Inserting a picture into an email message

[Graham.]

If I drag an image file to the TB compose window two columns appear. One side is for in-line and the other for attachment you simply drop the file in the appropriate one. Very intuitive.

[Chris Hogg]

Sounds easy, doesn't it. Well, I can't get it to work!

For example, instructions on Lifewire say: Open Thunderbird and select Write to begin a new message. Put the cursor where you want the image to appear in the body of the email. Select Insert > Image from the menu. Select Choose File. Navigate to the image file on your device and select Open.

Lines 1 and 2 are OK, but line 3 says 'Select Insert > Image from the menu'

But there is no 'Insert' command on my screen, anywhere! The toolbar only contains File Edit View Options Tools Help. None of the drop-down menus from those toolbar headings say anything about Insert, nor can I see about Insert under Account Settings or Settings

Another version of instructions says to press F10 to show the Insert temporarily. It doesn't. Nothing happens. I don't seem to be able to generate an 'Insert' command any way. So how do I get an 'insert' command to appear on my . I don't want to simply add pictures as attachments. I know how to do that!

How can it be so difficult to insert a picture? Grrrr!

I'm using T'bird version 102.15.1 Win 10

[mm0fmf]

I think you have to be creating HTML format emails for the insert menu to appear.

[Michael Chare]

Do you not see a paper clip and "attach" in the top right corner of the new message?

[Tim Streater]

I imagine that's for attachments. Chris wants to insert an inline image.

[John Rumm]

Not at all, but (and you knew there would be one of those!), you must be sending a HTML email rather than plain text one.

The default for a new install is to send HTML. However you may have configured it at some point to use plain text.

You can start a new message in the non default format by holding shift when you click the New Message button.

You can tell which you are using by looking at the layout of the edit window:

[Andy Burns]

Presumably "they" are defaulting to html emails, and you are defaulting to plain text?

Simplty hold shift at the time you click "write", then that specific email will be composed as html

[Chris Hogg]

Wahey! It works! Thanks to all for the help. I did have the 'sending format' set to Plain Text. Probably set it that way many years ago and never needed it different. Now set to Automatic.

Thanks again.

[Theo]

Ah, brilliant. That also works for Reply, Forward etc. Very handy when you want to quote an HTML mail - TB makes a mess of turning HTML into plain text when quoting.

Theo

[The Natural Philosopher]

Go to picture. Right click select 'copy image' In thunderbird select 'paste' from edit menu. Or use ctrl-V

[Chris Hogg]

Doesn't work for me if I have 'text only' selected in the 'send format' under 'settings' (which I did have and probably had for quite a few years). In that situation, dragging an image into the compose window on TB adds the image as an attachment, but not into the main body of the text, which was what I was wanting. Getting the latter to happen only seems to work when I have either automatic, both HTML and plain text, or only HTML selected.

Perhaps the latest version of TB does what you describe, but I'm avoiding upgrading as I've seen reports that it presents rather differently to older versions, and life is complicated enough...

[Tim Streater]

This is unsurprising. A chunk of plain text can contain no markers or anything else to indicate just where the image(s) need to sit relative to surrounding bits of text (you'd see them if there were). Whereas html is designed for the purpose.

[John Rumm]

No, the current version will be the same. That is by design. Plain text emails can have attachments and that is all. You can't embed an image or do anything else at all "fancy" because there is no way to include that information in a plain text message in a readable form and keep it as plain text.