Using Signatures

Outlook 2007 supports two types of signatures that you can add automatically (or manually) to outgoing messages: standard signatures and digital signatures. This chapter focuses on standard signatures, which can include text and graphics, depending on the mail format you choose.

Note

To learn about digital signatures, which allow you to authenticate your identity and encrypt messages, see "Protecting Messages with Digital Signatures" in Chapter 14.

Understanding Message Signatures

Outlook 2007 can add a signature automatically to your outgoing messages. You can specify different signatures for new messages and for replies or forwards. Signatures can include both text and graphics as well as vCard attachments. Both rich-text and HTML formats support business cards and graphics in messages. If your signature contains graphics and you start a new message using plain-text format, the graphics are removed, although any text defined by the signature remains. When you start a message using plain-text format, business cards are attached but not included in the body of the message.

Why use signatures? Many people use a signature to include their contact information in each message. Still others use a signature to include a favorite quote or other information in the message. Regardless of the type of information you want to include, creating and using the signature is easy.

Defining Signatures

To define a signature, you use the Outlook 2007 Mail Format options. If you want to include a graphic, check before you start to ensure that you already have that graphic on your computer or that it’s available on the network.

Follow these steps to create a signature:

  1. In Outlook 2007, choose Tools, Options, and then select the Mail Format tab.

  2. Click Signatures to open the Signatures And Stationery dialog box, and then click New.

  3. In the New Signature dialog box, specify a name for the signature as it will appear in Outlook 2007, and then click OK.

  4. In the Signatures And Stationery dialog box, click the signature you just created in the Select A Signature To Edit list.

  5. In the Edit Signature area, type the text you want to include in the signature, and then use the toolbar to format the text, as shown in Figure 9-46.

    Format the text of your signature in the Edit Signature area of the Signatures And Stationery dialog box.

    Figure 9-46. Format the text of your signature in the Edit Signature area of the Signatures And Stationery dialog box.

    1. To attach a vCard from an Outlook 2007 contact item, click Business Card. In the Insert Business Card dialog box, select the contact item, and then click OK.

    2. To insert a picture, click the Picture icon. In the Insert Picture dialog box, select the picture, and then click Insert.

    3. To insert a hyperlink, click the Hyperlink icon. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, select the location to link to, type the text to display (if needed), and then click Insert.

  6. When you have finished with the signature, click Save.

  7. Create other signatures if desired, and then click OK to close the Signatures And Stationery dialog box.

Adding Signatures to Messages

The signature Outlook 2007 adds to new messages and the signature it adds to replies and forwards don’t have to be the same. To set up different signatures for these different kinds of messages, choose Tools, Options, select the Mail Format tab, and then click Signature.

In the Choose Default Signature area, select an account in the E-Mail Account drop-down list. Select a signature in the New Messages drop-down list and one in the Replies/Forwards drop-down list.

Other than letting you specify the signature for new messages or for replies and forwards, Outlook 2007 does not give you a way to control which signature is attached to a given message. For example, if you want to use different signatures for personal and business messages, you must switch signatures manually. However, Outlook 2007 does store signature options separately for each account, so you can control signatures to some degree just by sending messages through a specific account.

You can change the signature when composing a message. On the Insert tab, in the Include group, click Signature, and then select the signature on the menu. If you want a new signature, choose Signatures on the menu to open the Signatures And Stationery dialog box, and then create a new signature to use.

Backing Up Your Signatures

You should back up your signatures when you finish creating them and after you add a significant number of new ones. Signatures are stored in <profile>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftSignatures as a set of files (text, HTML, and rich text) and a corresponding folder of files containing pictures, XML files, and theme data.

There is no provision for backing up your signature inside Outlook 2007. To back up your signatures, you should back up the contents of <profile>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftSignatures.

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