*Login at your Gmail email account.

*Switch to the newer webmail interface if you're on the basic HTML or older standard view. The link will be located at the bottom of the page in the footer.

*Load the "Settings" section and move to "My Picture" segment .
Click "Select a picture".

*You can put a picture in your Gmail email account by uploading one from the computer, getting it from Picasa or providing a link to one which is already online. We'll go with the first option.

*Click the "Choose File" button.

*A window opens showing the contents of the default folder on your computer's hard disk. Move to the folder that has the picture you want to upload on Gmail .

*Select the file and click "Open" .

*Patiently wait for the file to be transferred to Gmail servers. Depending on the image size and the internet speed this can take anywhere from a couple of seconds to a minute.

*Once uploaded, the image is displayed with a superimposed selection box.
*Drag the corners and / or move the box to select the image area that you want to be displayed. This is akin to cropping the picture .
*Gmail also conveniently shows a preview.

*Once satisfied, click "Apply Changes" button
which will put the picture on your Gmail email account.