Why is my Gmail signature blurry?

If you're anything like me, it's likely that you use one (or more) signatures on all your emails and correspondences. Email signatures aren't just for show — they actually have real-world uses. They let people know who sent them something without having to open each individual mail and see their name on top.

Your email address also serves as a way to find you online if someone needs directions to your house or wants to request a meeting with you. If your email signature isn't clear enough, consider this: A bad email signature might be why you get spam too!

Sometimes though, things go wrong when sending out those important emails. Maybe there's a typo in the email body, maybe the sender was using the "Compose" button instead of composing new messages manually. Whatever the case may be, here are some tips on how to fix blurry or pixelated email signatures.

How do I clean up my email signature?

Before we begin, let's talk about what exactly constitutes an email signature. In most cases, an email signature consists of your full name, title, company name, phone number, website link(s), social media profiles (if applicable) and any other relevant personal details. It's kind of hard to fit everything into a tiny space, so keep these points in mind:

Use bold formatting throughout your email signature. This will make sure that the recipient has no trouble reading it. Don’t overdo it though, otherwise it could become overwhelming.

Don't include unnecessary words such as "kind", "please". Your signature should only contain useful info.

Keep lines short and paragraphs short. The less you write, the better.

Always double check your work before hitting Send. Make sure all links work, spellings are correct, etc.

Try not to add extra graphics. Keep it simple.

What happens if you forget part of your signature? No worries! Just type in whatever comes to mind after your last name. Some companies even allow employees to sign off by hand under “personal comments” section below their names. While this option doesn’t look professional, it does save time.

I'm still stuck on what to put in my email signature. Where do I start?

It's best to think of your email signature as an extension of yourself. Think about what makes you unique and memorable while browsing through others' emails. What would help potential clients remember you long after receiving your pitch? How can you stand out among competitors and colleagues?

The easiest thing to do is come up with a catchy tagline. Something that'll stick out in anyone's head upon first sight. For example, "The Best Kept Secret," "Award Winning Results," "World Class Service." These kinds of phrases won't require much explanation, but they'll definitely grab attention. Also, try adding numbers next to important keywords. That helps break up long chunks of text. Here's another tip: Use colors. Choose two different ones and apply both in various ways. Bold red heads your main headline and blue highlights subheadings. Or vice versa.

You don't need a degree in design to create good looking signatures. With a little practice and creativity, you'll soon learn which features to focus on and which ones to ignore.

Why is the logo in my email signature blurry?

There are several reasons this might happen. One reason is because the original file wasn't saved high enough resolution. To avoid this problem, always ensure that your files are sharp and crisp. Another possibility is that the picture itself is blurred due to poor lighting or old computer monitor specs. Sometimes, there are problems with your browser settings, especially display color mode preferences. And finally, sometimes logos turn out blurry simply because they were poorly optimized and low res pictures in the first place.

Here's what you can do to prevent future occurrences:

Check your internet connection—make sure your device supports HD videos and downloads.

Test your system. Does it support high definition video playback? Do you run outdated software?

Optimize your photos. Check the resolution and tweak brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. until you achieve optimal results.

When uploading images, choose the highest available resolution. Most sites offer this setting right inside their upload options.

How do you fix blurry pixelated or fuzzy email signature images?

This issue is usually caused by improperly sized images. Images must be square in order to appear properly on every platform. So, make sure your images are big enough to fill your entire box. Then crop excess pixels around edges. Next, resize the image again to its final size and export it as PNG format. Avoid JPG formats whenever possible. Lastly, add watermark. Watermarks serve as visual copyright protections, thus preventing unauthorized usage. Simply search Google for free Photoshop templates with watermarks already included. Many programs offer similar functionality as well.

Another solution is to replace blurry/pixelated parts with smaller versions of the same image. You can then enlarge it later with a photo editor.

In some rare instances, your images might be blurry because of security issues. Try disabling your antivirus program during the process. Also, try downloading the image via Wi-Fi rather than 3G/4G networks.

Finally, if nothing seems to improve your situation, you should probably change providers. There are tons of great web services out there, many of which provide excellent tools to optimize images.

How do I stop Outlook from lowering image quality?

Outlook often lowers image quality to reduce processing times on older computers. However, doing so causes loss of detail and clarity. Fortunately, Microsoft offers users the ability to disable automatic optimization feature within Windows 10 Mail app. Go to Start Menu > Settings > System & Security > Virtual Machines & Remote Desktop Preferences > Accessibility Options. Scroll down to Image Optimization and click Advanced Settings. Uncheck Automatic Optimize Images When Printing.

