How to Create & Use Email Design Templates

Design Templates control your email's look and feel — logo bar, colors, fonts, and the CTA footer. Every Campaign uses exactly one. Swap it any time and your copy adapts automatically.

Design Template vs. Content Template

Think of a Design Template as the frame around your email and a Content Template as the body copy and layout inside it. They are separate and mix-and-match.

Design Template Content Template
Controls Logo bar, brand colors, fonts, header & footer images, CTA button Body copy, text layout, images, multi-column sections
Found at Email → Design Templates Email → Content Templates

You can change the Design Template on a Campaign at any time without losing your copy. When you switch, we automatically re-wrap your content inside the new header and footer.

Design Templates Settings Reference

Open any design template at Email → Design Templates → Edit. The left panel holds all settings; the right panel shows a live preview.

Setting What it controls
Display Name Internal label shown in the design picker. Not visible to email recipients.
Brand Color Primary hex color. Applied to the logo bar, headings (H1–H3), and border accents. Becomes the --main-color CSS variable in the email.
Logo Brand logo image shown in the header bar. Upload from your media library.
Logo Alignment Left / Center / Right position of the logo inside the header bar.
Logo Bar Color Background color of the header bar. Defaults to the brand color if left blank.
Header Image Optional full-width image displayed behind the logo in the header bar.
Footer Image Optional full-width image displayed behind the CTA button in the footer bar.
Header Font Google Font for headings (H1, H2, H3). Falls back to system sans-serif if the client does not support web fonts.
Body Font Google Font for body text. Inherits the header font if not set separately.
CTA Preset Predefined call-to-action label (e.g. SHOP NOW, LEARN MORE). Set to None to hide the CTA button entirely.
CTA Bar Color Background color of the footer bar behind the CTA button.
CTA Button Color Solid fill color for the CTA button. Also sets the --accent-color CSS variable used for in-body accent elements.
CTA Text Color Label color on the CTA button. Should contrast well with the button fill.
Email Background Background color of the canvas behind the email container. Becomes --background-color.

How Brand Colors Work

When we render an email, the system injects your Design Template settings as CSS custom properties. Any HTML in your email body can reference these variables so colors update automatically when you switch design templates.

CSS Variable Maps To
--main-color Your Brand Color — used for headings, the logo bar, and border accents
--accent-color Your CTA Button Color — solid fill; use for buttons and colored callout blocks
--background-color Your Email Background color — use for card/panel backgrounds that match the canvas
--text-color Fixed at #333333 — default body copy; not editable per theme

Important: always include a hex fallback

Some email clients (Gmail Android app, older Outlook) strip the <style> block and CSS variables stop working. Always write the hex value first, then the CSS variable, so those clients still get the right color:

<!-- Correct: hex fallback first, then CSS var -->
<p style="color:#009933; color:var(--main-color);">Brand text</p>
<div style="background:#1A1A1A; background:var(--accent-color); padding:20px;">
  CTA block
</div>

<!-- Wrong: CSS var only — invisible in Gmail Android -->
<p style="color:var(--main-color);">This may be invisible</p>

Use the current theme's primary hex as the fallback value. The actual brand color is substituted at send time — the fallback just ensures a readable result in clients that block CSS.

Adding Custom HTML

Design Templates are stored as HTML. When you create or edit a Design Template you can write that HTML directly in the Editor.

Two Paths for Custom HTML:

  • Layout HTML (here): Write or paste HTML in the Design Template editor to define the layout shell — columns, sections, image placements. Every campaign using this design shares the same layout.
  • Body-copy HTML (Content Templates): Use a Content Template's source mode to write reusable body copy as HTML — headlines, paragraphs, product blocks — that can be applied to any Design Template without changing its layout structure.

Allowed HTML Tags

Get Shouting sanitizes all email body HTML for security and cross-client compatibility. Only the following tags are kept — everything else is stripped on save:

p   br   strong   b   em   i   u   ul   ol   li
a   span   div   h1   h2   h3
img   table   tbody   thead   tfoot   tr   td   th   hr

Images

Every image needs these inline styles or it may break in Outlook and resize incorrectly on mobile:

<img
  src="https://yourdomain.com/image.jpg"
  alt="Description of the image"
  style="max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;border:0;outline:none;text-decoration:none;"
/>
  • max-width:100%;height:auto — prevents images from breaking mobile layout
  • display:block — removes the whitespace gap below images in table cells
  • border:0;outline:none;text-decoration:none — removes link borders in Outlook
  • Use full https:// URLs for all images. Relative paths will not work in sent emails.

