Problems sending newsletters created in Publisher 2007

[TearingMyHairOut]

I have created a newsletter in MS Publisher 2007 for distribution via email
using Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager. The newsletter is
personalised and I intend to send the email using the 'Create New Marketing
Campaign' button. Pdf is therefore not an option and I do want to send this
newsletter in the main body of the message.

All looks good on MS Publisher screen, and when I use the 'preview' button
to view my newsletter (in my browser, IE8), it looks perfect!

BUT, some problems are emerging and I hope for some help through this forum
(in plain English, layman's language, please)!!

1. When I send a test to myself when it appears in my sent box, and
subsequently in my inbox, (Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager), some
of the formatting is lost. In particular, text that should appear in a frame
(box with 'no fill' but outline), sometimes, though not always, runs on
beyond the bottom of the frame.

2. When I send a test to a small smaple of others for checking, although
some of the formatting is lost in my sent box as above, I am told it looks
perfect in others' inboxes (also Outlook) and looks perfect on web email,
such as hotmail and googlemail.

I'm now worried about consistency - is there a risk that the email will not
appear properly format on others' screens if it appears incorrectly formatted
on mine?

But most importantly,

3. One person has reported that as well as receiving the newsletter in the
message body, 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?

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 to my target
distribution in my own newsletter?

If what I want to do cannot be done in Publisher 2007 / Outlook 2007, any
thoughts on an alternative, please?

Thanks in anticipation!

 

[DavidF]

Consider using something like constantcontact.com instead of Publisher. It
is specifically designed for this purpose. Perhaps design the email in
Outlook instead of Publisher. This is a feature that sounds good, but most
people find it just doesn't work very well.

If you are going to use Publisher you need to keep it very simple and even
then the odds are that you are going to end up with different renderings
depending on what email client is used by the recipient.

Use plain formatting...clean out special formatting if you are not getting
consistency. Also always use web fonts.

The "click here" option is simple enough. You upload the newsletter to your
website and the link is to that location. This is perhaps the best choice
for you as this way you can send a very simple email and then include a link
to the majority of the information.

Many users have their email clients set at text only, and they will not be
able to see a "fancy" html formatted email. You may not like attaching a PDF
file, but if you want the reader to get a consistent result then that is the
best way to go...or send them to your website.

DavidF