Outlook Email Broken Layout Fix: Resolve Default Image Blocking Layouts for Editorial & Content Newsletters
Editorial newsletters rely on content layout readability and structural text spacing. If fonts default to Times New Roman or layout borders break, subscriber engagement metrics suffer. Below is the targeted integration guide to fix Default Image Blocking Layouts inside Outlook 2016 templates when using HubSpot.
Technical Breakdown
Outlook 2016 uses the Microsoft Word (MSO) which lacks support for standard rendering rules. This causes Default Image Blocking Layouts elements to break or collapse when rendering templates.
HubSpot Behaviors
HubSpot's COS template manager automatically wraps content blocks in dynamic div structures to support their drag-and-drop system. These extra wrappers force styling inheritances that override inline td paddings, leading to spacing collapses in Outlook. Setting explicit table element attributes is crucial. Keep your editorial body clean. Strip redundant CSS class definitions using Vaporize to ensure the newsletter stays under Gmail's 102KB clipping ceiling.
Remediation Code Block
To resolve this, always define explicit width and height attributes on your images to preserve their layout boxes when blocked. Add robust alternative (ALT) text styled with CSS font-sizes and colors, and encode vital brand logos directly as Base64 data URIs. In your HubSpot campaign manager, make sure you configure your links to run via {{ unsubscribe_link }}.
<img src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAADIA..." width="150" height="40" alt="Company Logo" style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: #111111; font-weight: bold; border: 0;">Live Code Sandbox Test
How to Deploy inside HubSpot
Copy the fixed VML or table wrapper code block from the remediation box above.
In HubSpot's Design Manager, edit the modules section. Create a 'Rich Text' or 'HTML' module block. Double-click the block, choose 'Tools' or 'Advanced', click 'Source Code', and drop the code snippet inside.