Outlook for Windows has an option when attaching files, under the arrow on the 'Insert' button on the file upload dialog box, called "Insert as text". When used with HTML files, it converts the HTML into the body of the email text as a HTML email from the file, and attaches all linked images so that they are bundled with the email and shown in the email. It's handy for making emails or for easy testing of mailshot templates.
Outlook for Mac doesn't have this feature. The nearest workaround I can find is copying the HTML from select-all on a web browser. Unfortunately, this requires hosting images on a web server instead of including them with the email correctly formatted as per the HTML*.
Is there a way to put the code and images of a HTML file into the body of an email in Outlook for Mac 2011, like using the Attach file > Insert button dropdown > Insert as text feature in Outlook for Windows?
**Obviously, externally hosting images rather than attaching them is good practice for a real, serious final mailshot. But this isn't a real serious final mailshot (if it was I wouldn't be using Outlook…), it's small-scale formatted emails and tests/iterations which (for complicated reasons) can't be done in a proper HTML email handling system*
Best Answer
I'm not in front of my mac to try at the moment, but your description sounds a lot like the way Apple's mail.app handles image attachments. They are (or at least they can be if you choose to) rendered in-line, in the body of the email text.
I don't know what's happening in the background there (html, code, etc.), but have you tried composing your message in mail.app and copy/pasting into Outlook, or perhaps use mail.app to send yourself a properly rendered message and view source, or something to that effect... to then import the composed message, images in-line, into Outlook?