Google Apps Tips: Enhance Your Gmail Signature

Enhance Your Email with Rich Text Signatures

Email signatures are a way to provide the recipient with some information about you – the sender. But, have you ever wished your Gmail signature could have a bit more pizazz rather than having it look like this?

Well, now it can! Google recently released a much-requested enhancement in Gmail called Rich Text Signatures. With rich text signatures you can add a punch to your signature through the use of enhanced formatting, links and images. Now your signature can provide the recipient with additional information – like this:

In the signature above, we:
Changed the color, font and size of Craig’s name
Allowed users to quickly contact Craig by making his email address a live link
Italicized ‘office:’ and ‘cell:’ so they stand out
Added his company logo
Added a link to the logo allowing users to access his company’s web site simply by clicking the logo

Let’s get started!

Creating your new signature is really quite simple. Click Settings > General to access your signature. There you’ll see the new feature in the Signature section. If you’ve never added a predefined signature to your email, now’s your chance.

1. Either click the radio button to the left of the Rich Text Signature box or simply begin entering your information in the large text window.


2. Use the icons above the text window to enhance your signature.


3. When you’re finished, click Save Changes.

Add an image!

To add an image:

1. Click Insert Image.
2. In the ‘Add an Image’ dialog, enter the Web address (URL) of the image.
Note that the image must reside on the Internet and cannot be an image stored on your computer. If the URL is correct, the image displays below the ‘Image URL’ field. An image that displays properly does not mean permission has been granted to use it. When selecting an image, be mindful of the fact that the image may be copyrighted. When using a company logo, select one that has been sanctioned by your organization. A good place to start is your company’s web site. To find the image’s URL, right-click on the image and, depending on your browser, select either ‘Copy Image Location’ or ‘Copy image URL . Paste the web address (URL) in the ‘Image URL’ field.

3. Click OK.

Add a link!

To add a link to an email address:

1. To add a link to your email address, either (a) place your cursor at the right end of the image or email address and, holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor to the left to select it, or (b), place your cursor on part of the email address and, with your left mouse button, and quickly click 3 times to select it.
2. Click the Link icon.
3. Your email address should now appear in blue text and underlined.

To add a link to an image:

1. Depending on your browser, you may need to place your cursor at the right of the image and, holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor to the left to select it. In other browsers, you may find you can simply click on the image to select it.
2. Click the Link icon to display the ‘Edit Link’ dialog.
3. Enter the URL, such as your company’s web address, into the ‘To what URL should this link go?’.
4. Click Test this link to verify that the link is correct.
5. If the link opens the correct page, click OK.

Before sending out our signature for the world to view, it’s a good idea to send yourself an email containing your new signature. If you need to edit it, just return to the signature section on the General tab and make your changes.

Note: If you are creating or viewing your image link in Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer, you may notice a colored border around the image. This is normal and is designed to inform users the image contains a link. Users viewing your linked image in either of these browsers will also see the colored border.

Source: http://www.cloudsolutions.co.uk/training/google-apps-tips-enhance-your-gmail-signature/