What should a good email signature have?

If you're using Gmail or Outlook, chances are that you've seen someone's signature at some point when they sent you an important message. It might even pop up as part of their reply. But how many times did you actually read it? And if you were like me, you probably didn't give any thought to whether it was appropriate, either because you just saw a long string of text with no formatting, or because you weren't expecting such a short response.  In this article we'll talk about creating a great email signature — including what goes where, why it matters, and what to keep in mind while crafting yours.

Should my email signature be my full name?

Yes! If sending your first impression over email isn't something you do often (or ever), there's nothing wrong with having your real name right below your picture. This shows professionalism without being too formal. Don't forget that people will see your signature every time they open their inbox—they don't want to miss out on anything from you!

And if you'd rather not put your actual name, try adding a nickname instead. It can add some humor to your writing style. For example, "John Smith" could become "The Johnnys Man." Or maybe you prefer to go more anonymous: "Jane Doe" becomes "Doe Jane," which sounds less threatening than "anonymous". You can also choose initials, but make sure those letters reflect who you really are. So "JS" doesn’t work unless JS stands for “just sign-off”.  Or perhaps you'd prefer to leave off your last name entirely. That way anyone looking through your emails won't know who wrote them.

Here are some other things to consider: Are you married? Do you have kids? Does your family mean much to you? Is there a story behind each initial? These personal touches help humanize yourself and show others that you're relatable.

How do I create a high resolution email signature?

There are several reasons why you may need higher quality images for your email signature. First, most modern mobile devices display email messages at a lower resolution than desktop screens. Second, certain browsers scale down all image files by default, regardless of size, making your image look blurry. Third, older versions of Microsoft Outlook used to limit email attachment sizes to 20 MB, and larger attachments would cause the system to crash. Finally, some mail clients compress image formats automatically.

So before uploading your email signature, take into account these factors:

Use lossless compression whenever possible. JPEGs are usually fine, especially since they use very small amounts of data per pixel. Other popular types of compressed image files, like PNG or GIF, still retain enough information so that they shouldn't lose quality when scaled down. When you upload an image to Google Docs or Dropbox, you can select the highest level of compression available. However, if you plan on embedding the image directly in your email signature, you should save it uncompressed. Otherwise, your recipient may receive corrupted output.

Check your email client settings. Some email programs allow users to set preferred image dimensions. On Windows, click File & Options..., scroll down past the General tab, under Image Handling, find Preferred Width/Height and change it to whatever dimension works best for you. Note that when you send large documents via email, servers sometimes strip away parts of the document to cut down on bandwidth usage. In this case, the browser window may resize itself to fit the remaining space within its borders, resulting in a distorted image. To avoid this issue, check your email program's preferences regarding maximum attachment sizes.

Resolution is another factor worth considering. Images must never be smaller than 72 DPI, otherwise they appear pixilated. Most web designers recommend 300 Pixels Wide X 200 Pixels High as ideal screen width x height measurements. The same applies to email signatures. Use a resolution of at least 96DPI - twice as sharp as your intended viewing device. Again, check your internet service provider's guidelines regarding acceptable download speeds. Many ISPs cap monthly downloads based on total bits transferred during a given month. A single email signature takes fewer bytes than multiple signatures combined, so it has little effect on overall traffic volume.

Once you've taken care of these details, here are a few general rules for designing a clean, readable email signature:

Keep everything simple. Try not to fill up your entire screen with unnecessary elements. Break up lengthy paragraphs into shorter sentences. Keep font styles consistent. Make sure everything fits together well and looks professional.

Don't clutter up your signature with special effects. Avoid fancy fonts, colors, graphics, etc. Stick to basic HTML code. Font styling options are easy to incorporate into your signature later.

Avoid excessive whitespace. People should easily recognize which words belong to whom. Be careful not to crowd your signature with lines of white space. Only use spaces between paragraph tags (#) and line breaks (.)

Ensure proper alignment. Text boxes should always align left, and headings should align top. Never rely solely on automatic layout algorithms.

Take advantage of CSS. With a bit of effort, you can apply different color schemes, font styles, background gradients, and more to individual sections of your signature. See below for examples of how to achieve this.

Be mindful of character limitations. Email providers impose strict limits on both the number of characters allowed in a subject header, sender field, and body fields. Your email signature should comply with these requirements.

Choose a design template. Designers typically offer readymade templates for various industries, job functions, and hobbies. They provide customizable layouts, colors, backgrounds, and icons. Popular choices include graphic artists, photographers, authors, musicians, engineers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, consultants, and business executives. Just visit your favorite search engine and type 'email signature designer' along with the industry you're interested in. Here are two websites that let you build custom signatures online: Mail Cascades [Broken URL Removed] ($19) and CustomSignatures.com ($25).

