Send a Message with an Inline Embedded Image with Gmail

This n8n workflow demonstrates how to send an email via Gmail with an inline-embedded image. This is particularly useful for creating rich, visually appealing emails where the image is part of the email body, rather than an attachment.

What it does

This workflow performs the following steps:

1. Manual Trigger: Starts the workflow manually, allowing you to execute it on demand.
2. Edit Fields (Set): Defines the necessary email parameters such as the recipient's email address, subject, and the HTML body of the email. This node is crucial for constructing the email content, including the cid: (Content-ID) reference for the inline image.
3. HTTP Request: Fetches the image from a specified URL. This image will be embedded inline in the Gmail message.
4. Extract from File: Processes the binary data of the fetched image, preparing it for embedding.
5. Gmail: Sends the email using the configured Gmail account. It uses the data from the "Edit Fields" node for the email content and includes the binary image data from "Extract from File" as an inline attachment, referenced by the cid: in the HTML body.
6. Sticky Note: Provides additional context or instructions within the workflow.

Prerequisites/Requirements

• n8n Instance: A running instance of n8n.
• Gmail Account: A Google account with Gmail enabled.
• Gmail OAuth2 Credential: An n8n credential configured for your Gmail account using OAuth2.
• Image URL: A publicly accessible URL for the image you wish to embed.

Setup/Usage

1. Import the Workflow: Import the provided JSON into your n8n instance.
2. Configure Gmail Credential:
   • Click on the "Gmail" node.
   • Under "Credentials", select an existing Gmail OAuth2 credential or create a new one. Follow the n8n documentation for setting up Gmail OAuth2 credentials if you need assistance.
3. Configure Email Details:
   • Click on the "Edit Fields" (Set) node.
   • Update the toEmail, subject, and htmlBody values as needed. Ensure the htmlBody contains an <img> tag with a src="cid:myimage" attribute, where myimage is the Content-ID you'll specify in the Gmail node.
4. Configure Image URL:
   • Click on the "HTTP Request" node.
   • Update the URL field to point to the image you want to embed.
5. Configure Gmail Node for Inline Image:
   • Click on the "Gmail" node.
   • Ensure the "Resource" is set to "Message" and "Operation" is set to "Send".
   • Under "Attachments", add a new item.
     • Set "Content ID" to myimage (or whatever you used in the cid: in your HTML body).
     • Set "Data" to reference the binary data from the "Extract from File" node. You can typically drag and drop the output from "Extract from File" here or use an expression like {{ $node["Extract from File"].binary.data }}.
     • Set "File Name" to a suitable name for the image (e.g., myimage.png).
6. Execute the Workflow: Click "Execute Workflow" to run the workflow and send the email.