Some images display in the wrong orientation — sideways or upside-down — when your campaign is viewed in Classic Outlook, even though they look correct in the Email Builder and in New Outlook. This happens because of hidden orientation data saved inside the image file, and you can fix it by re-saving the image in an image editor before you upload it.
Why do images rotate in Classic Outlook?
The cause is EXIF data — extra information that phones and digital cameras embed inside a photo file. EXIF data includes an orientation tag: a note that tells software how to rotate the photo when displaying it, so a picture taken sideways still appears upright.
Most software reads and applies this orientation tag, including the ContactMonkey Email Builder, New Outlook, and web browsers. Classic Outlook does not. Classic Outlook uses an older rendering engine that ignores the EXIF orientation tag, so it displays the raw pixels as they were captured — which can appear rotated or flipped.
How do I fix an image that rotates in Classic Outlook?
You can correct the orientation directly in the Email Builder:
- Select the image within your draft
- Click Apply effects in the properties menu on the right
- Click Transform
- Rotate the image 360° until it is right-side up again
- Click Apply → Save
- Repeat for all other affected images
- Click Save and Exit, then resend the campaign
