlSsrXOANlf2
iavpC2cdl/aViWtIYp/MG+NAjAHaOSu38iauyeI0a50eHSNRjRZJooJdOMI82Nf4s55XAGOldlij
AznHPrUPGRl8cP6tbqn2XnvrqP2bWzOK0C+trfXtTim1xLd31SULYsYx5pOADyN3J9D2rtqTFLXP
XrKrLmSt/Xoi4x5VYKKKKwKCiiigAooooAKKKKACiiigAooooA//2Q==
------=_Part_4_247149912.1472753754816--

Would be a great idea to show what code you're using to send the email. — Darren Wainwright, Sep 01 '16 at 18:25
The code is language specific and IMO is irrelevant. It is written in a JVM language and is translated to Java. The important part is the end result which I posted above. — isapir, Sep 01 '16 at 18:27
Did you write it? Are you using a library to send an email? Are you sending email through an email program? There isn't enough information in what you have provided to say WHY it's being sent as an attachment. Sure, we can see your email content but that doesn't help figure WHY — Darren Wainwright, Sep 01 '16 at 18:28
It's using several Java libraries. I believe that there is a bug somewhere, which I want to fix, so again -- the source code on my end is irrelevant. If someone with good knowledge of mime messages will look at the message he might know where the problem is. — isapir, Sep 01 '16 at 18:30
Something on a related answer says to put your Content-ID value in <> - I.E `Content-ID: ` - see comments on answer here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4018709/how-to-create-an-email-with-embedded-images-that-is-compatible-with-the-most-mai — Darren Wainwright, Sep 01 '16 at 18:36
Yes, that might the right track. I sent myself an email from a regular mail client with the same attachment and I do see the angular brackets there. I need to test that, thanks. You can post that as an answer and if it is the issue then I will accept it after I confirm that. — isapir, Sep 01 '16 at 18:42
That's ok thanks. I just guessed/googled; feel free to add and accept your own answer once you nail the issue. — Darren Wainwright, Sep 01 '16 at 18:42

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 01 '16 at 19:57

0

I found the problem. It is missing Content-Type: multipart/related;

answered Sep 01 '16 at 19:57

isapir

21,295
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mch · Answer 2 · 2023-05-31T11:52:00.153

This is an example with the mentioned additional multipart/related wrapper that groups the text/html and image/jpeg parts together. The content is completely base64-encoded. The text/plain version won't contain any images nor should the image files be displayed as attachments separately of their rendering in the html source code:

MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="mime-9d5113858fd03feb"
From: example@example.org
Subject: Test 31.05.2023 13:43:25

--mime-9d5113858fd03feb
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="mime-41c254769953a354"

--mime-41c254769953a354
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

RW1iZWRkZWQgSW1hZ2VzIEUtTWFpbCBUZXN0ClRoZSBIVE1MIHZlcnNpb24gb2YgdGhpcyBFLU1haW
wgY29udGFpbnMgdHdvIGVtYmVkZGVkIGljZWJlYXJzLCBidXQgdGhlIHBsYWludGV4dCB2aWV3IGNv
bnRhaW5zIG5vdGhpbmcgYnV0IHRleHQu

--mime-41c254769953a354
Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="mime-298a97a07d2a42bd"

--mime-298a97a07d2a42bd
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

PGgxPkVtYmVkZGVkIEltYWdlcyBFLU1haWwgVGVzdDwvaDE+CjxwPlRoZSBIVE1MIHZlcnNpb24gb2
YgdGhpcyBFLU1haWwgY29udGFpbnMgdHdvIGVtYmVkZGVkIGljZWJlYXJzLCBidXQgdGhlIHBsYWlu
dGV4dCB2aWV3IGNvbnRhaW5zIG5vdGhpbmcgYnV0IHRleHQuPC9wPjxpbWcgc3JjPSJjaWQ6YThkMm
VkM0BhY2EzNWZmLm1haWwiIHdpZHRoPSIxMDAiIGhlaWdodD0iMTAwIiBzdHlsZT0iYm9yZGVyOnNv
bGlkIDVweCByZWQiIC8+IDxpbWcgc3JjPSJjaWQ6YTA0M2U0N0BhMGFkYWJmLm1haWwiIHdpZHRoPS
IxMDAiIGhlaWdodD0iMTAwIiBzdHlsZT0iYm9yZGVyOnNvbGlkIDVweCByZWQiIC8+IA==

--mime-298a97a07d2a42bd
Content-Type: image/jpeg 
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: inline; filename=icebear.jpeg
Content-ID: <a8d2ed3@aca35ff.mail>

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EB/8QAGQAAAwEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEDAgQF/8QAFgEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEC/9oADAMB
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--mime-298a97a07d2a42bd
Content-Type: image/jpeg 
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: inline; filename=icebear2.jpeg
Content-ID: <a043e47@a0adabf.mail>

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--mime-298a97a07d2a42bd--

--mime-41c254769953a354--

--mime-9d5113858fd03feb--

Inline Images are Broken

2 Answers2