Problem with email newsletter from MS Publisher 2007

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 18, 2010, 11:16:02 AM1/18/10

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I have created a newsletter in MS Publisher 2007 for distribution via email,
using Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager. I intend the newsletter to
be in the message body of the email and for it to be personalised (and have
worked out how to achieve that in MS Publisher and Business Contacts
Manager). The newsletter will be 'launched' using the 'Create a Marketing
Campaign' button in MS Publisher. I do not want this to go out as a pdf file.

All looks good on screen, when I preview the newsletter (and it opens in my
browser, IE8), it looks perfect!

However, when I sent a test newsletter to myself, when it appears in the
sent box, some of the formatting is lost, (eg text spills below where I
designed it to be and some images have corners missing, etc). It appears
with similar formatting problems when it arrives in my inbox.

When I send test newsletters to trusted others, some see the newsletter
appearing perfectly and others do not, and there seems to be no consistent
reason - some view it fine using Outlook, others don't; some view it fine
using web-based mail, such as hotmail and google, others don't.

One person has reported that as well as receiving the newsletter in the
message, they also received a sizeable number of file attachments (ie one for
each image / graphic / box outline, etc).

Am I missing something in the settings / options for Publisher and / or
Outlook that will enable me to send the newsletter in the body of the message
without all the attachments going with it and with greater confidence that
the formatting issues outlined above will not occur?

Also, when I receive newsletters, I am always given the chance to 'click
here' to view in my web browser. How can I provide this option in my
newsletter?

I am using Windows Vista Home Premium, IE8. and Office 2007 including
Business Contact Manager

Thanks for your help!

JoAnn Paules [MVP]

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Jan 18, 2010, 11:58:04 AM1/18/10

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Send your newsletter as a .pdf attachment and it will appear just the way
you want it to appear.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"

"TearingMyHairOut" <TearingM...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:86608D1A-FADF-405F...@microsoft.com...

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 18, 2010, 12:45:01 PM1/18/10

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I've seen this response elsewhere which is why I particularly drew attention
in my original query to the fact that I do NOT want to send as a pdf file.

This is a personalised mailing, which MS Publisher 2007 allows for using a
mailmerge facility which both MS Publisher 2007 and Office 2007 with Business
Contact Manager allows for.

I have created a pdf file of the newsletter which will also be available on
my website, but this does not get round the personalised email requirement.

Is it actually the case that MS Publisher will not do what I want it to do?

Thanks again, in anticipation.

"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:

> .
>

Mary Sauer

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Jan 18, 2010, 12:51:05 PM1/18/10

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The reason some folks are receiving your newsletter with attachments is because
they have chosen not to receive HTML email.
The only way you can be sure your newsletter will be received exactly as you
send it is via PDF. I know you stated you rather not have a PDF attachment, but
it is preferable.

Another alternative would be to compose the newsletter in Outlook.

Some help here
Promote your business with Marketing Campaigns in Business Contact Manager
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/HA100518331033.aspx

and here
How to save your publication as a Web Archive in Publisher and share it in
e-mail
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312157

--
Mary Sauer
http://msauer.mvps.org/

"TearingMyHairOut" <TearingM...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:86608D1A-FADF-405F...@microsoft.com...

JoAnn Paules [MVP]

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Jan 18, 2010, 1:41:38 PM1/18/10

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You can't change the way your readers get their mail, regardless of the
program you use. Sending a .pdf file is the best way to "control" the way
the end product looks for your readers.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"

"TearingMyHairOut" <TearingM...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:802DA538-0C34-44AA...@microsoft.com...

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 18, 2010, 2:04:02 PM1/18/10

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Mary - thanks for the thoughts and the links.

I know that confidence is much higher in sending comms in pdf format, but
pdf is really not suitable for a personalised e-shot ... unless there is a
great trick that I've missed! In any case, the point of an e-shot is that
recipients get the newsletter in the email itself and do not have to open
file attachments, whether pdf, mht or mhtml. For that reason, (not wanting
to send it as a file attachment), publishing as a web archive is not
appropriate. In any case, saving as a web archive is not an option available
on MS Publisher 2007.