Alternatively, you can opt to download Outlook 2013 Essential Edition. This version provides higher quality images and faster loading speeds. But since it costs money ($49.99 USD), it's worth considering whether upgrading really justifies it. Upgrading shouldn't take longer than 24 hours. After purchasing, visit https://products.office.com/en-us/productdetails/?sku=135587&tab=Overview to activate your license key. Once installed, launch Outlook and follow the steps outlined above to enable higher image quality.

Email signatures are crucial components of modern business practices. Having a clear and legible email signature tells recipients where to direct the correspondence. They also act as a sort of virtual resume. As a result, creating a visually appealing yet informative eSignature is essential for career success.

Have you ever had problems with your own email signature? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.

If you're sending emails in Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, or any other popular webmail service — why would they appear so fuzzy and low resolution when opened by someone with a poor internet connection?  I've been wondering this myself and I think it may have something to do with how images work on most services versus how they work in Microsoft's mail client Outlook. So today we'll talk about what causes that problem and whether there's anything you can do about it.

Let's start off with some background info first though. When you send out emails from our favorite web-based email clients (Gmail, yahoo, etc), these emails contain both text and attached files. The way email works is that once all parts of the email come together in one place, those pieces of data are then treated as if they were part of the final document being sent. In essence, everything gets thrown into one big blob -- even things that aren't supposed to get mixed up. This includes not only the actual words but also embedded objects such as graphics and pictures. And just like real documents, sometimes email programs will compress them to make room for more content later. However, since many people use their computers over slow connections, compressed images don't always look very sharp. That's where the fuzzy images come from.

In order to fix that issue, web mail providers started using "conditional comments" to indicate which sections needed special treatment. Basically, conditional comments tell the program to pay closer attention to certain areas of code while ignoring others. For example, say you want every page on your website to include your logo. Instead of having to put the same graphic 100 times across dozens of pages, you could create a single file called header.php in whatever folder contains your site navigation links and add a line inside your header tags indicating that that particular section needs extra care. Then you'd just upload your header.jpg image to your server without worrying about its appearance because its already known to go right before the nav bar anyway. If you ever change the picture, just edit the header.php instead of hunting through multiple pages looking for that specific graphic. Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? It is...but unfortunately it isn't supported in Outlook yet. To learn more about conditional comments, see here.

Now let's take a look at another type of technology used to solve this issue -- CSS style sheets. These allow programmers to assign separate colors and styles to different elements within a webpage. They basically control how various items behave. For instance, you might define how bolded portions of text should turn red or blue depending on the color assigned elsewhere. Or maybe you'd like the font size of some paragraphs to increase based on surrounding text. With CSS, you simply set rules for each element to accomplish exactly what you want. Some designers even try to combine programming languages like PHP and JavaScript with CSS to create dynamic websites. But again, this technique has nothing to do with solving the problem of fuzzy images in Outlook.

Should email signatures be HTML?

Now that we know what kind of tech is typically used to solve this issue, let's discuss if email signatures themselves actually cause this problem. Email signatures are usually created in either plain English or HTML format. Plain text is generally easier to read for everyone who receives your message, but it takes longer to write. Also, formatting tools like bolding and italics require additional clicks which means less time spent writing. On top of that, users often find it difficult to copy/paste long sentences or blocks of text from plain text formats. As opposed to this drawback, HTML allows you to quickly apply effects via simple commands. What you see is what you mean. There's no guesswork involved. Lastly, anyone receiving an html formatted email can view it immediately after opening their inbox. Whereas, if you had written a lengthy statement in plain text, then someone reading it would probably have to open another app like Word or Notepad just to understand what you meant.

So now that we answered the question, let me ask back - do you really want your email signature to be full of quotes and jokes? Probably not. Most people nowadays don't read email signatures anyways, especially ones containing lots of fancy buttons and hyperlinks. A good rule of thumb is to keep your signature short and sweet. No more than two lines max. Don't bother adding social media icons unless you are trying to promote yourself somehow. Just stick to basic details like name, company, phone number, address, e-mail address, and website URL. The rest can be filled out later during registration steps. After all, wouldn't you rather fill out your personal profile online than spend 10 minutes deciphering an overly long email signature?

With all of this said, there still comes down to one important point: Do you plan on attaching large sized photos or videos along with your email messages? If so, then remember this next bit of advice. Always shrink down your images to the smallest possible width and height. Use PNG compression toolbox to achieve this effect. Also, never embed too high of resolution images directly into your subject field. Doing this will force recipients onto downloading them. Simply link to the photo on Flickr or anywhere else. Finally, avoid using JPEGs altogether. Once your image reaches the recipient's computer, chances are it won't run smoothly due to its excessive size. By default, Windows 7 tends to limit images under 2 MB in size to prevent crashes. Plus, if you're going to attach larger images to a lot of emails, consider compressing them further with Photoshop's built-in function. Here's a quick tip: select Tools & Script menu item (or press Ctrl + Alt) and choose Adjust Size Image. Under Presets tab, check Reduce File Size radio button. Now resize your image until desired dimensions appear in the bottom window pane. Click OK and close Photoshop. Next, head straight to Control Panel & Appearance Tab & Personalization. Scroll down until you reach Fonts submenu and double click on MS Sans Serif. From dropdown box select Condensed and scroll down to Details. Set Width to 120 pixels and Height to 80 pixels and hit OK. Repeat above process with all sans serif fonts found under Fonts Submenu. If you notice font sizes changing unexpectedly, go ahead and remove unwanted entries manually.