Multi-Column Layout

CSS flexbox and grid are not supported by Outlook or many mobile clients. Use role="presentation" tables for columns instead:

<table role="presentation" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%">
  <tr>
    <td class="stack" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top;padding-right:8px;">
      <p>Left column content</p>
    </td>
    <td class="stack" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top;padding-left:8px;">
      <p>Right column content</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

Adding class="stack" to <td> elements makes the columns collapse to full-width on mobile screens (≤ 600 px).

Using brand colors in your HTML

Reference CSS variables so your layout automatically picks up the design theme's colors (brand color, accent, background). Always include a hex fallback — clients that strip <style> blocks will use the inline hex value:

<!-- Brand primary color -->
<h2 style="color:#009933; color:var(--main-color);">Section Heading</h2>

<!-- CTA / accent color block -->
<div style="background:#1A1A1A; background:var(--accent-color); padding:20px; border-radius:6px;">
  <p style="color:#ffffff; margin:0;">Featured offer text here</p>
</div>

<!-- Background-matching card -->
<div style="background:#F8F8F8; background:var(--background-color); padding:20px; border-radius:8px;">
  <p>Card content that blends with the email canvas.</p>
</div>

<!-- Accent border rule -->
<hr style="border:none; border-top:3px solid #009933; border-top-color:var(--main-color); width:60px; margin:20px auto;" />

Replace the hex fallback values with the colors from your current design template so the email looks correct even in clients that cannot read CSS variables.

The <HTML> button — what it actually does

The <HTML> button in the editor toolbar is not a source-mode toggle. Clicking it opens an informational tooltip listing which HTML tags are allowed. There is no mode switch. To use HTML, simply paste or type it directly into the editor body — the editor parses and renders it inline.

Where custom HTML lives in a Design Template

Design Templates are stored as HTML — the body layout is the template's htmlContent field in the database. In the Design Template editor, the Sample Copy field (the body preview area) uses the same editor and accepts HTML. You write or paste HTML directly into that area; the editor renders it immediately.

Important: The Sample Copy body area in the Design Template editor is for preview only — it shows how your brand colors, fonts, and logo bar look with representative body content. It is stored as copy on the design theme record and is not sent in real emails. The layout HTML for system gallery templates is managed by platform admins and is not directly editable through the brand UI.

Pasting HTML into the preview body

  1. Go to Email → Design Templates and open or create a template.
  2. In the right panel, click into the Sample Copy body area.
  3. Paste or type your HTML directly — there is no mode toggle. The editor renders it as you type.
  4. The <HTML> button in the toolbar opens a tooltip listing allowed tags. Hover over it if you need a quick reference.
  5. Click Save. The HTML is stored as the design theme's sample copy and appears in the live preview.

You do not need to include <html>, <head>, or <body> tags — only the body content area.

Applying a Design Template

When Creating a Campaign

  1. Go to Email → Campaigns and click Create Campaign.
  2. On the New Campaign page, the left column shows the Design Template selector.
  3. Click to open the selector overlay and pick a theme. The preview updates immediately.
  4. Save to create the draft with your chosen design.

In the Campaign Editor

  1. Open the campaign editor (Email → Campaigns → Edit).
  2. The Design Template picker appears in the left/top panel.
  3. Click it to open the selector overlay and choose a different template.
  4. If you already have body copy, Get Shouting will automatically re-fit your content into the new template layout using AI.

In a Journey Email Step

  1. Go to Email → Journeys.
  2. Find your Journey and locate the Design Template dropdown for the Email Step on the right panel of the Journey Builder.
  3. Select the theme for that Journey's email step — this applies to every email that Journey sends.

Creating a Custom Design Template

Pro or Agency plan required

Creating and editing your own Design Templates is available on the Pro and Agency plans. All plans can use the system gallery templates.

