How to Add an Image to Your Gmail Signature

November 26, 2018
E-Mail

I initially wrote this post, How to Add an Image to Your Gmail Signature in 2009 when it was challenging to add a graphic or image to a signature in Gmail. Can you believe that this one post continues to get an average of 60 views a day?

I the past it was quite challenging to add a graphic or image to a signature in Gmail. I’m happy to report that over the years, Google has made the process much more manageable and we’ve been updating this post with new information as things change. But, today I’m going to share a great way to make it even easier to design a handsome email signature for Gmail.

Why Include an Email Signature?

I’m a big proponent of creating an email “signature” that will be automatically appended to the bottom of each of the email messages you send out. One reason is that it makes you look polished and professional. But the biggest reason I like to see an email signature is so that I can easily grab someone’s phone number from a recent email when I need to make a quick call – rather than having to email them to get their number!

Tips for Creating Your Email Signature

Keep it Small
Although Google gives you the option of using up to 10,000 characters to create your Gmail signature, please don’t go crazy. When you provide too much information, people tend to get overwhelmed with the junk and don’t end up taking in any of it. The other reason to be reasonable with the information you add to the signature is that unwieldy messages may not work well on mobile devices.

At a minimum, you need your name, phone number. If you have a business, include the name and link it the website. You don’t need to add your email address since your reader will already have it. You can include your photo or a company logo. And, perhaps you’d like to include a link to sign-up for an appointment or to subscribe to your mailing list.

Keep it Simple
Don’t bother with fancy fonts or formatting. Gmail uses only eleven fonts, and if you choose some other font for your email signature, it will default to one of their default fonts. I used normal size and sans-serif font for my signature for New Tricks Web Design Atlanta.

Let’s get Started on adding Email Signature to Gmail:

In the upper right-hand corner, next to your e-mail address, there is an image of a gear. Click on the gear, and it will take you to Settings, General.

Navigate down the page until you come to “Signature.”
Under the option of “No Signature, you’ll see a drop-down showing all of the e-mail addresses you’ve set up in your Gmail account. You can create a separate email signature for each of the email addresses you use to send messages.

Select the e-mail address you want to create a signature for. Type and format the contents you’d like to have in your email signature in the text box. You can add an image by selecting the icon to the right of the chain link and choosing an image from your computer. You can include hyperlinks to your website or social media accounts by highlighting the words to be linked and then clicking the chain link icon which will bring up the box for you to enter the entire URL of the webpage you want to hyperlink to, starting with https://.

Want More Formatting in Your Signature?

The Gmail Signature edit box will handle adding text, links, and images. If you’d like to have more complex formatting, you’ll quickly realize that you can’t do it in the Gmail signature text editor. An easy workaround is to create your email signature in a Google Doc and once you completed it, copy and paste it into the Gmail email signature text box!

Let’s show you how.

Open a new Google Doc and add a table. I’ve selected one row with two columns.
Add the elements of your signature to the table. I’ve added an image to the left column and typed text into the right column.
To remove the borders around the table, right-click anywhere inside the table and select “Table Properties.” Change the table border to 0 pt. You can align the text to the center of your image by changing the Cell Vertical Alignment to “Middle.”
Highlight your signature in the Google Doc and copy it to the clipboard.
Go back to your Gmail Settings, Signature text box and paste the signature you created in Google Docs into the Gmail text box. Although you can’t build a table in the Gmail Signature text box, the signature you created in your Google Doc will display when you paste it into the Gmail Signature text box.

Now you’re ready to test your email signature. Send yourself an email and view it on both desktop and mobile to make sure the formatting works for both. If so you’re good to go. If not, go back to the drawing board and give it a few tweaks.

And, don’t forget, if you need help with web design Atlanta experts New Tricks Web Design, are here to help!