Email Editor

You'll find the editor in Step 3 (Content) when creating a campaign, or when creating/editing a template.

Two Ways to Build

At the top of the content area, you'll see a toggle to switch between two editing modes:

Block Editor -- The visual, drag-and-click way to build emails. This is the default and the one most people will want to use.
HTML Editor -- A plain text area where you can paste or write raw HTML. Great if you have a pre-built template from a designer or another tool.

You can switch between them at any time, but be aware that switching modes may affect your content.

The Block Editor Layout

The block editor is split into three panels:

This is your toolbox. It lists all 10 block types you can add to your email. Just click any block type to add it to the bottom of your email.

Here are the available blocks:

Block	What It Does
Header	Your email's top section. Add a logo image, alt text, logo width, a tagline, and control alignment and colors.
Text	A paragraph of text. Supports rich content, font size, text color, line height, and alignment.
Image	A full-width image. Paste in an image URL, add alt text, set the width, and optionally link it somewhere.
Button	A call-to-action button. Set the button text, link URL, button color, text color, border radius, and font size.
Divider	A horizontal line to separate sections. Choose the color, line width, and style (solid, dashed, or dotted).
Spacer	Empty vertical space. Set the height to control how much breathing room you want between sections.
Columns	A multi-column layout with configurable widths, useful for side-by-side content.
Social	Social media icon links. Choose horizontal or vertical layout, set the icon size, and add links to your profiles.
Footer	The bottom of your email. Add footer text, contact info, and it automatically includes unsubscribe/manage preferences links.
HTML	A raw HTML block for when you need full control over a specific section.

Center Panel -- Live Preview

This is where your email takes shape. As you add blocks, they stack up here in order, giving you a visual representation of how your email will look.

Click any block to select it (you'll see an orange border around the selected block).
Hover over a block to reveal the Move Up, Move Down, and Delete controls in the top-right corner.
Reorder blocks by clicking the up/down arrows that appear on hover.
Remove a block by clicking the delete button (the X icon).

When your email is empty, you'll see a friendly message: “Click a block type on the left to start building your email.”

Right Panel -- Block Settings

When you click a block in the preview area, the settings panel appears on the right side. The options shown here change depending on which type of block you've selected.

For example, selecting a Text block shows fields for content, font size, text color, line height, alignment, background color, and padding. Selecting a Button block shows fields for button text, link URL, button color, text color, border radius, and more.

Every block has at least a background color and most have padding and alignment controls, so you can fine-tune spacing and positioning.

To close the settings panel, click the X in the top-right corner of the panel.

Personalizing with Merge Tags

You can insert merge tags into your text, subject lines, and other content fields to personalize each email for the recipient. For example:

{{first_name}} -- Inserts the subscriber's first name
{{last_name}} -- Inserts the subscriber's last name
{{email}} -- Inserts the subscriber's email address

Just type the merge tag directly into any text field. When the email is sent, Punchmail will automatically replace these tags with each subscriber's actual data.

Loading from a Template

Don't want to start from scratch? Use the Load from Template dropdown (located above the editor) to pull in content from any saved template -- including the built-in starter templates. Select a template from the dropdown and its blocks will be loaded into your editor.

This is a great way to maintain consistent branding across campaigns.

Preview

In the template editor, click the Preview button in the top bar to compile your blocks into a fully rendered email and see it in a preview modal. This shows you exactly how your email will look in a recipient's inbox, with all the responsive formatting applied.

A/B Testing Content

When you set your campaign type to A/B Test (in Step 1), the content area changes to support two variants:

Variant A and Variant B tabs appear at the top of the content section.
Each variant gets its own subject line and its own set of content blocks.
You can set the split percentage for each variant (e.g., 50/50, 70/30) using the percentage inputs next to the variant tabs.

Click between the tabs to design each variant independently. This lets you test different subject lines, layouts, or messaging to see what performs best.

HTML Editor Mode

If you switch to the HTML Editor, you'll get a large text area where you can paste or write your complete HTML email. A few things to know:

Merge tags like {{first_name}} work in HTML mode too -- they'll be replaced automatically when sending.
Tracking pixels are injected automatically; you don't need to add them yourself.
There's no block-level editing in this mode -- it's just you and the HTML.

Tips for Great Emails

Always include a Footer block -- It automatically adds unsubscribe and manage-preferences links, which are required for compliance.
Keep it simple -- A header, a few text blocks, an image, a button, and a footer make a clean, effective email.
Test before sending -- Use the Send Test Email feature in Step 4 (Review & Send) to send yourself a preview before it goes out to your list.
Use preview text -- The Preview Text field (above the editor in campaign creation) controls the snippet shown after your subject line in the inbox. Make it count.