We all use email signatures to look more professional. It’s a problem, but current digital trends show that people are turning to image-only signatures to make theirs stand out— many are placing the logo, any photos, contact details, text and disclaimers as a single, neat image. There are four big problems with this:
Even though websites can now display in HD resolution, emails still prefer a smaller resolution of 600 to 800 pixels wide. If you’re not pixel savvy and make sure your images are sized appropriately, they can easily go off-screen.
Yes! People may never see your email signature. As a precaution, many email servers and clients such as Outlook block images since they can be suspicious or carry a virus; they may even mark your email as SPAM.
Making images fit into a transferable file size is an ongoing issue in the digital world, and this affects your email signature too. If you don’t optimize the images in your signature, your email could easily bloat away and sometimes never send.
Unwary email enthusiasts may insert their image into the signature settings without regard to its file size. It is important to remember that resizing images in the settings will only change its dimensions and does not affect the file size itself. This also causes another issue…
Email servers will try to compress a large image file when they receive it. The server will simply guess which details are important on the image, and this ‘guessing game’ usually causes your image to pixelate or carry distorted parts. Not a good look, especially if you’re trying to come across professional!
Simple layouts for logo signatures can be made in Google Docs or Microsoft Word using a table with invisible borders. To avoid problems, it’s best practice to use your logo as the only image and write the rest of your details as text.
Keep in mind that the layout for your entire signature (images and text) should be between 600 to 800 pixels. Even if your logo image is blocked, the recipient will still be able to see the text and your contact details. For your logo to stay exactly the same without pixelation, remember to optimize the image before placing it in your signature template. If you’re unsure how to do this, contact our studio and we can assist you.
Jozzelle De Jesus
Multimedia Artist, Director of E. Studios
12 February, 2021
