You can personalize your outgoing messages in many ways, including the following:
You can select the font, font style, and font color.
You can format the text of your message to make it more readable by including headings and numbered or bulleted lists.
You can format the background with a color or picture. (However, these won’t always appear to e-mail recipients as you intend them to, and they can make your communications appear less professional.)
Tip
When you insert a background picture, Entourage tiles the picture to cover the entire message background. If your background picture isn’t quite subtle, the tiled background will overwhelm the text of the message.
After you insert a background picture, you can’t remove it by clicking the Undo button. Instead, you have to click Remove Background Picture on the Message menu.
You can represent information graphically by including charts you create in Microsoft Excel 2008 and tables you create in Microsoft PowerPoint 2008.
You can insert clip art images, symbols, pictures, and other graphics from the Object Palette of the Toolbox.
You can insert pictures, sounds, and movies directly into the message.
You can attach files to the message and link the message to other Entourage items or to files.
You can insert your contact information, or another message you want to deliver consistently, in the form of an e-mail signature.
While you’re crafting a message, you can validate the words and phrases in the message by using the reference tools that are available in all the Office 2008 programs.
See Also
For information about the Reference Tools palette, see "Research Words and Phrases" later in this topic.
By default, the content of an Entourage message appears in black, 11-point Calibri (a very readable sans serif font), arranged in left-aligned paragraphs on a white background. You can change the appearance of a message by applying local formatting (text or paragraph attributes).
The local formatting options available in Entourage 2008 are a subset of those available in other Office 2008 programs; if you’ve already worked through earlier chapters of this book, you’re probably very familiar with them. Here’s a quick review of the types of formatting changes you can make:
Font, size, and color. More than 100 fonts in a range of sizes and in a virtually unlimited selection of colors.
Font style. Regular, bold, italic, underlined, or fixed-width font.
Paragraph attributes. Alignment and indentation.
List formats. Numbered or bulleted lists.
The Entourage Toolbox includes only the Scrapbook palette, the Reference Tools palette, and the Object Palette. These function in Entourage the same way they do in other Office 2008 programs. We haven’t yet discussed the reference tools, which are quite handy when you’re composing an e-mail message or creating a Word document.
See Also
For information about the Scrapbook, see "Edit Document Text" in Chapter 7. For information about the Object Palette, see "Insert and Modify Shapes" in Chapter 12.
The Reference Tools palette provides easy access to the following reference tools:
A thesaurus in which you can look up meanings and synonyms (alternative words) for a word or phrase.
The Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia in which you can look up extensive information, in English or French, about a subject. The encyclopedia includes links to articles and resources on the Web.
A dictionary providing definitions for English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish words (not phrases).
A multilingual dictionary providing definitions in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, or Spanish for words (not phrases) in any of those languages.
A translation service (provided by an outside company named WorldLingo) that provides computer-generated translations into Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, or Spanish for words or phrases in any of those languages. From the Translation panel, you can also link to information about a variety of translation services on WorldLingo’s Web site.
You can display reference information for a word or phrase by entering it in the Search box at the top of the palette and then pressing Return. The available information appears in each panel of the palette.
To research alternatives for a word by using the thesaurus:
In the Reference Tools palette of the Toolbox, expand the Thesaurus panel.
In the Search box at the top of the palette, enter the word or phrase you want to look up, and then press Return.
Available definitions of the word or phrase appear in the Meanings list. Alternative words for the selected meaning appear in the Synonyms list.
In the Meanings list, click the meaning that is most representative of the meaning you want to convey.
The Synonyms list changes to display alternatives for the selected meaning.
To further research a suggested synonym, click the word or phrase, and then click the Look Up button.
To insert a synonym from the list into the open message or document, click the word or phrase, and then click the Insert button.
To translate a word or phrase into another language:
In the Reference Tools palette of the Toolbox, expand the Translation panel.
In the Translation panel, choose the original language in the From list, and the language you want to translate to in the To list.
In the Search box at the top of the palette, enter the word or phrase you want to translate, and then press Return.
When you create a paper-based message, you can add a signature at the end of the message by writing your name. When you create an e-mail message, you can add a signature at the end of the message by manually or automatically inserting a predefined block of information. An e-mail signature provides consistent information to message recipients. Your signature can include text, background pictures, inline pictures, graphics from the Object Palette, sounds, and even movies. You would commonly include your name and contact information but, depending on your needs and wants, you might also include information such as your company name, job title, a legal disclaimer, a corporate or personal slogan, or a photo.
You can create different signatures for use in different types of messages. For example, you might create a formal business signature for client correspondence, a casual business signature for interoffice correspondence, and a personal signature for messages sent from a secondary account. Or you might create a signature containing more information to send with original e-mail messages, and a signature containing less information to send with message replies. You can format the text of your e-mail signature in the same ways that you can format message text.
To create an e-mail signature:
On the Tools menu, click Signatures. Then in the Signatures dialog box, click the New button.
An Untitled window opens.
In the Name box, enter a name by which you will identify this signature (such as Home, Work, Soccer Club, or whatever purpose the signature represents) and then press the Tab key to move to the content box.
The window title changes to reflect the signature name.
In the content box, enter the text of your e-mail signature. Apply formatting by using the commands available on the toolbar above the content box.
If you want to insert a picture, background picture, sound, or movie into the signature, point to Insert on the Message menu, and then click the type of item you want to insert. In the Choose a File dialog box that opens, select the specific item, and then click Choose.
Close the signature window. If Entourage displays a dialog box prompting you to save the signature, click Save.
You can manually insert any signature you create in an e-mail message, but it‘s more common to instruct Entourage to automatically insert it for you. You do this individually for each e-mail account.
To specify a signature to be inserted on all new messages sent from a specific account:
Open the Edit Account dialog box by using one of these methods:
In the Edit Account dialog box, display the Options page.
In the Default signature list, click the signature you want to appear at the bottom of each new message sent from this account. Or, if you’re feeling a bit wild, click Random to have Entourage select one for you from a list of signatures you’ve designated for this purpose.
In the Edit Account dialog box, click OK.
Entourage will now insert your signature into all e-mail messages, including replies and messages you forward, that you send from this account.