'Promote your business with marketing campaigns using business contact
manager' is a very helpful site ..... it's what I want to do .... but it
doesn't get around the problem of how to compose the email with the
newsletter in the message body, unless you mean design and edit the
newsletter within Outlook?.

I understand what you say about some users having set their email clients
not to receive html emails. I guess that's why so many e-newsletters
nowadays incorporate a line which says 'click here' to view this newsletter
in your web browser. How can I include this facility in my newsletter - that
was the last of the questions on my original post?

Thanks again, in anticipation!

"Mary Sauer" wrote:

> .
>

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 18, 2010, 2:30:01 PM1/18/10

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Well, JoAnn, I fully appreciate that I can't control recipients' Outlook,
other email client, or web based email settings. And I also appreciate that
pdf retains formatting very effectively.

But I'm now wondering why it is that MS Office provides an apparent solution
in Publisher that permits users such as me to:

1. design a publication for distribution by email, with the explicit option
to include that newsletter in the main message body rather than as an
attachment, (pdf or otherwise);
2. personalise that newsletter;
3. merge it with an Outlook contacts file; and
4. launch it through Business Contact Manager .....

when at the final hurdle, seemingly from the replies to my original post to
date, MS Publisher / Outlook 2007 don't quite do what they say on the tin!

If I've misread any of the MS supporting material to both these
applications, that's one thing - but I think both applications are quite
explicit in what they say they can do.

I take it that what I want to do and what is summarised above is not,
afterall, possible, without getting unexpected format changes and without
some recipients, (possibly those who do not accept HTML messages), getting
large numbers of file attachments, (though I have one report of a recipient
getting full text and images in the main message body and also receiving file
attachments)!

Or maybe I've missed something ...?

"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:

> .
>

Rob Giordano [MS MVP]

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Jan 18, 2010, 11:21:50 PM1/18/10

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If it's html there's no 100% way of doing this, no matter which html creator
you use...period. Which is why people are recommending pdf to you, that's
100%.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression Web

"TearingMyHairOut" <TearingM...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:940F4C6A-DAA2-4459...@microsoft.com...

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 19, 2010, 2:06:01 AM1/19/10

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Thanks, Rob. I do understand this.

I guess I'm so used to receiving e-newsletters from others. Sometimes, when
they arrive, I'm asked if I want to download the pictures, especially if the
sender is not a 'trusted' sender. The pictures don't appear as file
attachments already downloaded. I'd be delighted if I could get the first
scenario to work - it's something people are generally used to - but is there
any way of doing this using MS Publisher 2007?

Thanks again!

JoAnn Paules [MVP]

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Jan 19, 2010, 8:54:16 AM1/19/10

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Set *your* email to accept text only for a day or two and you'll see what we
mean. No pictures, not even given the option. Text only means text only.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"

"TearingMyHairOut" <TearingM...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:25193B18-201E-4202...@microsoft.com...

rtipping

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Jan 19, 2010, 10:56:33 AM1/19/10

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On Jan 18, 11:16 am, TearingMyHairOut

Tearing:

I went through this some years back and what everyone is telling you
is 50% true.

The true part is MS publisher wont do what you want trust me been
there done that .

Now I am a web developer and also very lazy so I already knew what the
truth was that I was probably going to have to crate table based HTML
docs and then test the bejazezs out of them on as many expected end
user situations as possible .

Now depending on your ability to gauge your end user's you can concoct
some lazy ways of getting this done but the truth is to get a broad
spectrum of decent rendering html mail its a LOT of work .

Now I have not done this but I think it entirely possible that google
docs which has some pic in mail capability could hit a broad base of
rendering possibilities and before I got completely overwhelmed with
this about 3 years ago I did notice the shrewd marketers designing
with minimum pics but with heavy style and deft arrangement on what
they said and where.

Sadly all this is to naught if the recipient will not accept html
mail.

There is another anomaly for the lazy guys called "incredamail" which
is providing the ability to embed mail with images - will this work a
100% across the board NO
but i have been fairly lucky with it .The free version is useless so
dont go there and for your purposes you need the create mail plug in
which of course is more money

I should also mention there are professional services out there (no Im
not one of them) that seem to do a good job please appreciate this is
a job in itself if you want to do it properly and have it render on a
broad base of browsers and clients.