What is the best file format for email signatures?

When you share links to photos, videos, PDF documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, there's no reason to restrict your recipients to opening only specific kinds of media. Rather than force your audience to convert content into weird proprietary formats, simply encode it into standard ones. Supported common formats include.jpg,.gif,.png,.bmp,.tif,.pdf,.doc,.xls,.ppt,.csv, and.swf. Not all platforms support all filetypes, however, particularly video codecs. If you intend to attach music clips, movie trailers, audio recordings, or similar material, consult your platform's documentation. Also note that some platforms require additional software installations prior to displaying non-image content.

As far as embedded signatures are concerned, almost everyone uses Adobe Reader now. Even though it's technically optional, most readers ship with it anyway. As a result, almost every user can view your signature without needing any extra plug-ins.

What resolution should an email signature be?

Most email services today allow users to adjust their preferred screen resolutions. Take advantage of this feature to ensure your signature displays properly on computers and smartphones alike. Generally speaking, 1,024 pixels wide is recommended. Anything narrower should ideally be displayed inside a frame around your signature. Larger frames reduce the amount of surrounding content that gets covered up.

You should also remember that most email clients nowadays zoom in on incoming messages by default. Unless you specifically tell them not to, people will likely enlarge your signature beyond normal proportions when reading it. This means that your signature needs to be designed accordingly.

Do you need an email signature?

Email signatures aren't mandatory in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (except Hong Kong), Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Guam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Antarctica, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, UK, US Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vanuatu, and Vatican City State.

Your email signature gives people a quick glance at who you are and how they can reach out to you. It's usually composed of just two or three lines of information (your name, contact info, website). If you want it to be more than that, here's how.

Why is my Outlook signature image blurry?

If you're using Windows 10, Microsoft Office 2016, or later versions, check if Word has replaced your default program when opening images. In most cases, this happens automatically as soon as you open any picture from anywhere. To change it back manually, go to File " Options " Trust Center " Privacy options... and select Always prompt me before downloading files.

Now that we've got that covered, let's talk about signatures. You may not think much about them because you probably compose all emails within Gmail itself without ever looking at them. But there are some things you need to consider when crafting your personal email signature so it looks professional. Here are five important questions to ask yourself:

1) What kind of business am I in? Are you freelancing or running a small company? Or maybe you work at a big firm like Google or Amazon. Whatever type of job you have, decide whether you want something simple or fancy. Simple ones tend to look better than fancy ones but sometimes a little extra effort goes a long way. A handwritten cursive font works well with almost anything—it doesn't scream corporate. Think about the tone you want to set and choose accordingly.

2) Do you want to show off your accomplishments somehow? Maybe you're proud of getting promoted last year, starting up your latest project, or landing your first client. An impressive accomplishment could make a great visual element in your email signature. Consider adding photos, logos, charts, graphs, etc., depending on what you'd like to showcase. Just remember that whatever you put into your signature needs to be legible even when shrunken down.

3) How many different cards would you typically send out per day? Most people only read their primary email address these days since everyone else sends messages to spam folders. So figure out which addresses will appear next to your name in every message you receive. For example, you might want to list both your home address and cell phone number. And don't forget about social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter. They'll also help give readers a sense of who you really are.

4) Does anyone respond to your email outside of Gmail? If yes, you'll want to include links to your other accounts and perhaps even your blog(s), too. This helps prospects know where to find additional resources and content. Don't clutter it though. Keep everything concise. Your signature shouldn't take longer than 20 seconds to scan. People often skim over text anyway.

5) Is your signature going to stay the same across multiple devices? Since everyone now checks their phones while driving, having a consistent signature saves time by reducing the amount of scrolling needed to view your details. Plus, if someone gets hold of your device, chances are they won't see your entire signature unless they scroll through a lot. Make sure to keep your signature short and sweet. Otherwise, they'll miss key elements like your photo ID and location information.

How do I create a formal signature in Outlook?

Outlook offers several ways to create custom signatures. The simplest option is to highlight the body section of each outgoing message window, right-click, and pick Format Text.... Then click Signature under Formatted text settings. From here, you can customize fields including Name, Phone Number, Email Address, and Website URL. When done, click OK.

The second method involves creating a new mail rule via Rules & Alerts " Manage rules… " New Rule…. Once created, follow similar instructions above for formatting fields. However, instead of clicking OK after saving changes, save your settings locally and then apply the rule to incoming messages. That said, it's still easy enough to delete the signature once its no longer necessary.

