Image-Sliced Emails vs HTML from Figma: Which Should You Use?
In short
Slice images for campaign art you refuse to butcher. Use HTML when copy changes weekly or text must stay live. Plenty of teams do both.
“Figma to Klaviyo” is two industries sharing a slogan. One exports a flat design and slices it into image blocks. The other maps layers into HTML (or MJML / React Email) and hopes the components survive the trip. Buy the wrong family and you will spend a quarter fighting tools that were never meant for your workflow.
Side by side
| Image-sliced | HTML from Figma | |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | Matches the artboard | As good as your component mapping |
| Copy edits in the ESP | Painful (text is pixels) | Normal (live text) |
| Klaviyo DnD | Natural fit | Depends on the exporter |
| File weight | Heavier; needs compression | Usually lighter |
| Localization | Re-export per language | Swap strings in modules |
| Best default for | Campaign art, promos | Lifecycle, transactional, heavy iteration |
When I slice
Marketing wants the email to look like the Figma file, not like a cousin of the Figma file. The brand is picky about type on image. The team already thinks in Klaviyo image blocks. Turnaround matters more than “change the headline in three locales without a designer.”
That is Autosliced’s lane: export, auto-slice, fix the cuts, alt text, compress, publish. You accept the cost of re-exporting when copy on the image changes, because the alternative is a week of HTML reconciliation for a two-day flash sale.
When I want HTML
Copy changes every other day. Legal rewrites the disclaimer weekly. Three languages share one layout. Accessibility reviewers want real headings, not twelve alts. Then image slicing is the wrong hammer. Tools like Marka, Emailify, Email Love, Mailkick, MigmaAI live here, and they should not be graded as “automatic image slicers.”
The hybrid nobody admits is normal
Agencies often slice weekly promos and keep HTML modules for welcome flows and receipts. That is not inconsistency; it is matching tool to email type. Forcing one stack for everything is how you get either ugly lifecycle mail or unmaintainable campaign HTML.
Accessibility, without the lecture
Image-sliced is higher risk if you skip alt text. With real per-slice alt and decorative flags, it can pass a serious QA pass. HTML still wins for long readable body copy. If your email is mostly paragraphs, stop slicing and build HTML.
FAQ
Can we start sliced and switch later?
Yes, but you rebuild. Treat the choice as “this campaign type,” not a forever identity. Switching mid-season without a plan is how archives become a museum of half-migrated templates.
Which tools for slicing specifically?
This roundup. Different list from the HTML exporters.
Try it on a real email
Drop a Figma export into Autosliced, fix the cuts that miss, and push a Klaviyo draft. Free while early access lasts (through July 31, 2026).
Open Autosliced