To summarize you could between Publisher,google docs and Incredamail
put together a mufti pronged amateur campaign together or you could
fully test html docs(table based forget css for this job)spend a ton
of time and get so so results or you could hire a pro company get as
high as an 80-90% result and put your own time to better use-at least
that is how I settled this for myself.
Good luck.

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 19, 2010, 12:59:01 PM1/19/10

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Thanks!

Not what I wanted to hear!!! But you probably realised that I had come to
suspect this myself!

Your email was, without doubt, informative and helpful, with a number of
options I will follow up!

Thanks again!

"rtipping" wrote:

> .
>

JoAnn Paules [MVP]

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Jan 19, 2010, 2:23:03 PM1/19/10

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But if the recipient has their email set for Text Only, none of those things
are going to work. Plain and simple.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"

"rtipping" <cc.com...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:143750c4-9bcf-490e...@a15g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...

N.Townend

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Jan 20, 2010, 7:06:01 AM1/20/10

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What seems to have been ignored by all the replies to this thread is "why
doesn't the feature to send via embedded email work?" Work arounds are all
very well, but it doesn't adress the problem itself.

"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:

> .
>

TearingMyHairOut

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Jan 20, 2010, 8:16:01 AM1/20/10

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I do agree with you!

pdf is a very unsatisfactory solution - whilst all formatting is properly
retained and hyperlinks remain in tact, pdfs can't be personalised and it
really isn't a particularly ideal marketing tool.

Like so many others, I'm not an html expert - actually, I'm not even a
novice! But I have the content and a good eye for design and really want to
do this myself, though as rtipping said, it's likely the only realistic
option is to outsource the job!

But just before I go there, no one, in any of the replies to date, has
addressed the last question of my original post which is how can you create
'click here' to view this email in your web browser. In anticipation that
anyone suggests using Microsoft Publisher 2007 to create a web page and then
simply create a hyperlink to the page from the email, I should say now that
the same formatting corruptions that I originally reported occur when MS Pub
07 saves my file as a 'single file web page' or a 'web page, filtered'!

I could live with a situation in which recipients had to click to download
pictures and images, or to 'click here' to view in their web browser - this
is quite a common occurrence nowadays and I, myself, receive such emails all
the time. But with just four photographs in my newsletter, what I can't live
with is recipients finding 57 file attachments in the document header, (one
for each and every shape, text box outline, etc, etc, etc)!

If anyone has a workaround for 'click to download pictures' or 'click here
to view in web browser', I'd be fantastically delighted and jumping around
with joy!!!

rtipping

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Jan 20, 2010, 9:10:59 AM1/20/10

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On Jan 19, 2:06 am, TearingMyHairOut

<TearingMyHair...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Rob. I do understand this.
>
> I guess I'm so used to receiving e-newsletters from others. Sometimes, when
> they arrive, I'm asked if I want to download the pictures, especially if the
> sender is not a 'trusted' sender. The pictures don't appear as file
> attachments already downloaded. I'd be delighted if I could get the first
> scenario to work - it's something people are generally used to - but is there
> any way of doing this using MS Publisher 2007?
>
> Thanks again!
>
> "Rob Giordano [MS MVP]" wrote:
>
> > If it's html there's no 100% way of doing this, no matter which html creator
> > you use...period. Which is why people are recommending pdf to you, that's
> > 100%.
>
> > --
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Rob Giordano
> > Microsoft MVP Expression Web
>

> > "TearingMyHairOut" <TearingMyHair...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> > messagenews:940F4C6A-DAA2-4459...@microsoft.com...

> > >> "TearingMyHairOut" <TearingMyHair...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in

"Sometimes, when

they arrive, I'm asked if I want to download the pictures,"

I have noticed this on different computers my Incredamail for instance
tested in gmail lines up all the pics at the bottom of mail -unless
that address has been designated trusted mail.
I am not a hundred percent sure but I think this may be a combination
of e-mail client preferences and email client policy and of course
browser preference and policy which sadly brings us back where we
started and for many web developers a familiar nightmare -that is you
cannot entirely control the end users environment and perhaps that is
as it should be.