Lastly, you can simply copy/paste the contents of your existing signature onto this page. Simply double-click the field you wish to edit, paste the desired value, and hit Enter. Repeat until finished. When doing so, be mindful that you've already filled out various fields elsewhere, so try to avoid duplicating entries. Also note that Outlook tends to leave spaces between values. These aren't always visible, however, especially when viewed on mobile devices.

To remove the gaps, press Ctrl + Left Arrow keys repeatedly to indent those rows. Pressing Ctrl + Right Arrow keeps consecutive cells together while pressing Shift + Down Arrow separates them. Lastly, select the row(s) containing all unformatted data and delete them. Alternatively, you can right-click the header area and select Clear Fields. Afterward, head back to the previous screen and repeat step four again.

Also, if you don't feel comfortable editing code directly, you can skip past this part altogether and just insert your fields via Excel. First, download a template via the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BztJvQ9fjxVZTlhGcWhqYW8/view. Next, open Excel and navigate to Tools > Macros. Select Record Macro and enter the commands shown below. Save this file somewhere other than the My Documents folder. Finally, copy/paste your formatted signature into an empty Excel sheet and run macros. Easy!

How do I add a logo to my email signature in Outlook?

In order to place a logo beside your name in your signature, you must first upload it to OneDrive. Visit drive.live.com and log in with your Live account. Now locate your logo and drag-and-drop it onto OneDrive. Hit Upload and wait until process completes. Afterwards, return to your desktop computer.

Next, head to File Explorer and browse to C:/Users/"UserName"/.onedrive/logs/“Date_Time". Locate your newly uploaded file, right-click, and select Properties. Navigate to Customize tab, input Company Logo, and replace with actual path. Click Apply and close properties. Head back to File Explorer, expand Other Files, and select Personalization " Logon Images.. Double-click your logo and select Set As Picture.

Finally, head back to your main inbox, right-click your profile icon, and select Edit Account Settings. Scroll down and find Signatures " Show Me Up – Basic Information. Check the box beside Add Signature Image, then browse to the location of your logo. Choose Insert Selected Attachment and press Ok. Depending on your version of Outlook, you may encounter security warnings regarding unsigned software. If so, ignore them and proceed as planned.

What is the best format for Outlook signature?

Since Outlook allows users to upload pictures, graphics, video clips, audio recordings, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and websites, there isn't necessarily one answer. Sometimes, plain old text works best. On occasion, a chart might convey complex information succinctly. Likewise, YouTube videos allow viewers to learn more about you personally. Of course, there are plenty of creative uses for graphics, animations, and interactive components, too.

Here are a few guidelines to bear in mind:

Always use clean fonts. Fonts such as Verdana, Calibri, Times New Roman, Courier, and Ariel are safe bets. Stick with sans serif if you prefer. Avoid boldface and italics. Remember that people likely won't spend hours carefully studying your signature, so keep it clear and uncomplicated.

Use high resolution PNG images. Pictures that contain transparent backgrounds are preferable, although JPEGs may suffice. Use images that are 300 dpi minimum. Anything lower risks pixelation and distortion. If you plan on placing your image inside PowerPoint slides, keep the maximum width at 800 pixels.

Avoid animated GIFS. Although they may seem cool, they can cause performance issues due to heavy downloads and slow Internet connections. Instead, opt for simpler formats like Flash animation or Quicktime movie clip.

Keep site URLs brief. Longer domain names are easier to memorize, plus they display properly in outlook 2007 onwards. Shorter domains may require users to hover their mouse pointer over the link to reveal full URL.

If you're like most people, you probably send emails all day long. And if you want to look professional and polished when sending out those messages, it's important that they reflect who you are as well as the position you hold at work or school. An email signature can help with this by giving recipients some information about you and how to contact you. But there's no easy answer to "what kind of email signature works best?"  It depends on who you are and where you work. A great email signature will tell readers more about who you are so they know whether their message to you warrants a reply. It'll also give them enough information to feel confident contacting you directly via email instead of trying to find someone else to ask. So let's start with the basics — we've gathered up everything you need to create a killer email signature below. Here's what constitutes a good email signature.

What makes a good email signature?

A good email signature has three things: name, title, and phone number. That's really all you need because these elements convey different types of information. The first thing a good email signature tells others is who you are. Your full legal name (first and last) conveys authority and professionalism. This includes maiden name if you prefer not to use your current married name. If you don't go by either name, add both names. For example, Dr. Mary Smith or Mary Smith Ph.D. Some people only go by one name professionally while using another personally, such as John Doe. Use whichever suits you best. You may even want to list other titles besides doctor, such as professor if you teach regularly. These are called alternative titles. Adding additional titles shows respect toward various roles and positions.

