Like other well-known services Gmail also lets you create an email signature. However, until recently there was no direct way of including images or fancy formatting – Gmail email signatures were in plain text format.
I always wondered why this simple feature was absent from Gmail because the other three popular email services have been letting subscribers create fancy email signatures since a long long time.
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Note: You can make a fancy Gmail email signature only through the standard newer webmail interface. This may require switching the Gmail version if you are on the old one -locate the link which should be in the footer (bottom of the page), click on it and wait for a few seconds for Gmail to reformat the page.
Instructions to make a fancy Gmail email signature
Gmail email signatures can now have rich text formatting as evident from the toolbar – refer image below. If you had a simple email signature before, it would be shown in the text box. Else, start making one immediately.
Here are the functions of the different icons in the toolbar. Please note that formatting can be applied after you make the email signature or as you go along.
- Basic text formatting: Bold, italics and underline.
- Eleven fonts faces to choose from: Sans-serif, Serif, Wide, Narrow, Comic Sans MS, Courier New, Garamond, Georgia, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS and Verdana.
- Font size: small, normal, large or huge!
- Text color and text background color (highlighter)
- Link: Make your web site address and email clickable
- Insert an image: You can put any kind of image – business logo, avatar or even a small thumbnail of your photo. You are required to provide only the image URL which means the file has to be online.
- Numbered and bulleted lists
- Change indentation and formatting
How to insert an image in the Gmail email signature?
As mentioned above, an image can only be added in the Gmail email signature if it’s already on the web. Though you can put the chosen image on Picasa, Flickr (Yahoo Photo Album), or any other image hosting service, I suggest using the one on your Google account which should be on this very page assuming, of course, you have put a picture in the Gmail account. (If not, refer that link to upload one). Simply supply the URL (web address) to insert the image in the Google email signature.
Thus, right-click on your Gmail picture and choose “Copy Image URL” or an equivalent option in your browser. [If working in Internet Explorer, for instance, right-click and choose “Properties“. A window pops up; select and copy the “Address (URL)” – refer image on the left.]
Now paste the URL in the blank field, hit the “OK” button and have the image embedded in the Gmail email signature.
What to include in the Gmail email signature?
An email signature can be simple, consisting of just one line, or more elaborate with complete contact details (postal and online addresses), sales blurbs or even wisecracks. Here are a few things that you can think of including when you make the Gmail email signature. Also refer helpful tips on how to make the best email signature.
- Name
- Full postal address
- Phone and fax numbers
- Email addresses
- Web site link
- An image such as business logo, an avatar or even a thumbnail of your photo
- Special discounts or promotional offers from your company
The fancy Gmail email signature that you’ve made works only through the standard (newer) webmail interface. If you shift to basic HTML or the older version, the formatting will not be displayed… though it will be retained.