GbH

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Jan 20, 2010, 9:39:46 AM1/20/10

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TearingMyHairOut wrote:
> I do agree with you!
>
> pdf is a very unsatisfactory solution - whilst all formatting is
> properly retained and hyperlinks remain in tact, pdfs can't be
> personalised and it really isn't a particularly ideal marketing tool.

To my simple mind that was one of its great attractions. Your data
couldn't be adulterated then propogated either purporting to be yours or
stolen as someone elses. However these days pdf editors are available.
As too are pdf forms which are fillable and submittable but not
saveable, beyond that you'll have to search!

--
--
Geoff
ExploitEd

Wisdom and experience come with age, they say, but I do wish I could
remember the darn question

Rob Giordano [MS MVP]

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Jan 23, 2010, 1:02:19 AM1/23/10

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ok, so learn some html
create your email newsletter in html with absolute links to all images used
in the document - best/easiest to use a html editing software, not
Publisher.
load all the images to a folder online somewhere (the above mentioned
absolute links must point to the images)
transfer the html from your editor into whatever email client you are using
to create the email
now test the email in every email client you can get your hands on at
various viewport sizes, when you have all the kinks worked out you're good
to go...except of course if your intended recipient does not accept html
email or uses a host that strips out images from content or has personalized
styles set.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression Web

"TearingMyHairOut" <TearingM...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:94413C3F-7E5B-45C6...@microsoft.com...

ArturoB

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Feb 5, 2010, 4:25:01 PM2/5/10

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I am having the same issues that "Hair" had.
It's very frustrating, and the product does not live up to it's claims.
I wish there was an add attachment feature here, I'd post the image
differential.
It's staggering.

Anyway, there is one work around where you can select the entire file to be
mailed out as a jpeg.
Under Tools, Options, then Web, there's a check box to send the entire file
as a single jpeg image.
It does compress the file quite a bit and the characters get fuzzy,
particularly the text, but it's the only way I could find to do it and keep
the formatting exact.

"Rob Giordano [MS MVP]" wrote:

nickcurnick-orrin

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Mar 18, 2010, 8:16:15 AM3/18/10

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I have had the same problem, i resolved it by :-
Selecting all (Ctrl+A)
Cutting (Ctrl+X)
Edit Menu / Paste Special / paste as Jpg
then email this.

I hope this helps.

TearingMyHairOut wrote:

Problem with email newsletter from MS Publisher 2007
18-Jan-10

I have created a newsletter in MS Publisher 2007 for distribution via email,
using Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager. I intend the newsletter to
be in the message body of the email and for it to be personalised (and have
worked out how to achieve that in MS Publisher and Business Contacts
Manager). The newsletter will be 'launched' using the 'Create a Marketing
Campaign' button in MS Publisher. I do not want this to go out as a pdf file.

All looks good on screen, when I preview the newsletter (and it opens in my
browser, IE8), it looks perfect!

However, when I sent a test newsletter to myself, when it appears in the
sent box, some of the formatting is lost, (eg text spills below where I
designed it to be and some images have corners missing, etc). It appears
with similar formatting problems when it arrives in my inbox.

When I send test newsletters to trusted others, some see the newsletter

appearing perfectly and others do not, and there iseems to be no consistent
reason - some view it fine using Outlook, others do not; some view it fine
using web-based mail, such as hotmail and google, others do not.

One person has reported that as well as receiving the newsletter in the
message, they also received a sizeable number of file attachments (ie one for
each image / graphic / box outline, etc).

Am I missing something in the settings / options for Publisher and / or
Outlook that will enable me to send the newsletter in the body of the message
without all the attachments going with it and with greater confidence that
the formatting issues outlined above will not occur?

Also, when I receive newsletters, I am always given the chance to 'click
here' to view in my web browser. How can I provide this option in my
newsletter?

I am using Windows Vista Home Premium, IE8. and Office 2007 including
Business Contact Manager

Thanks for your help!

Previous Posts In This Thread:

On Monday, January 18, 2010 11:16 AM
TearingMyHairOut wrote: