Comments on: Artists: Add Your Signature to Your Emails

By: Jeanne Guerin-Daley

Jeanne Guerin-Daley — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:31:59 +0000

Thanks, Alyson, for helping me realize that I had a potential problem on my blog! I had uploaded a photo of a cyanotype print that I’d made. I cropped the image in order to include some of the surrounding white paper, including the pencil writing below the image which contained the print number (1/1 since it was a monoprint) along with the title and my signature. Written in pencil, it was very much like the one I use when signing checks! You helped me realize that cropping that out would be smart. (I did it right away!) I am also planning to sign my artwork in a different way than writing official signature just to be safe. Identity theft is not something I want to deal with! Thanks, again!

By: Jeanne Guerin-Daley

Jeanne Guerin-Daley — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:31:35 +0000

By: Tina Mammoser

Tina Mammoser — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:11:38 +0000

This looked so nice I decided to try it, and then sent ‘test’ emails to several people. The responses were so varied that I’ve decided to remove the image. On one PC using Mozilla Thunderbird the image appears in an ‘attachment’ bar as an image. On another PC using Outlook it just shows an attachment in the information bar. On another PC (software unknown) it shows up as gobbledy-gook AND as an image below the email. On a web-based browser it appears as gobbledy-gook. And when I mistakenly emailed a stranger about something else with the new signature they were concerned that they couldn’t open the image attached (thinking it was relevent to the item we were discussing). This makes me think an image attachment as general practice is more trouble than it’s worth. Too bad, it’s a lovely idea!

By: Michelle Allen

Michelle Allen — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:45:33 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the thoughts about using a different signature than your “official signature”. I would have never thought about it. Sad how we have to think of everything to protect ourselves these days.

By: Mary Richmond

Mary Richmond — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 23:36:27 +0000

There’s so much unauthorized borrowing that goes on throughout the internet I would be very cautious about using any part of my handwritten signature, especially on your blog or website…. It’s too easy to copy and an expert could probably forge the rest from the bit you’ve given them, if they were so inclined. I really hate to be paranoid but I’ve had several images taken off my sites and used by others without permission or attribution lately so I’m very aware of the comfort level the anonymity of the web seems to offer. It seems to let some people do things they might not otherwise do….and for those who are willing to take advantage, well, it’s really an open book….I understand that signing your emails may seem innocuous, but once they are on the web, they are really a sort of public piece if you think about it…they remind us all the time our emails are not private. And all that said, it seems like a cool idea.

By: Alyson B. Stanfield

Alyson B. Stanfield — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:38:56 +0000

Point well taken. It seems to be fascinating for so many people that I’m going to keep it for a while. But I do understand that it could be an annoyance. Thanks for providing an alternate opinion.

By: dansroka

dansroka — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:40:31 +0000

It’s funny, but for me seeing a written signature on an email makes it feel more like a form letter than one with plain text. Why? Because you know it cannot be done on the spur of the moment. Whereas when someone signs their email with their first name instead of their full name, I know we have switched from “formal” to “personal”. Also I find them frustrating because many email programs do show embedded images as attachments. You think you are receiving something important (as attachments often are), but then realize, no, it’s just a signature.