The next element is your job title. Many jobs now require online resumes, but just listing your occupation doesn't show off your skills. Think of yourself as a recruiter looking through résumés. What would impress you the most from a résumé that didn't mention any special education or training? An impressive degree earned after many years of schooling. Or perhaps you got your advanced degrees during graduate school. In the same way, adding specific credentials to your resume gives employers confidence that you possess certain knowledge and expertise.

Your third item is a cell phone number. This allows others to reach you quickly without having to call multiple numbers to find yours. Just enter your mobile number here, which you might already have listed elsewhere on social media profiles. Don't worry too much about formatting the area code and local access number fields -- they won't appear in signatures anyway. Be sure to format your phone number correctly, though. To avoid confusion, make sure to check for typos. Also, keep your phone number updated!

What should my personal email signature be?

Now that you understand what makes a good email signature, you might wonder what you should put into your own email signature. Below are several examples of common email signatures. Read each section carefully to see what type of information fits your situation. Of course, you can customize each section according to what's appropriate for your career path.

Personal Email Signature Example #1:

"John Williams - Writer & Speaker"

This simple yet effective signature contains two parts. First, it identifies who sent the email. Then, it describes the sender's main role within the organization. Since you typically wouldn't receive an email from anyone named John, it refers to the person behind the email address. While this could simply read "Writer," consider adding a title further down the line if you're applying for a writing-related position.

However, if you happen to occasionally write an email for someone in your department whose name isn't John, including his/her name in the signature lets everyone remember whom to direct responses to. For instance, if you were applying for a marketing position and received an email from Mark Miller, you'd likely respond to him rather than assume he was part of your boss' team. With this approach, however, you shouldn't leave Mark's actual company name blank. Instead, fill in the company name for consistency.

Also, think about what roles you play in your larger organization. Are you responsible for recruiting new employees? Do you manage existing staff members or organize events? Perhaps you coordinate IT projects? Make sure your corresponding signature reflects your primary responsibilities. Consider putting your function's logo right under your name since it looks neat.

Personal Email Signature Example #2:

Dr. Mary Smith

Professor

University of California San Diego

While still keeping the basic structure of a good email signature, this second example demonstrates how to incorporate additional items depending upon your field. Professors often sign letters addressed to students, but professors working outside academia usually aren't expected to provide this level of detail. However, you should definitely add something if you teach regularly. Remember, you want to differentiate between roles played in your life versus those held at work. Otherwise, you run the risk of confusing colleagues or students.

For example, if you teach math, don't forget to include your teaching duties in addition to class schedules. Alternatively, if you supervise research assistants, include relevant certifications or academic awards. Even if you don't currently carry out those tasks, you should certainly add them if applicable.

Finally, always ensure that you update your email signature whenever necessary. As mentioned earlier, you should never neglect updating your employment status or changing your phone number.

Personal Email Signature Example #3:

Karen Lee - Realtor

Professional Real Estate Agent

With this signature, Karen states her profession clearly. She lists herself as a real estate agent, so she wants anyone receiving this email to immediately recognize that she's qualified enough to handle whatever comes along with selling homes. Her previous experience follows in parentheses, making clear that Karen knows how to successfully sell properties. Finally, Karen adds her business card beneath her signature, reinforcing the fact that she's available for client meetings.

What is a good email signature for personal email?

You may have noticed that none of the above signatures included anything regarding dates. Because date formats vary across regions and cultures, you should stick with standard American conventions unless otherwise specified. When creating your signature, follow this general pattern: Month followed by Day, Year. This ensures proper grammar and punctuation.

Here are some sample signatures to illustrate how a typical email signature goes. Notice how they contain the basic four sections described previously -- name, title, phone number, and space for signature. They also demonstrate how to insert images and hyperlinks.

Sample Personal Email Signatures 1a:

Name: Jane Doe

Title: Director of Marketing

Phone Number: 555-555-5555

Email Address: janedoe@companyname.com

Sample Personal Email Signatures 1b:

Jane Doe

Director of Marketing

P.O Box 12345

San Francisco CA 94089

jane.doe@companyname.com

Example 2: Sample Work Email Signature

Sally Jones

Account Manager

123 Main Street

Anytown USA 9900

+14505551212

workemail@gmail.com

Sample 3: Business Email Signature Examples

First Name Last Name

Company

Street Address

City

State / Province

Zip Code

Country

Telephone Number(s)

Cell Phone Number

Fax Number

eMail Address

Website URL

EIN# | Employer ID Number

Tax ID# | Taxpayer Identification Number

Signature

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