# Free Email Signature Builder with Photo Build a professional HTML email signature with your name, role, contact details and optional headshot. Preview it, copy the formatted signature or download the HTML to install in your email app. **Key facts:** Free - No sign-up - Live preview - Copy or download HTML - No image hosting Updated November 2026 Editing happens in your browser. Local photos stay on your device; a public photo URL loads from the image host you provide. ## How to use it 1. **Add your details:** Enter your name, job title, company and the contact methods you want to share. Optional fields can stay empty. 2. **Choose a photo source:** Use a direct public HTTPS image URL that you control to include a photo in the export. A local upload is only a preview and is never silently included as a hosted photo. 3. **Copy or download:** Copy the formatted signature into an email signature editor, copy the HTML code for a compatible system, or download the HTML file and copy its rendered contents. 4. **Install and test:** Create a signature in Gmail or Outlook, paste the result and save your defaults. Send yourself a test email and inspect it on desktop and mobile, including with remote images disabled. ## What makes an email signature useful? A signature should make it easy to recognize the sender and take the next step. Keep your name, role and one or two useful contact options. A small headshot can help with recognition, but the text should make sense even if the recipient blocks images. This builder uses a presentation table and inline styles, with real text, descriptive photo alt text and standard fonts. Those choices support common email clients, but no single HTML signature renders identically everywhere. Test the result in the clients your recipients use. ## Why the photo needs a public HTTPS URL A photo on your computer is not a permanent web address. A browser preview URL would stop working after the page closes, and embedded data images are not reliably supported by email apps. This tool therefore uses your supplied public HTTPS image URL in exported signatures. Host a suitably cropped image on a website or image service you control. Use a direct image URL that opens without a login, avoid expiring links and confirm you are comfortable making that photo public. This builder does not upload, host or verify the lifetime of the image. Previewing a remote URL contacts that host. ## How to install a signature in Gmail or Outlook In Gmail on a computer, open Settings, then See all settings and the General tab. Find Signature, create one, paste the formatted signature, choose your defaults and save the settings. In Outlook, open Settings and search for Signatures. The exact menus differ across versions. Create a signature, paste the formatted result and choose when it should be added. If rich copy is unavailable in your browser, open the downloaded HTML, select the rendered signature and copy it. - [Google: create a Gmail signature](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8395?hl=en) - [Microsoft: add and change an Outlook signature](https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/outlook/mail/how-to-add-and-change-an-email-signature-in-outlook) ## Choose a photo that reads at a small size A signature portrait is much smaller than a website hero image. Use a simple head-and-shoulders crop with clear light and an uncluttered background. Crop before hosting the image, and use a dark accent color so text and links remain readable. - [Crop a signature photo](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/profile-photo-cropper) - [Check your headshot](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-photo-checker) ## FAQ ### Can I add a headshot to my email signature? Yes. Provide a direct public HTTPS image URL for the exported signature. A local upload lets you try the layout, but it is preview-only until you supply a durable public URL. ### Does this builder host my photo? No. Local uploads stay in your browser. You provide and manage the public image URL used by the exported signature. ### Does it work with Gmail and Outlook? It generates simple table-based HTML and includes copy-and-paste guidance for both. Email clients can modify formatting, so send a test email and check the actual result. Mobile apps may use separate signature settings. ### Why is the signature image missing in an email? The recipient may block remote images, the URL may need a login, or the hosted file may have moved or expired. Open the image URL in a private browser window and check the recipient's image settings. Your contact details remain text. ### Can I export a signature without a photo? Yes. Leave the public photo URL empty to export a text-only signature. A local preview image is never substituted into the exported HTML. ## More free tools - [LinkedIn Photo Checker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-photo-checker): A LinkedIn photo checker is a tool that scores a profile picture out of 100 for light, sharpness, framing, eye line and background, rating the photo rather than the person in it. - [Circle Crop Tool](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/profile-photo-cropper): A circle crop tool cuts a photo into a round profile picture and saves it as a PNG with transparent corners, or as a square sized for each platform. - [Background Changer](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-background-changer): A headshot background changer is a tool that separates the person in a portrait from the background behind them and replaces that background with plain white, grey, a brand color or a blurred version of the original. - [Cost Calculator](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-cost-calculator): A headshot cost calculator estimates what professional headshots cost from a studio photographer, an on-site corporate photographer or an AI headshot service, using published prices for your city, team size, looks and retouching. - [Headshot Prompt Generator](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/ai-headshot-prompt-generator): An AI headshot prompt generator builds a ready-to-paste prompt that asks ChatGPT, Gemini or another image tool to turn your own photo into a professional headshot while keeping your face unchanged. - [Profile Picture Tester](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/profile-picture-tester): A profile picture tester, or pfp tester, previews your photo as the round or rounded square avatar that LinkedIn, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, Zoom and X show, from the large profile view down to the small icons beside comments and chat messages. - [Background Picker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-backgrounds): A headshot background picker shows which professional backgrounds suit each industry and a LinkedIn photo, with examples, color codes and the attire that pairs with each one. - [Color Analysis Quiz](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/color-analysis): A color analysis quiz is a short set of questions about your undertone, hair, eyes and contrast that sorts you into a seasonal color type and shows which colors flatter you. - [Face Shape Detector](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/face-shape-detector): A face shape detector is a tool that measures the length of a face and the width of its forehead, cheekbones and jaw in a photo to estimate whether it is oval, round, square, oblong, heart, diamond or triangle shaped. - [LinkedIn Profile Checker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/linkedin-profile-checker): A LinkedIn profile checker is a tool that scores your headline, About section and profile photo against clear rules, such as LinkedIn's character limits, an opening line that lands before "see more" and a way to contact you. - [Free AI Headshot Generator](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/free-ai-headshot-generator): Create one AI-generated professional headshot preview from a single photo, in one of 4 studio, office or outdoor styles, subject to daily availability. - [LinkedIn Banner Maker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/linkedin-banner-maker): Create a LinkedIn profile banner with your name, headline and brand colors. - [Speaker Media Kit Builder](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/speaker-media-kit-builder): Create a speaker one-sheet with your headshot, short bio, talk topics, featured book or work, and booking details. - [Photo Submission Checker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/photo-submission-checker): Check an original photo's format, bytes and pixel dimensions, then manually crop and compress a JPEG for your selected application route. - [Team Headshot Standardizer](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/team-headshot-standardizer): Prepare a consistent team photo directory with matching square dimensions, individually adjusted crops and an optional shared background color. - [Headshot Pose Coach](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-pose-coach): Build a practical headshot shot list with illustrated poses and setup advice tailored to your camera, lighting, intended use and comfort preferences. ## Related headshot packs - [Professional Headshots](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/professional-headshots): A professional headshot is a head and shoulders portrait, evenly lit against a plain or softly blurred background, used to represent you on company websites, staff directories, email signatures, conference programs and press coverage. - [LinkedIn Headshots](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/linkedin-headshots): A LinkedIn headshot is a head and shoulders portrait, framed for the circle crop LinkedIn applies, that represents you on your profile, in recruiter search results and beside every message and comment you post. ## Links - [Create your headshots](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/start) - [All free tools](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools) - [Home](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/)