How to Embed a PDF in an Email

How to Embed a PDF in an Email

Usually, sending a PDF by e-mail involves adding it as an attachment to the e-mail. But what if you want to embed a PDF in an email? It can be tricky to get pdfs to appear in emails properly, but luckily, we can help. This article will explain how to do this.

Insert PDF to Embed it

In some e-mail applications, you can embed a PDF in an e-mail with the Insert function. This generally works on older email clients, so if this doesn’t work for you, continue reading for other embedding options.

Open the email in your email client.
Click the “Insert” tab in your email.
Select “Object.”
Select the type of object you want to insert from the drop-down menu. In this case, select “Adobe Acrobat Document.”
Click “OK.”
Navigate to the PDF you want to embed. Click on the PDF and select “Open” or “OK” to complete the action. Some email clients will give you a preview screen before proceeding. You can then return to your email.

As previously stated, many new email platforms such as Outlook and Google no longer support this process. If your email doesn’t allow it, or if the embedded image is at poor resolution, continue reading for more ideas.

Embedding a PDF in an Email as an Image

Another way to embed a PDF into an email is to convert the PDF to an image. For best results, you need to use a high-quality image converter. You can do this with an app like “Soda PDF” or on websites like SmallPDF.com. If you have the paid version of Adobe Acrobat, this can also help you with that. Then proceed to insert your image, following the appropriate steps for your email below.

Embed Images with Gmail

Compose a message in Gmail.
Click the icon that looks like a mountain to select “Insert photo”.
Hover over your PDF image and select it.

Embed Image with Outlook

Open the email in Outlook.
Click the icon that looks like a clip and attach your file.”
Hover over your PDF image and select it.

Embed Images with Thunderbird

Open and compose a message in Thunderbird.
Click on the icon that looks like a piece of paper with the corner facing down to enter something.
Select “Image” from the drop-down menu.
Browse to the PDF image you want to insert and select it.

The PDF may need to be saved page by page, as each page is a separate image. This is a great solution if your email doesn’t support object insertion.

Embed PDF as Text File

If the PDF you want to embed is all text-based, you can convert it to a text file and embed it. Adobe Acrobat, both paid and free versions, can do that for you. Just open a PDF file in Adobe and select “Save as text” from the File menu. Then the PDF file can be copied just like copying plain text and pasting it into an e-mail.

Embed PDF as HTML Code

Want to send a newsletter or Christmas card via email? Embedding PDFs with HTML code is a great way to do it. Follow these steps to try it:

Attach the PDF file to an email and send it to yourself. Open the email and scroll down. Click “View as HTML” to view the PDF file as HTML. Select the “View” menu. Select “Source” or “Page Source”. This is the HTML code for your PDF. Select and copy this code. Open a new email message and paste the code into the body of the email. We recommend sending it to yourself first to make sure it displays correctly.

You can also use many online tools to convert PDF to HTML code and can copy and paste it like the steps above. This is a great way to embed PDFs in emails.

Embed PDF Files with Apps

The final way to embed a PDF file in an email is to find an application to do it. Websites like pdfFiller.com advertise apps or services that can do everything with PDF documents, including embedding them in emails. Most won’t be completely free, so if you can embed a PDF without using this tool, it will save you quite a bit of money. The pdfFiller app in particular comes with a 30 day free trial which you may find useful.

Attach PDF to Email

If you don’t really need to embed a PDF, and you just want to send it to others regardless of how you obtained it, you can always send it as an attachment. To do this, follow these steps:

Open your email. Select the paperclip icon to add an attachment to the email. Navigate to the location in the browser where the PDF is saved. Select PDF. Select “Done” or “Insert” to complete the PDF attachment. Send the email as usual.

Attaching files to emails is easy if you don’t like embedding them for outside reasons. Most people are familiar with attachments, and they allow recipients to easily download and view or modify files.

Why Would You Embed a PDF in an Email?

In most cases, it doesn’t matter how the attachment is sent in an email as long as it gets to its destination. So why is it important to embed PDFs instead of attaching them?

The main benefit of embedding files is that recipients can view them as soon as they open the email. Unlike attachments which must first be downloaded or viewed separately from the email, the contents of an embedded file are visible within the text body of the email. This can save time and ensure recipients don’t miss it.

Another reason embedding files might be useful is if the recipient can’t download the attached file to view it on a computer. Someone who works on a public computer may not want to view sensitive attachments because the computer may store them in the downloads folder. Viewing the content in the email resolves this issue.

We’ve all been in the position where we sent an email… and completely forgot the attachment we wanted to send. It can save you from this embarrassing situation by making sure you include the file when typing the email text.

The last reason to use a pdf embed tool in an email is to grab the reader’s attention. It’s much more interesting to see the contents of a file immediately after viewing an email than having to wait for an attachment to open.

Automatic PDF File Embedding

Sometimes, changes are made in your email client without your knowledge, and suddenly all your attachments become embedded files. If this happens to you, don’t worry, it’s an easy fix. When this happens, it is generally because the email settings have been changed to “Rich Text”. When this happens, all attachments are automatically placed in the body of your email.

To fix the problem, open your email settings menu and look for the option to “Compose Message” in a specific format. Change the format to “HTML” instead of “Rich Text”. Or, if you prefer automatic embedding, you can intentionally set your composition format to “Rich Text”. Embedding PDF Files in Emails

Fortunately there are many ways to email a PDF, even if you want to embed the PDF instead of attaching it. If looks aren’t important to you and the file is small enough, simply attach it to an email. If you want the recipient to be impressed with your design, or the attachment is too large to send through a regular email client, embedding the pdf can solve this problem.

Did you use our article to help you embed a PDF file in an email? Tell us about it and why you chose to embed the file in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include affiliate links. This does not affect our editorial in any way.

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