If you are a Outlook 2007 user, you can add a background picture to an email by using the Add Picture Wizard. The Add Picture Wizard is located in the Tools group on the left side of the Outlook 2007 screen. To begin the Add Picture Wizard, click on the first button on the left side of the screen. This will open a dialog box that will ask you to choose a picture to add as a background image for your email. You can choose any picture that you have stored on your computer or that you have downloaded from an online source. If you choose not to add a picture, Outlook will create one for you automatically. Once you have chosen a picture to add as your background image, click on the next button on the left side of the screen. This will open another dialog box that will ask you how much space do you want to give your new background image. If you do not want Outlook to create any background images for your email, select “No Background Images” in this dialog box. If you want Outlook to create at least one background image for each message, select “At least One Background Image.” Once you have selected how much space do you want Outlook to give your new background image, click on the next button on the left side of the screen. This will open another dialog box that will ask if you want to save your new background image as a file or store it in your computer’s hard drive. Ifyouwanttosaveyournewbackgroundimageasafile,clickonthenextbuttonontheleftsideofthescreen.Thiswillopenanotherdialogboxthatwillaskifyouwanttostoreitinyourcomputer’sharddrive. Ifyouchoosenottocastithinyourcomputer’sharddrive,Outlookwillcreateoneforyou automatically.
You should use this feature with caution, of course, since it will increase the size of the email and if you choose a really obnoxious image it will also annoy whoever you are sending the email to. Note that this feature is different from the Stationery feature in Outlook, which we’ll cover at another time.
Adding a Background Picture
Open up a new email, click on the Options tab and then the Page Color drop-down button, and then the Fill Effects item at the bottom of the menu.
Note that you’ll need to have your email in HTML or Rich Text mode for this to work.
You can use the Textures or Patterns on the various tabs if you like, although none of them are that great.
Or you can choose a particular picture from the Picture tab by using the Select Picture button to browse and find a file. You’ll want to make sure to choose an image that can be tiled, and also make sure that it’s small since it’s going to be included in the email.
You’ll notice that this particular image doesn’t tile very well…
And since it’s not mostly dark or mostly light, the text is barely readable.
Instead you want to choose a background image that can tile and is either mostly dark or mostly light colored.
Of course, you should always use this feature with caution. Nobody wants to get some gigantic picture as the background image for an email.