What size do email signatures need to be?

When designing your own custom template, the general consensus seems to be that signatures should be around 200 x 150 pixels. Why? Because most email clients tend to display standard resolutions starting at 1024x768 pixel. Therefore, smaller images will become blurry and potentially hard to read. At least that was true several years ago. Today however, many email apps support higher resolutions and therefore bigger images. One notable exception is Apple Mail. Even though newer versions of iOS support higher screen resolutions, Mail app insists on keeping old standards. Furthermore, if your intended audience uses older devices, then your best bet is sticking to 300x200 pixal size.

Here's a nice little trick to test out your preference regarding image sizing. Download this free sign maker, print it out, cut it apart, and paste individual components wherever necessary. Try resizing each component separately by holding Shift key and dragging corner diagonally downwards. Make sure to hold Shift key whenever you drag an object horizontally so it remains centered properly. Notice how it looks? Does it seem clear enough? If yes, great job! Keep doing this until you figure out what suits you best. Below is a screenshot showing what happens if you draw letters and numbers individually. Images below are screenshots taken from Mac OS X Messages application.

What size should image be for outlook signature?

As mentioned earlier, according to current guidelines, setting image dimensions between 400px wide and 450px tall is preferred. This ensures that your entire signature fits comfortably onto user's monitor without needing to zoom in. Although Outlook supports higher resolutions, recent tests show that scaling to 800x600 results in lower overall performance. Another thing to note is that Outlook 2007 onwards requires 32bit plugins to load external images. 64bit plugins must be converted to 32bit version. How do you convert them? Well, that depends upon third party applications. Unfortunately, none of the solutions currently available offer native conversion functionality. Users who are interested in alternative approaches can refer to following article.

If you've ever sent out a business letter with a sloppy print job that made it look as if you'd written the whole thing by hand — and then wondered why nobody thought twice about how bad it looked — you know what we mean.

Email signatures aren't quite so important, but they're still pretty darn important for personal correspondence. Emails from friends, family members, colleagues, clients and whoever else might be waiting on the other side are all open to this kind of digital sloppiness unless you take the time to clean things up before hitting "send." (And even when you think you have everything perfect, there's often one more tweak you need.)

It sounds easy enough. Just go into Settings & General, scroll down and click Edit Email Signature. But here's where problems arise. The default screen has options to add your name, phone number and address. If these fields contain anything resembling a photo, word art or graphic element — especially a photo — it will likely turn fuzzy within seconds. This happens because each type of content requires different treatment to ensure its legibility. And while most people who use their emails only occasionally may never notice, those who send many letters every day should probably pay closer attention.

So let’s start with the basics. There are three types of elements that must appear in any good-looking email signature: Your name, your title, and your contact info.

Your name is self explanatory. It needs to be readable without having to zoom in. Since your first initial usually looks best, try using initials instead of full names. That way, no matter which computer someone reads it on, the result won't include big chunks of unreadable text.

The same goes for titles. They too need to be recognizable. Again, since most folks read online nowadays, avoid fancy fonts and fancy graphics. Plain font works great. Also, keep them short. A couple words should suffice.

Finally, contact details such as street addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. These should also be kept simple. Text formatting tools exist specifically designed to help users format lists of items. For example, simply hit Ctrl + K after entering data, select All Items in the list box, choose Format List..., and you'll see a dropdown menu with bullets and dashes available. Select Bullets/Dashes, change the spacing between characters, and voila! Now just switch back to normal mode and enter additional lines.

Now that we understand what makes sense in terms of design principles, let's talk about some specifics of creating a clear email signature. We'll start with the easiest part — adding your company logo.

Why is my email signature blurry Gmail?

You don't really want to put photos in your email signature. Instead, stick with logos and icons. Photos tend to compress and distort images over time, making them harder to read later. Logos and icons stay constant throughout multiple devices and platforms, meaning everyone sees them exactly the same way. Plus, logos are easier to scale than photographs, allowing you to squeeze in extra characters if necessary.

