Illustration: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic

People identify all sorts of images in email signatures. In organizations, the inserted image is typically a logo, an advert or a promotional image. Sometimes it's a photo or stylized image of the sender. Images in personal email signatures frequently point something virtually the person or the person'south interests.

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If you use Gmail, you may upload an image or insert an image from the web or Google Drive into your signature. And if you use Gmail as office of Google Workspace, an administrator tin can configure a signature—including an image—that appends to all outgoing electronic mail, as well. Just any paradigm an administrator includes must be available at a public web link, and then the steps below describe how to get your epitome onto a Google Site in gild to obtain a public link.

Just before you lot add whatever image into your signature, let me add together a notation of circumspection. In full general, I recommend people keep electronic mail signatures text-only. Text is much more accessible to people with low or no vision than an image in a signature. Too, text uses far less bandwidth than an image. (Make sure to resize and/or compress your epitome to appropriate dimensions and quality.) That said, in that location are many times when an image in a Gmail signature may be merited.

How to add together an image in a personal Gmail business relationship signature

To add, edit or manage signatures in a personal Gmail account:

  1. Go to Gmail in a desktop-class web browser.
  2. If needed, sign in to your Gmail account.
  3. In the upper correct area, select the Sprocket (settings) | See All Settings | General (from the carte options listed across the summit).
  4. Ringlet down to the Signature section.
  5. Either choose the "+ Create New" button or select an existing signature.
  6. In the signature expanse to the correct, enter and format whatsoever text or links y'all desire in your signature.
  7. Select the Insert image choice (Figure A), then navigate to the image yous want.
  8. When finished, scroll to the lesser of the page and select the Save Changes button.

Effigy A

In Gmail Settings, select the image icon, then upload or insert an image from the web or Google Drive.

Google Workspace admins: How to add an image in an appended Gmail footer

A Google Workspace administrator may manage email footers that append to every outbound email for an organization. In the Admin console, the important settings are at App | Google Workspace | Gmail | Compliance, select an organization (or organizational unit) from the left (if needed), then coil to Append Footer and cull Configure (Figure B). To larn how outbound footers work in Google Workspace, read my commodity, How to set up a Gmail signature for your organization.

Effigy B

A Google Workspace administrator may choose to append a footer to outbound email for an organization. Any image inserted into this appended footer must be available on the web with a public link. Notwithstanding, images stored on Google Drive, fifty-fifty if publicly shared, will not work.

But if you lot try to insert an image stored on Google Drive into an outbound footer, it won't work. You may only add together an image with a public link into admin-managed appended footers (Effigy B). A publicly shared image stored on Google Drive won't piece of work.

I advise yous create and maintain a Google Site where you add images, since any paradigm stored on a Google Site page may be used in outbound footers—as long equally the Site is published and public. Those last two criteria are of import: The epitome insertion into the footer won't work on sites that aren't public or aren't published yet.

To create a new Google Site dedicated to your outbound images, you might:

  1. Type site.new in a desktop-grade browser.
  2. Edit the title for your site (e.yard., Promotional Footer Images).
  3. Then select Insert | Images to either Upload or Select images to your site (Effigy C). Alternatively, you might select Insert | Drive and and so choose images stored on Google Drive to add to your Site.

    4. Effigy C

    As you edit a Google Site, with the Insert tab agile, select Images. Yous may then choose either to Upload or Select an paradigm.
  4. Select Publish, then edit the web accost for your site (eastward.thou., Footers).
  5. Under Who Can View My Site, select Manage. Then, under Links, select Change.
  6. Side by side to the Published site option, select the drop-downwardly and cull Public (Figure D), then select Done.

    7. Figure D

    Change your Site settings to make your published site Public.
  7. Select Done again. The box should at present brandish Anyone under Who Tin can View My Site. Select Publish.
  8. Adjacent, select the drop-downwardly to the right of Publish, then choose View Published Site (Figure E). This should open the site in a new browser tab. Switch to that tab.

    9. Figure E

    One time public and published, select the drib-down options next to the Publish menu and choose View published site.
  9. On your site, correct-click on the epitome y'all want to insert into your outbound footer, then select Copy Image Address (Figure F).

Figure F

While viewing the published site, right-click (or Ctrl-click) on an image, and so select Re-create Image Address from the displayed menu.

You now have the public link you need to paste into the prompt later yous select the image icon in the Append Footer section of the Admin console. As an editor of the site, you lot can always return to the site and copy the link to the published page. Share the link with others, and they'll be able to access the folio.

Optionally, you tin take steps to make the footer page a bit less easy to notice. To exercise this, brand certain you lot accept at least ii pages on your Google Site, and that your images are not on the Habitation folio of the site. Then, while editing your Site, select Pages, and so click on the iii vertical dots to the correct of your Footer page name. Choose Hide from navigation (Figure Yard), which will remove the page from Google Site navigation menus. Since the page is omitted from the menu structure, information technology won't be available for a coincidental site company to access.

Figure Chiliad

You might make your footer image page more than difficult to observe with the Hide From Navigation option.

How exercise you use images in Gmail signatures?

Do you include standard information, such equally contact or visitor information, in your signatures? Or exercise you personalize your signature with favorite images, phrases or quotes? Or do yous "get minimalist" and omit the use of signatures entirely? Permit me know how yous utilise—or don't use—images in Gmail signatures, either with a comment below or on Twitter (@awolber).