When creating an email signature for use in an email program such as Microsoft Outlook, there are two ways that images can be included in the email signature: Embedded or Hosted. There are pros and cons to each:

Advantages of Embedded Images

• With an embedded image, recipients do not need to click "view images" to see the image, so the image will show automatically. With a hosted image, many email programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, will require the recipient to right-click and choose "view images" in order to see the image, as a way of protecting the recipient against possible viruses and unwanted tracking.

Advantages of Hosted Images

• With a hosted image, the filesize of the email itself is much smaller (because it does not include the image data inside the email itself), meaning the email will take up less storage for both the sender and the recipient.
• Because spam often includes embedded images, spam filters are much more likely to attribute a higher spam score to an email with an embedded image. Hosted images avoid this problem and will therefore be less likely to be marked as spam.

Most businesses elect to use embedded images because they look better without the recipient having to do anything, but it's important to understand the risks and downsides associated with this approach.