Signature with Internet image and hyperlink
I have a picture of myself located on the Internet which I want to add to my Signature. As I will regularly replace this picture with a newer one, I want it to automatically update in my Signature as well.
In addition, I want the image to point to my Facebook website when people click on it.
How can I set up such a dynamic signature image in Outlook?
Creating an Outlook signature with an image or picture located on the Internet requires you to add the image in a specific way.
Once the image is inserted, you can use the Signature Editor to turn the image into a hyperlink to any website.
If you are using Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2007, you must first make a change to how Outlook deal with linked images.
Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007: Set Outlook to link to pictures instead of embedding them
As mentioned, if you are using Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2007, the first step is to change Outlook’s behavior on how to deal with linked pictures. By default Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007 will embed them with the message, whereas Outlook 2013 and later will link to the pictures instead of embedding them.
When the pictures get embedded, it would mean that your picture would be a reflection of when you created the message instead of when the the recipient is reading (or even re-reading) your message.
Depending on how often you change your picture, this might be a non-issue but it would also mean that the picture gets added each time and thus making each message quite a bit larger. In several cases this could also result in your picture being added as an attachment and/or show the message with a paperclip icon.
These are all things that you should want to avoid; if not for you, then definitely for the recipient’s sake.
To change this behavior for Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007, so it will also link to the picture instead of embedding it, you must set the following Registry value.
Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\<version>\Outlook\Options\Mail
Value name; Send Pictures With Document
Value: 0
Note: For more info about this registry key see; Where did "HTML options" go in Outlook 2007/2010?
Insert image as link
When inserting the image into your signature, you must again make sure that the image is linked. If you do not do this, then the current image will be downloaded and saved within your signature and wouldn’t update when you change it on-line.
- Click on the Picture icon in the Signature Editor
- As the file name, type the Internet address (URL) to the image in full.
- Instead of clicking on Insert, click on the little down arrow on the Insert button and choose; Link to File
Use "Link to File" to insert an Internet image in your Outlook Signature.
Create a hyperlink
Once the image has been added, you can make it clickable and point it to a website via the the Hyperlink function.
- Select the image and click on the Hyperlink icon
Note: For more information about using images in Signatures, see the guide; Using images in Signatures
