How can I add a picture to my Gmail account?

This is a brand-new feature that Google added to the Gmail service that's taken from its somewhat lackluster instant messenger program Gtalk, and it's fun, but only applies to other Gmail users who receive your email, not to the rest of the Internet.

With that caveat, here's how you can set this up in just a few seconds.

First off, you'll want to be logged in to your Gmail account, then click on the Settings link. A short ways down on the "General" settings tab you'll now find this:

Click on "Select a Picture" (somehow you knew I'd say that, right?) and you'll now have the chance to specify just about any image on your computer that's in JPEG, GIF, BMP or PNG format. I recommend PNG format for photographs myself, but most digital cameras tend to work with JPG format instead, so use what you have available):

Choose your file, click on the "Upload a Picture" button and the image will be uploaded to Google's server. If it's too large, you'll need to crop it, that is, define what subsection of the image should be used for your photo. If it's too big, you'll see the cheery message The picture you're trying to upload is too big. Please try a smaller picture. Solution? Try a smaller picture!

Note: I found that Apple's Safari browser couldn't upload images and had to switch to Firefox for this process to be completed. PC users probably don't have that problem, however.

More likely than not, you'll need to crop it, as I found I needed to do on even the smallest image. It's easy: just drag and resize the crop box by grabbing a corner of it, then center the box over your image as desired by grabbing the middle of the box:

When you're done, click on "Crop Picture" and your Gmail General Settings will now show your new picture in all its glory:

Note here that you can specify that only those folk who can chat with you can see the picture, or that anyone who receives a Gmail message from you can see it. Me? I figure everyone likes my jazzy little icon...

Finally, make sure you click on 'Save Changes" at the bottom of the Settings page to ensure that everything is stored back on the Gmail server.

Hope that helps you figure out how to use Gmail's new My Picture feature.