High spam score: HTML_IMAGE_RATIO
SpamAssassin flagged your message because the ratio of images to text is too high — a classic spam signal.
Impact — Medium impact
Image-heavy emails with little text are a top SpamAssassin flag. Each HTML_IMAGE_RATIO_* rule adds 1-3 points to your spam score. Combined with other signals, this is often what pushes mail into Junk.
What causes it
- You built an email in a design tool (Mailchimp, Figma, Canva) and exported entirely as images.
- A newsletter template uses images for headlines, buttons, and dividers instead of HTML/CSS.
- You pasted a screenshot of text instead of actual text.
- You're hiding text in images to avoid filter detection (an actual spam tactic — don't do this).
How to fix it
Step 1: Use real HTML text for everything readable
Headlines, body copy, buttons, and CTAs should all be live HTML text. Use web-safe fonts or email-safe webfonts (System UI, Arial, Georgia).
Step 2: Reserve images for actual visual content
Hero images, product shots, photos. Not text, not layout structure, not buttons.
Step 3: Target a 60/40 text-to-image ratio minimum
By pixel count, your HTML text should outweigh image area. Count visible text; alt attributes don't count.
Fixed it? Run a fresh test to confirm.
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