Since Office 2001, Microsoft Word has had the capability to send its documents as file attachments via Entourage or another Mac OS X email program. In Word, choosing File > Send To > Mail Recipient (As Attachment) makes a copy of the current document, sends it to your email program, and creates a new mail message with the Word document attached.
Word 2004 adds the capability to compose an email message in Word, convert it to HTML, and send it to Entourage as the body of a new email message. I list reasons why you might want to write your email in Word below:
To send a document that you’ve created in Word to someone who neither has Word, nor a program (such as AppleWorks) that can read Word files. The recipient can then review the email and reply with any comments.
Tip
Consider converting your Word document to a PDF file, which can be read by other Mac OS X users with Preview or the free Adobe Reader. The latter program is also available for most other operating systems. To make any Word document into a PDF, Choose File > Print, then click the Save As PDF button at the bottom of the Print dialog. Your recipient won’t be able to edit the PDF file in any substantive way, but the file will look much more like the original than if it’s sent by Entourage as HTML.
To send an email message with formatting that is more complex than you can create in Entourage. For example, you can’t create tables in Entourage, but it’s a snap to do so in Word.
Your recipient, for whatever reason, does not want to (or cannot) receive email with file attachments, yet your document needs more formatting than plain text can provide. For example, let’s say that you wrote your résumé in Word, nicely formatted to your liking. A prospective employer wants email submissions, but won’t accept file attachments for fear of viruses. You can convert the résumé to HTML and send it looking the way that you want while still complying with the employer’s requirements. The drawback to this approach is that HTML email does not render identically in different email programs. So unless you know that the recipient will be able to view your message as you intend, you should tread with care.
You have an existing Word document that you want to reuse in email form. Converting the document to HTML and sending it is the easiest way to get the job done.
Note
You can, of course, create HTML email in Entourage itself. So why use Word? Word’s HTML creation engine is far more sophisticated than the one in Entourage. The latter program’s capabilities cover basic HTML formatting, such as bold, italic, text alignment, numbered and bulleted lists, and the like. Word, on the other hand, uses advanced HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to replicate the look of the Word document in HTML form as closely as possible. But because HTML depends on the program that’s reading and rendering it, you may not get an exact replication of the look of the Word document.
To create and send email from Word, follow these steps:
Open or create the document in Word.
Still in Word, choose File > Send To > Mail Recipient (As HTML).
Word converts the document, then switches to Entourage and creates a new email message, ready for addressing, with the document’s contents in the body of the mail message.
Address and enter a subject for the email as usual.
Send the message, or save it as a draft.
Some limitations with Word HTML email will apply, and there are a few other things you should know:
You will not be able to edit the body of the message in Entourage. At first, I thought this was a ridiculous limitation, but then I realized that it was because the Word HTML in the body of the message is too complex for Entourage to edit.
If the layout in Word is complex, the email message may not look exactly as you would expect. That’s because Word can still do some things internally that it can’t successfully convert to HTML. It’s a good idea to review the entire message before sending (just as you would with any message you send!).
If you have embedded pictures in the Word file, those pictures will be file attachments in the converted email message.
The size of the HTML email message can sometimes be smaller than if you sent the Word document as an attachment. one file with a lot of embedded pictures, and it shrunk from 1.2 MB as a Word file to only 527K as an email message.
The converted Word document will have the same characteristics as any other HTML email, so it shares the same weaknesses. Depending entirely on the capabilities of the email program of your recipient, your email may not look the same on his machine as it did on your machine. Like most HTML mail, the text will rewrap depending on the width of the window. Embedded pictures may appear in different places than in the original Word document. If you require document fidelity, send the Word file as an attachment, or convert the Word document to PDF and send that file—see the Tip earlier in this section if you need directions.