For larger or complex images however, the resulting code can be monstrous, so what are the practical applications? Well, a small graphic or logo displayed instantly may be enough to spark interest or to reassure the recipient as to the sender or the email’s value and go on to read or download the rest of the email.

Another possibility is to scale up the ‘pixel size’ so that a small graphic displays much larger using the same amount of code. The result is an obviously ‘pixelated’ image – but this could be used creatively to good effect in an email design – think pixel art, or Ceefax 2.0