Email signature with photo that holds up in Gmail and Outlook

An email signature with photo puts a small headshot next to your name, so the reader knows who they're dealing with before they reply. Upload a photo above, pick a design, then install it straight into Gmail or copy and paste it into Outlook, Apple Mail or another app. The photo is part of Premium: try it free in the preview and decide afterwards.

What happens to your photo

Upload a JPG or PNG (up to 5 MB) under "About you". Signguin then:

• Crops it to a square and stores it at 240 x 240 px, twice the largest size any design shows, so it stays sharp on retina screens. If the crop misses your face, upload a tighter one.
• Shows it at a fixed size, 64 to 116 px depending on the design, so it never balloons.
• Hosts it. The signature links to the image rather than carrying a copy. Location data is removed on upload, and your photo is never used to train AI.
• Uses your name as the alt text, for recipients whose app blocks images.

Under "Photo shape" choose Round or Square (soft corners). Your logo stays, smaller, under your details.

Pick a recent head-and-shoulders shot on a plain background, face filling most of the frame. Penguins are born in a tuxedo; the rest of us need decent light. More on this: professional email signature and email signature size.

Which designs work best with a photo

22 of the 23 designs can show a photo (Minimal is text only). These four are built around one:

Classic and Simple take a photo too, in the spot where the logo normally sits. More photo layouts by job: email signature examples, realtor email signature.

How a photo looks in Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail

Outlook for Windows (desktop) draws email with Word, which ignores rounded corners on images. Signguin works around it: in the signature you copy or install, the round shape (and the tinted ring in Bloom, Glow and Badge) is cut into the photo file itself, so the photo stays round in Outlook too. Round and Square both look the same everywhere. Outlook also blocks pictures until the reader chooses Download Pictures; your name and details are real text, so they show either way.

Gmail shows round photos as designed. Install it straight into Gmail in the last step, or copy and paste it under Settings, See all settings, General, Signature. The photo is linked, so it doesn't eat into Gmail's 10,000-character limit. In the Gmail app, a "Mobile Signature" replaces this one; leave it empty to keep your photo on phone emails. Full steps: how to change your Gmail signature.

Outlook on the web, Outlook for Mac and Apple Mail keep round corners. Copy and paste: in new Outlook and Outlook on the web, Settings, Accounts, Signatures; in Apple Mail, Mail, Settings, Signatures. Every Outlook version: how to add a signature in Outlook.

What's free and what's Premium

Premium is a one-time payment for one person, no subscription. Decide against it and choose Continue without Premium features: you keep your details in the free Classic design, with your logo instead of the photo.

When Signguin is not the right fit

If you need photos for a whole company, pulled from a directory and rolled out from an admin console, look at email signature management software. Signguin makes one signature per person and has no team plan yet, only a waitlist. Other tools: best email signature generators.

Questions about signatures with a photo

Is adding a photo to my signature free?

You can upload a photo and try it in every design for free. To copy or install a signature that uses it, you need Premium, a one-time payment rather than a subscription, partly because Signguin hosts the image for as long as you use the signature. Without Premium, choose "Continue without Premium features" and keep the signature with your logo.

What size should a photo be in an email signature?

Around 80 to 100 px works for most layouts; Signguin's designs range from 64 px (Simple) to 116 px (Realtor). Below about 70 px a face is hard to recognize on a phone. No need to resize: Signguin crops your upload to a square and stores it at 240 px for retina screens.

Will my round photo stay round in Outlook?

Yes. Outlook for Windows on the desktop renders email with Word, which ignores rounded corners on images (in caniemail's tests every version from 2007 to 2019 showed them square). That's why Signguin doesn't rely on that styling: the signature you copy or install uses a photo file that is already cut to a circle, or to soft corners for Square, so the shape survives in Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail alike.

Will my photo show up as an attachment?

Usually not, because the photo is a hosted image the signature links to, not a file pasted into the email. Classic Outlook for Windows can still embed linked pictures when sending in some setups; Outlook signature not showing explains the fix. And if a reader's app blocks pictures, your name shows as the alt text.

Can I change my photo later?

Yes. Sign in with your email and save the signature, which is free. Open it later from "My signatures", upload the new photo, then install it straight into Gmail again or copy and paste it into Outlook or Apple Mail. Your mail app keeps the old version until you replace it there.