In Outlook there is a feature called Stationary, this allows you to send HTML emails with embedded images.

Stationary is simply an HTML file and associated images.

It’s quite possible to create your own Stationary as HTML documents, however in order to use the Stationary you need to copy all the files into one of the default stationary folders on your PC.

This guide assumes you are using Windows XP and Outlook 2003. However, it is highly likely that this will be applicable on most system configurations.

The first step is to close Outlook.
Now you need to copy the HTML and image (jpg / gif) files into the correct folder.

This will most likely be:

C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Stationery

(There is another folder you may need to copy these files into if you can’t use the stationary, more below)

If the developer who created the HTML email template has designed the template to use embedded images, the HTML file and it’s associated images must all be stored in the above folder. (Outlook cannot read files in subdirectorys)

So, by now you should have an HTML file and several image files stored in your stationary folder.

So the next step is to actually use the stationary in Outlook.

Step one is of course to open Outlook, now click on the ‘actions’ menu, and select ‘new mail using’ to open a sub menu. The new Stationary probably won’t show up in this menu the first time you try to use it so now click on ‘More Stationary’.

This should bring up a new window with a list of all the available Stationary. You should be able to pick out your new stationary from the list. Choosing the stationary will automatically open a new email window. Now you should just be able to type in your email as normal and click send.

Some things you should note!

Outlook does not use the same rendering engine as Internet Explorer or any normal web browser. This can mean that HTML email templates can look very messed up before you send them. This is pretty common. Normally once the email is sent and then received it will look ok.

Remember all the files must be placed directly into the folders I have mentioned – they will not work if you use any sub-folders.

e.g.

C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Stationery\template\

This will not work!

What to do if the email template doesn’t show up after doing all the above

It’s quite likely that your system uses a different stationary folder to the one I have mentioned above.

Try copying all the HTML and image files into this folder instead:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery

Then try to open the new stationary in Outlook again (as described above)