Adding a Signature

You can further personalize your e- mails by adding a signature to the message. A signature can be as simple as just your name , or the signature can include your phone number or extension or other information. Some people even add a favorite quote to their signature. If you use HTML as your message format, you can even include signature files that contain graphics. Plain-text signatures (for use with plain-text messages) will consist only of text characters .

First, take a look at how you can create a signature. Then you can take a look at how you apply it to a message.

Creating a Signature

1. Choose Tools, Options to open the Options dialog box, and then select the Mail Format tab.

2. Click the Signatures button at the bottom of the dialog box. The Create Signature dialog box opens.

3. Click the New button; the Create New Signature dialog box opens as shown in Figure 4.6.

   Figure 4.6. Outlook walks you through the steps of creating a signature.

   

4. Type a name for your new signature, and then click Next .

5. The Edit Signature dialog box appears. Enter the text you want included in the signature. You can use the Paragraph or Font buttons to add formatting to the text in the signature.

6. When you have finished creating your signature, click the Finish button. Click Close to close the Create New Signature dialog box, and then click OK to close the Options dialog box.

You Can Edit Signatures To edit a signature, select the signature in the Create New Signature dialog box and then click Edit .

Inserting the Signature

After you've created a signature or signatures, you can quickly add it to any message by placing the insertion point where you want to place the signature, choosing Insert , and then choosing Signature ; all the signatures that you have created appear on the menu. Select the signature from the list you want to use in the message you are currently composing.

You can also preview the signatures before inserting them; choose Insert, Signature , and then select More from the cascading menu. The Select a Signature dialog box opens. Select any of your signatures to view a preview of the signature. When you find the signature you want to use, click OK .