Opening the Editor

  1. Go to Email → Design Templates (/email/themes).
  2. Click Create Design Template to start from a blank canvas, or click the menu on any existing template and choose Duplicate to start from a copy of it.
  3. The editor opens: settings panel on the left, live preview on the right.

Editor walkthrough

Work through each section in the left panel. The preview updates as you make changes.

1. Name Your Template

Set a Display Name — this appears in the design template picker when you or your team selects a theme for a campaign. Keep it descriptive (e.g. "Summer Sale Dark" or "Newsletter Minimal").

2. Set your brand color

Pick a hex color using the color picker. This becomes the primary color across the email:

  • Logo bar background (if no separate logo bar color is set)
  • H1, H2, H3 heading color in the email body
  • Divider lines and accent borders
  • Injected as the --main-color CSS variable

3. Upload Your Logo

Click Upload Logo to choose from your media library or upload a new file. Recommended specs:

  • PNG or SVG with a transparent background works best on colored logo bars
  • Landscape (wider than tall) — the editor crops to a fixed height
  • At least 300 px wide for sharp rendering on high-DPI screens

Use Logo Alignment to position the logo left, center, or right inside the header bar.

4. Logo Bar Color (optional)

Override the header bar background independently from the Brand color. Useful when your brand color is light but the logo needs a dark bar, or vice versa. Leave blank to inherit the brand color.

5. Header and Footer Images (optional)

Add a Header Image to display a full-width photo or graphic behind the logo bar. Add a Footer Image to place a background image behind the CTA button in the footer bar.

  • Recommended size: 1200 × 300 px minimum for the Header
  • The image is centered and cropped to the bar height — keep key artwork in the center strip
  • Outlook renders these images via VML fallbacks automatically; no action required

6. Fonts

Choose fonts for Header Font (H1–H3) and Body Font (paragraphs). The editor loads a preview of each font in the live preview panel.

Web fonts are loaded in the <head> of the email. Clients that block external CSS (some Outlook versions) fall back to the system sans-serif stack automatically.

7. CTA button

Configure the call-to-action button that appears in the footer bar:

  • CTA Preset — choose a label (SHOP NOW, LEARN MORE, EXPLORE, ORDER NOW, etc.) or set to None to hide the button entirely
  • CTA Bar Color — background color of the footer bar surrounding the button
  • CTA Button Color — the solid button fill. This also sets the --accent-color CSS variable used in the body
  • CTA Text Color — the label text color on the button; make sure it contrasts well with the button fill

The CTA button links to the campaign's configured call-to-action URL at send time.

8. Email background color

Sets the background color of the canvas behind the email container (the area visible outside the 600 px email body). This becomes the --background-color CSS variable. A light gray or off-white helps the white email container stand out.

Saving and Using Your Template

  1. Click Save. The template is immediately available in all campaign and journey design selectors for your brand.
  2. To edit later, return to Email → Design Templates, find your template, and click Edit. Changes apply to all future renders of campaigns using that template — already-sent emails are not affected.
  3. To remove a template, click Delete from the template menu. Templates currently set on active campaigns cannot be deleted — reassign those campaigns first.

The editor warns you before navigating away with unsaved changes. It does not auto-save while you are actively editing — click Save when you are ready to commit.

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Custom HTML color looks wrong in some email clients Add a hex fallback before the CSS variable: color:#009933; color:var(--main-color);
Images not showing in sent email Use full https:// URLs. Relative paths and local file paths do not work in sent emails.
Two-column layout breaks on mobile Use role="presentation" tables with class="stack" on each <td> to stack columns on mobile.
My <style> block was removed <style> tags inside email body copy are stripped. Move all styles to inline style="" attributes on each element.
Logo bar color not matching brand Open the design template editor and check the Logo Bar Color setting. If blank it inherits the Brand Color.
CTA button not showing in footer Check the CTA Preset setting — if it's set to None, the button is hidden. Pick a preset like SHOP NOW to show it.
Template not appearing in selector Refresh the campaign editor page. New templates may take a moment to appear.
Cannot delete a design template Remove the template from all active campaigns and journeys first, then delete.
Create Design Template button missing Creating custom templates requires a Pro or Agency plan. See pricing to upgrade.

Next Steps