A:
Yes, and it's called a signature. A signature file (or, for those in the know, a "sig file") is usually just a little piece of text that automatically gets put at the end of an e-mail.

For example, when I send out an e-mail, the following is automatically plopped in at the end:

Have a great day,

Steve

====================
Web:
http://www.worldstart.com
E-mail
steve@worldstart.com
====================

That way, I don't waste countless hours of my life typing the same thing over and over. How does one do this little piece of digital magic? It's easy. So easy that you're gonna wish you'd been doing it all along.

Here's an example for Outlook Express, since that's the e-mail client most of you are using. Note the procedure is pretty much the same for most other e-mail programs.

1. Hit the Tools menu, Options.

2. Click the Signatures tab on the resulting screen.

3. Under the Signatures area, click the New button.

4. Next, type your good-bye message in the Edit Signature area. If you want to get fancy, you can use a file, even HTML. For now, probably best to stick with plain text. We don't wanna go crazy here :-)

5. OK, now if you want this to automatically be added to your outgoing messages, go back to the top of this little screen and check the "Add signatures to all outgoing messages" box. I also uncheck the "Don't add signatures to replies and forwards" so that my sig file is added to those too.

6. Click OK and you're all set. Create a new e-mail message and your new sig file should automatically be added.

~ Steve

Putting a Graphic in Your Signature File

Now that you know about sig files, you're probably wondering, "Can I put a picture or handwritten signature in?" Well—good news—it can be done.

To use an image in your signature, you must use HTML for composing your email. So, launch your favorite HTML editor (Dreamweaver, Go Live, Frontpage) or even Notepad can be used. Create a new file and type in the following: <img src="C:\My Images\mypicture.gif">

You won't actually type "C:\My Images\mypicture.gif">, but rather the location of the picture you want to use. Now save this file as "signature.htm".

Next we want to use this HTML file as a signature. In Outlook Express, go to Tools / Options and choose the "Signatures" tab. Click "New" and give the signature a name, such as "picture".

Now go down to "Edit Signature" and select the "File" radio button. Click "Browse" to get the HTML signature file that you just created

If you checked the box "Add signature to all outgoing messages", then it should appear next time you compose a new message.

If you don't want it on every email, do not check the little box to add to all. When you are creating a new message, just click in the message window and select Insert / Signatures then your file name if you want to add the picture.

If the signature does not appear when you create a new email, make sure that you set it as your default signature by clicking the "Set as default" button.

Not only can you use standard JPG and GIF files, but you could also use an animated GIF (keep in mind that not everybody will see your animation in action). Rather than a picture, you could scan your signature (although I wouldn't recommend this with identity theft going around). You could use a graphic program or photo editing program like Ability Photopaint to add text to your image. The possibilities are endless!

~ David