name of tutorial

example Skill Level: Beginner
Author:  Merlene Guldager
Home Page: Gold Acres Designs



What you will need:

A stationery strip or background tile
Outlook Express v5 or higher
or Windows Live Mail



This tutorial will show you how to use the Stationery Wizard in Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail to create stationery for use in sending emails. It will not teach you how to make seamless tiling backgrounds or strips. Check out my other tutorials for some of how to do that.

Let's Begin

  1. If you haven't already done so, go surfing on the Web and find some Stationery strips or background tiles and download them to your computer. Be sure you save them where they are easy to find again.
  2. Open Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail and let's look at things.
    You need to have a couple of toolbars turned on.
    Open a new blank email message.
    example
    Do you see the format toolbar directly above the message area..?
    And beneath do you see the status area with it's three tabs?
    example
    If not then, go to VIEW on your Menu bar and choose Toolbars. Now just select each to turn them on.
  3. Now Click on TOOLS/OPTIONS and choose the SEND tab so we can make a couple of changes here to allow you to send and receive email in HTML or Rich Text format (that means with images)
  4. Look down the box and find where it says "Mail Sending Format" Put a tick in the box next to HTML.

    example
  5. Next click on the HTML Settings button to open the controls box.
    Here you want to put a check mark in the box next to "Send pictures with messages."
    example
    Now you are set up to send and receive images with your mail.
  6. Now open the Compose Tab in the Options Menu. (TOOLS/OPTIONS/Compose)
    About a third of the way down you will see where it says "Stationery."example
    Put a check mark where it says Mail. The program comes with several nice selections and clicking on the SELECT button will allow you to chose one and save it to be used automatically each time you open a new Mail message.

  7. Let's create a new Stationery to use by clicking on the "Create New" Button. This opens the Stationery Creation Wizard's Welcome Screen. Click on the NEXT button.

  8. Here we begin to make a new Stationery. There are several things to be done in this control box. First put a Check Mark next to Picture and click on the Browse button. Now browse to where you saved the background tile or strip you downloaded.
    example
  9. Next we have to decide where to position it. We are going to choose TOP and LEFT
    This could be different if you were using a banner or bar for across the top with a solid color beneath it.
    example
    Where it says Tile click the down arrow and choose Entire Page for a Tile and Vertically for a Strip. In my example below you can see that there's a border of candy corn running down the left edge of the preview pane.
    example

    One last thing here ...and it's important. Put a Check next to Color and choose one. If you leave this out or at default it will show only the color the recipient has chosen in her Desktop color scheme and it might conflict with what you choose next for the text color.
    example
    (This should only happen if the person receiving your email isn't set up to view images and it might prevent her from being able to read your text.)
    Now click the NEXT button at the bottom.
  10. Time to pick a Font and a color for it. You want a font and size that are easy to read and you also need the color to work over the top of that image you just loaded.
    Remember that not everyone has the same fonts. It's best to stick to the more basic ones like, Comic Sans, Verdana, Arial or Georgia. If you choose something fancy, you may be the only one who gets to see it.
    Again, do not leave the color for the Font set to Default, choose a color from the list that you think will work best with your background. (You can back up later if it doesn't work and change it)
    Click the NEXT button again.
  11. Now we can see what the Text is going to look like over the top of the background. We can also see that it is over the top of the left border if it's a strip.
    Use the Numbers in the Left Margin area to move the text over to the right so that there's a little bit of space between the border and the text.
    It's also a good idea to move the Top Margin down by at least 5 or 10 Pixels so that your text isn't snugged right up there tight.
    Use the BACK button to return to the Font choice screen if you need to change the size or color to make it work better. When you are sure it looks OK click the NEXT button.
    example
  12. Only one thing left here to do...Give your Stationery a name. Keep this simple but descriptive so you can find it easily when you want to use it later on.
    example

Part Two: Using Stationery to Send Email

Ok, I am going to assume that you have collected and created some nice stationery to use. You have already set up your Email to allow you to send and receive Email in Rich Text (HTML)format. Next we will set up a default stationery to use. But what if you don't always want to use the one you set as default...? Well not to worry, there are several ways of beginning to send Email using Stationery. We'll go through them all and you will soon be amazing everyone with your fancy, un-boring Emails.

Setting up a Default Stationery

  1. Go to TOOLS/OPTIONS/Compose again
  2. Click on the SELECT button in the "Stationery" area. This will open the folder where your stationery was stored by the Stationery Wizard when you saved it. It's also where all the stationery that comes with your email program are stored.example
  3. Click on the one you want to use. It will show you what it looks like in the Preview window. Don't click OK until you have one you like.
  4. Now you are back in the Compose tab of Tools/Options. You can click OK to close it.
  5. Now let's see how this works when you want to write an email. Click on this Icon example
    or click on FILE/New
    or MESSAGE/New Message to open a new blank email message. Your default stationery will be automatically loaded along with the font you chose. Click inside the message box and begin typing. Pretty easy isn't it..?
    Very handy when you are in a hurry. But what if you want to send something special to just one person..? There are a couple of ways to do that.

How to use a Stationery different from your Default choice

  1. Click on MESSAGE/New Message. Ok your defaults opened but we will change them shortly...
  2. Click on FORMAT and go down and choose Background from the Menu. Another menu will open to the right. Choose Picture.
  3. Now use the Browse button to open the background tile or strip you want to use and click OK.
    Now you have a different background, but the font and color are still the same.
  4. Look right above the text area and you will see your chosen Font shown there on the left. The size may or may not show next to it. Use the drop button to choose the font you want. Do the same for the size and color. Then write and send your email.

Or...

  1. Go to MESSAGE/New Message Using... OR click the small down arrow on this Icon example
  2. You will see a menu list of the ten Stationeries you have used recently. (If you haven't used any yet it will begin with the top of the list of the ones that come with the program.)
    You can choose one from this list or click on "Select Stationery" and the Stationery Selection screen we saw earlier will open.
  3. Choose the one you want and it will appear at the top of the list the next time you open it.

Now you go out and amaze your friends and family...!

2000 - 2010 © Gold Acres Designs