Microsoft Outlook 2007

Automating Appearance with Stationery and Themes

Using stationery and themes is a great way to add interest to your messages and express your personality. Like paper stationery, Outlook's stationery provides a background for your message. Themes provide both a background and additional formatting, including a set font and font color. Outlook provides a variety of themes and stationery for your use, but you may no longer create your own themes and stationery as with earlier versions of Outlook.

What Stationery and Themes Aren't
Creating a New Message with Stationery
Setting a Default Stationery

What Stationery and Themes Aren't

Outlook's Stationery and Themes control only the visual appearance of the message. If the content is what you want to standardize, refer to the following:

You can create Signature Blocks for paragraphs of content and insert these signatures anywhere in your message
You can use Templates to create a base message (including the subject line) and use it as a base for future messages

Creating a New Message with Stationery or Themes

To apply a stationery or theme that Outlook applies to a new message, use the following instructions:

From the Navigation pane, click MAIL
From the Actions menu, select New Mail Message Using » More Stationery...
The Theme or Stationery dialog box appears.
From the Choose a Theme scroll box, select the desired stationery or theme
NOTE: An example of the selected theme or stationery appears in the Sample of theme box.
Click OK
A new message appears.

Setting a Default Stationery or Theme

If you would like one theme or stationery to be applied to all messages that you send, you can set a default stationery.

HINT: To apply stationery or themes to a message, the message must be sent in HTML format.

From the Tools menu, select Options...
The Options dialog box appears.
Select the Mail Format tab
In the Stationery and Fonts group, click STATIONERY AND FONTS...
The Signatures and Stationery dialog box appears.
From the Personal Stationery tab, in the Theme or stationery for new HTML e-mail message section, click THEME...
The Theme or Stationery dialog box appears.
From the Choose a Theme scroll box, select the desired stationery or theme
NOTE: An example of the selected theme or stationery appears in the Sample of theme box.
Click OK
The Theme or Stationery dialog box closes.
Click OK
The Signatures and Stationery dialog box appears.
Click OK
The Options dialog box closes.

Turning Off the Default Stationery or Theme

If you currently have a default stationery or theme for all messages, but no longer want to apply it to all messages, you can turn off the default stationery or theme.

From the Tools menu, select Options
The Options dialog box appears.
Select the Mail Format tab
In the Stationery and Fonts group, click STATIONERY AND FONTS...
The Signatures and Stationery dialog box appears.
From the Personal Stationery tab, in the Theme or stationery for new HTML e-mail message section, click THEME...
The Theme or Stationery dialog box appears.
From the Choose a Theme scroll box, select (No Theme)
Click OK
The Theme or Stationery dialog box closes.
Click OK
The Signatures and Stationery dialog box appears.
Click OK
The Options dialog box closes.
You will now need to select a stationery when you want to use one.