(PHP Extension) Add Image to HTML Email

See more Email Object Examples

Demonstrates how to add an image to an HTML email.

Chilkat PHP Downloads

PHP Extension for Windows, Linux, MacOS,
Alpine Linux, Solaris

<?php

// The version number (9_5_0) should match version of the Chilkat extension used, omitting the micro-version number.
// For example, if using Chilkat v9.5.0.48, then include as shown here:
include("chilkat_9_5_0.php");

// This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
// See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

$email = new CkEmail();

$email->put_From('Matt <matt@example.com>');
$email->AddTo('Joe','joe@example.com');
$email->put_Subject('This is a test');

// Add an HTML body with an image tag.
$html = '<html><body><p>Test with image:</p><p><img src=\'/wildlife/starfish.jpg\' /></p></body></html>';
$email->SetHtmlBody($html);

// Add the image data from a file.  The pathInHtml must match the value of the img tag's src attribute.
$pathInHtml = '/wildlife/starfish.jpg';
// The actual path of the JPG file in the local filesystem:
$pathOnDisk = 'qa_data/jpg/starfish20.jpg';

$success = $email->AddRelatedFile2($pathOnDisk,$pathInHtml);
if ($success == false) {
    print $email->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

// The email is now properly constructed with an image that will be visible in the HTML.
// In this example, we'll save it to a .eml file and verify by loading the .eml in an email client such as Mozilla Thunderbird.

$success = $email->SaveEml('qa_output/starfish.eml');

// Also, we can examine the MIME to understand how the image data in the MIME is associated with the img tag in the HTML.
// It is the Content-Location header value that must match the value of the img tag's src attribute.

print $email->getMime() . "\n";

// Here's the MIME:

// MIME-Version: 1.0
// Date: Thu, 26 May 2022 11:09:12 -0500
// Message-ID: <B1D499F74F533E287BFE04BBD79AAF1D973B61E3@SLICE>
// Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="------------000205040704010904010706"
// X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
// From: Matt <matt@example.com>
// CKX-Bounce-Address: matt@example.com
// To: Joe <joe@example.com>
// Subject: This is a test
// 
// --------------000205040704010904010706
// Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
// Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
// 
// <html><body><p>Test with image:</p><p><img src="/wildlife/starfish.jpg" /></p></body></html>
// --------------000205040704010904010706
// Content-Type: image/jpeg; name="/wildlife/starfish.jpg"
// Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
// Content-Disposition: inline; filename="/wildlife/starfish.jpg"
// Content-Location: /wildlife/starfish.jpg
// 
// /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD//gAmRmlsZSB3cml0dGVuIGJ5IEFkb2JlIFBob3Rvc2hvcD8g
// NC4w/9sAQwAQCwwODAoQDg0OEhEQExgoGhgWFhgxIyUdKDozPTw5Mzg3QEhcTkBEV0U3OFBtUVdf
// YmdoZz5NcXlwZHhcZWdj/9sAQwEREhIYFRgvGhovY0I4QmNjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2Nj
// Y2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2Nj/8IAEQgAFAAUAwERAAIRAQMRAf/EABcAAAMBAAAA
// AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDBAX/xAAYAQADAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEAP/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAB2kZY
// NNEijWKddfTmLgALWH//xAAbEAACAgMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMRAAQSE//aAAgBAQABBQL0XqN+
// pM2aqJGMiqFFCyg7z//EABwRAAICAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAERAAIQIQMSUf/aAAgBAwEBPwHqU5aq
// Axx+y1tMQl4elj//xAAcEQEAAQUBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABEQACEBIhA1H/2gAIAQIBAT8B3Bhqy7Zc
// enyiwmGgDhiOzj//xAAdEAABAwUBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAIREBIhIkFR/9oACAEBAAY/ArZyn+Cg
// xtxWuJaoCnqDuin/xAAcEAABBAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABABEhYRAxQVH/2gAIAQEAAT8hkEwPUUR9
// DYfE4nxtRpIkBTsayuALIiuY/9oADAMBAAIAAwAAABDWPTsf/8QAGhEAAwADAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
// AAEREDFBIf/aAAgBAwEBPxC0DVPcWm+Ce4OesrkE6bjH/8QAGBEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREA
// QRD/2gAIAQIBAT8QahMiOc8YgSrnTY3ELclHXn//xAAcEAEBAAIDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAABEQAhMUFx
// EFH/2gAIAQEAAT8Qn3igmSZSj+c4N4zapMy9IjFV98wncN2iuLFsCEbDGxQkI6RO/n//2Q==
// 
// --------------000205040704010904010706--

?>