Let's say you work for a small company called Zappo's Incorporated. To save yourself headaches, simply search Google Images and find something appropriate for your company. Then download it, rename it to zAppLogo.jpg, upload it to your server, and associate it with a new image filetype associated with your domain. Once uploaded, replace it with an icon or another image linked directly to your website. Finally, head back into Settings & General, scroll down to edit your email signature, and pick Create New Email Signature. In the resulting window under Default Image File Name, paste in the path to your newly created logo. When finished, check off Save Changes. Boom! No blurry messes anymore.

This trick will work for almost any size company, except for extremely large ones. Those companies typically have dedicated marketing departments that handle all branding efforts themselves. As a general rule, it doesn't hurt to ask your PR team whether they could provide you with a nice looking logo, though.

How do I get a crisp logo in my email signature?

Unfortunately, there isn't much room left for customization once you reach this point. However, you can spice up your email signature slightly by including links to social media profiles. While Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn require separate logins, embedding URLs allows you to quickly share relevant pages with anyone who opens your message. Here's how to do it:

Go to settings & privacy controls and enable allow outsiders to post comments on your wall via Disqus.

Click Add Account next to Login Options. Pick Other. Enter your login credentials.

Select Linked Accounts and sign in to whichever account you prefer. Click Connect.

Repeat steps two through four until you've connected all accounts you wish to use.

Once you finish connecting, head back to the main page. Scroll down again and click Customize Signature. Choose HTML code editor and drag and drop your preferred social networks onto the blank boxes. Hit Update. Done!

Keep in mind that doing this leaves you somewhat limited in what you can actually place inside your custom signature. Unless you plan on linking to specific webpages, you'll have to rely on standard signatures to link readers to your social media feeds. Thankfully, some third party apps can overcome this limitation. Check out Social Oomph for Chrome and Firefox [No Longer Available] for starters.

Another option is Snovio Signature Maker. Simply copy and past the generated code into your own customized signature. Not sure how to customize your signature? Don't worry, our guide covers that too.

How do I create a clear email signature?

In order to create a clear email signature, you must first decide on a consistent style for typography. Whether bold sans serif letters or thin san serif line breaks, choosing the right font helps set the tone for your entire message. Most importantly, however, the font shouldn't feel overly complicated. Avoiding special effects, fancy colors and unnecessary detail will prevent confusion across viewers.

Next, determine the proper width of your columns. Too wide and your text becomes difficult to read. Too narrow and you risk losing crucial white space needed for clarity. Stick to somewhere around 80 percent of the total length of the monitor. Anything wider tends to become difficult to scan and less comfortable to read.

Finally, remember that the bulk of your signature consists of plain text. Therefore, color selection is completely dependent on the mood you're trying to convey. Solid black does very little for a professional appearance, whereas blue can bring out personality traits hidden beneath dark tones. White represents neutrality, but red stands out against light backgrounds. Try experimenting with various hues until you discover the right combination for you.

One last tip to consider before you begin designing your email signature: Always test your final product on several computers and mobile gadgets. Different browsers display text differently, leading to potential mishaps. Be prepared to adjust accordingly.

How do I make my signature not blurry?

While it may seem counterintuitive, sometimes the solution to a problem comes in the form of an unexpected addition. So long as you follow the guidelines above, adding a few more touches here and there can enhance your overall quality control process. Consider the following tips:

Use larger fonts. Smaller fonts are fine for writing purposes, but when viewed outside of your browser window, they tend to lose sharpness and contrast. Using smaller fonts in your signature means turning up the intensity during viewing, which can cause eye strain. Larger fonts, on the other hand, maintain their legibility regardless of distance.

Add shadows to certain areas. Adding shadow to portions of your signature provides visual separation between paragraphs. Shadows also give text greater depth, helping it stand out among lighter background colors. Use caution, however, lest you accidentally ruin the effect with unwanted shading.

Always center alignment. Aligning text to the middle of a document gives it equal prominence compared to either edge. Horizontally aligning text in your signature prevents awkward shifts toward the top and bottom edges of your message. Vertically aligning text maintains consistency along the vertical axis of your signature.

Avoid excessive punctuation marks. Having lots of exclamation points, question marks or speech bubbles scattered around your signature creates a disorganized vibe that distracts rather than informs. Keep them to a minimum, preferably none at all. Excessive capitalization is equally distracting due to its lack of uniformity. Consistent placement of periods, commas, colons and semi-colons further aids in establishing flow.

Don't forget whitespace. Whitespace refers to spaces found within sentences. Like period and comma usage, they serve similar functions as punctuation marks. Unlike punctuations, however, they play a supporting role to sentence structure. Because of this, it's best to limit their presence in your signature to a single space per entry. Multiple spaces confuse readers and break up the flow of text.

Emphasizing headers adds emphasis. Headers are the designated sections that precede each section of a paragraph. By highlighting them, you draw focus away from surrounding paragraphs and direct it to the header itself. Doing so draws attention to particularly significant parts of your email without overwhelming recipients with additional clutter.

Conclusion