vLetter Online Support - Using Signatures in Emails

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The following instructions address issues related to using
Signatures in emails.

Learn about using signatures in email on a Mac.

Why can't I just put my signature into an email message
with the SigSoft Handwriter or the vLetter Toolbar?

- If the recipients don't have your handwriting font installed on their machines, their computers will substitute a standard system font (such as Arial) for the incoming handwritten text. Since the signature parts and inner-word letters in your vLetter handwriting are located in the upper ASCII table (where the "Greek" symbols are kept in standard computer fonts), they see "Greek" symbols in lieu of your signature or handwriting.
- You need to send your signature as an image in the email body, or to embed your signature in a Word document to send as an attachment in the email, or to create a PDF file with your signature to send as an attachment.

How do I put just my signature into regular Email messages?

1. Open the vLetterWriter from the Start Menu or desktop shortcut.
2. Hit any key to bring up the Edit Window.
3. Click the "Add Your Signature" button. Choose which parts of your signature you want to use in the "Handwriting > Handwriting Options" Menu.
4. Click the "Click Here To VIEW THIS TEXT AS HANDWRITING" button or click in the vLetterWriter's main window. If the signature that appears is not yours, choose the correct handwriting from the Handwriting menu.
5. In the Stationery menu, choose "No Graphics."
6. In the Colors menu, choose "White" as the Background Color and your favorite ink color as the Text Color.
7. Resize the vLetterWriter window around your signature.
8. In the eMail menu, choose "Convert this vLetter to an eMail attachment." Name the vLetter when prompted (e.g. "Mysig"); it will be put onto your desktop.
9. Drag the signature vLetter from your desktop into any regular email message. The recipient's email application will usually automatically display it when they read the email message (in some email applications the recipient needs to double-click the attachment icon to see the vLetter).

You can look into the Help menu for Microsoft Outlook to see how to insert your signature image (picture) into the "signature" feature within Outlook, so that your signature image is included every time. Simply search "add picture to signature" in the Outlook Help index.

How do I sign a Word document and email it?

- Word 2002-2003: Insert your signature in the document. Go to Tools > Options, and on the "Save" tab, check the option to "Embed TrueType fonts." Click OK. Then save the document and email it to the recipient as an attachment.
- Word 2007: Go to the Office Button (upper left corner), then click Word Options, then click on Save, then check the option to "Embed fonts in the file." Then click OK. Save the document and email it as an attachment.
- Word 2010: Click on the File tab (top left), then choose Options (down by Exit), then click on Save, then check the option to "Embed fonts in the file." Then click OK. Save the document and email it as an attachment.
- NOTE: This only works if you send the document to someone who also has Word on Windows. This does not work for other word processing programs or non-Windows systems (e.g. Word on Mac).
- NOTE: Do not use the option to email directly from Word. This will convert the document to an email message to send, and your signature will no longer be embedded.
- NOTE: Do not check the option to "Embed only the characters used in the document" to try to reduce file size. This sometimes has the unintended effect of not embedding the font at all, which defeats the purpose.

What about signing Excel documents to send via email?

We have a step-by-step guide for using signatures in Excel for Windows and Mac.

How do I sign other documents to send as emails?

You can make a PDF file of your signature to insert in the document (if the program allows this), or you can make an image as described above to insert in the document. You need the full version of Adobe Acrobat or another PDF-making program to make a PDF of your signature for Windows. See your Adobe software for instructions.

Can I create a signature "stamp" to use?

Yes. You can make a PDF "stamp" of your signature to use to sign documents. You can learn how at the Acrobat blog for Legal Professionals.