PC Win: Images Pasted into a Mail Message Are Blank

• Microsoft Mail for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 3.2, and 3.2a

SYMPTOMS

If an image is cut from another application and pasted into a Mail message, it may not be visible to the recipients. When the recipient reads the message, the space where the image should be will be blank. If the recipient double-clicks the blank space, the following error message appears:

   Pictures and bitmaps cannot be activated.

CAUSE

This is because the Windows Clipboard pastes the image into the message using a device-dependent format based on the video driver. Once the message reaches the recipient's machine, the image will only be seen if the video driver can understand the information from the sender's machine.

RESOLUTION

The sender should paste the image into Paintbrush, then save it as a bitmap (.BMP) file. The sender can attach the .BMP to the Mail message. Because .BMP files are device-independent, all recipients will be able to see the image when they double-click the Paintbrush icon in the Mail message, assuming they have Paintbrush installed.