I was wondering about the maximum size of file that you should put in a signature. I don't think that you should ever exceed 10kb for your signature, but that's just me. It's not like I am using dial-up, but some people still do. The total bandwidth wasted on images that are completely ignored has got to be a staggering number. When the images are larger than they need to be, it is even worse.

I also don't think that a signature graphic needs to be that large in dimension either. I am just going with the standard 88x31 micro button size. I know that animated microbuttons are supposed to draw more clicks than static images. When animating rendered images, keeping the size down is a real challenge.

I don't use this image anywhere because of the file size. Here is a 47.28 kb of a microbutton I am considering using for my site:


The one that I use is only 1.23 kb:


Now, I think that I should try to make something animated, but less than 10 kb (to stay within my limits). Opinions??

My personal opinion is large signatures make the thread look messy & detract from the post text - which is kinda defeating the object. My members will be limited to a 50 x 50 animated gif avatar up to 30kb, & a 150 x 50 signature.