Times New Roman font in outgoing Mail
Is anyone able to give help about the use of fonts with outgoing emails in Mail.
Few Mac users seem to realise that any rich text message sent using Mail to any person using Outlook will display in the horrendous 12 point Times New Roman. It is mind-boggling that Apple seems to think this is satisfactory, and that more users don't complain.
I am writing to see if anyone can help with a solution. After hours - days - of research over several years, the only solutions on offer seem to be the following:
* Create a signature with the font you want, and write in there.
I have used this solution, and it is a well known workaround. But it is too temperamental to be reliable. Any text greater than one line written in the signature, may develop random changes in font size and formatting. But this is not revealed until the message has been received. By which time it is too late. Randomly differnt font sizes in an email looks even more unprofessional than 12 point Times New Roman. I have had to ditch this solution.
* Use plain text.
This is often suggested, on the basis that "plain text is best anyway", and emails should be plain text. Not only is this an excuse to avoid the issue, but it is unworkable in a modern environment. With plain text, you can't send hyperlinks, or forward emails in the way that you have received them which is often essential.
* Change the font manually.
This solution arises because, bizarrely, the problem does not occur if you use a font that is not your default font. This is because if you use the default font, the email is sent with no font tag, which means that Outlook simply uses its default font (Times New Roman 12 point). However, if you manually change the font to something other than the default, a font tag is added and the email is received with the desired font. This is, by far, the most reliable solution. But it is infuriating because it requires selecting the text, opening the fonts, and then selecting the desired font. Doing this for every single email you write is too cumbersome. But if this process could be done with keyboard shortcuts it would be just about workable. But I'm unable to find a shortcut for choosing your font.
Here is my key question:
Is there a way of changing fonts in mail by using only keyboard shortcuts? I know it is possible to open the font menu in that way (cmd + T), but it does not seem to be possible to then select the font you want, without going to the mouse and clicking through.
I would be VERY, VERY grateful to anyone who may be able to provide an answer.
As an aside, I am aware that this has been raised by many people before, over many years. But it always mystifies me that Apple does not address this, including in the latest version of Mail.
Even though the problem is caused by Outlook's default font, the problem would be easy for Apple to fix (just ensure that there is a tag to relating to the default font in all outgoing messages, in the same way there is when the font is not the default font).
It is especially weird when Apple seems keen to make OS X more usable to business users. Greater Exchange compatibility is pointless, if our emails have to be read in a font that we do not want to use; or by limiting us to plain text; or by making us use of an unreliable workaround.
And I am always shocked that more Apple users do not complain about this. Perhaps either they dont realise how their emails look, dont care, or dont ever correspond with people who use Outlook. (The last possibility is the least likely...)
But there are a lot of us who do. Surely, by now, how our email looks is one of the most important things to many of us and is our main way of doing business. This problem is truly the single most ridiculous aspect of OS X, not least because it is so easy to fix.
Please fix this.
Or could someone come up with an alternative email client (maybe a version of Mail, which is like BusyCal's version of iCal: almost the same, just a little better). I would gladly pay for something like that.
Many thanks,
Conrad.
Few Mac users seem to realise that any rich text message sent using Mail to any person using Outlook will display in the horrendous 12 point Times New Roman. It is mind-boggling that Apple seems to think this is satisfactory, and that more users don't complain.
I am writing to see if anyone can help with a solution. After hours - days - of research over several years, the only solutions on offer seem to be the following:
* Create a signature with the font you want, and write in there.
I have used this solution, and it is a well known workaround. But it is too temperamental to be reliable. Any text greater than one line written in the signature, may develop random changes in font size and formatting. But this is not revealed until the message has been received. By which time it is too late. Randomly differnt font sizes in an email looks even more unprofessional than 12 point Times New Roman. I have had to ditch this solution.
* Use plain text.
This is often suggested, on the basis that "plain text is best anyway", and emails should be plain text. Not only is this an excuse to avoid the issue, but it is unworkable in a modern environment. With plain text, you can't send hyperlinks, or forward emails in the way that you have received them which is often essential.
* Change the font manually.
This solution arises because, bizarrely, the problem does not occur if you use a font that is not your default font. This is because if you use the default font, the email is sent with no font tag, which means that Outlook simply uses its default font (Times New Roman 12 point). However, if you manually change the font to something other than the default, a font tag is added and the email is received with the desired font. This is, by far, the most reliable solution. But it is infuriating because it requires selecting the text, opening the fonts, and then selecting the desired font. Doing this for every single email you write is too cumbersome. But if this process could be done with keyboard shortcuts it would be just about workable. But I'm unable to find a shortcut for choosing your font.
Here is my key question:
Is there a way of changing fonts in mail by using only keyboard shortcuts? I know it is possible to open the font menu in that way (cmd + T), but it does not seem to be possible to then select the font you want, without going to the mouse and clicking through.
I would be VERY, VERY grateful to anyone who may be able to provide an answer.
As an aside, I am aware that this has been raised by many people before, over many years. But it always mystifies me that Apple does not address this, including in the latest version of Mail.
Even though the problem is caused by Outlook's default font, the problem would be easy for Apple to fix (just ensure that there is a tag to relating to the default font in all outgoing messages, in the same way there is when the font is not the default font).
It is especially weird when Apple seems keen to make OS X more usable to business users. Greater Exchange compatibility is pointless, if our emails have to be read in a font that we do not want to use; or by limiting us to plain text; or by making us use of an unreliable workaround.
And I am always shocked that more Apple users do not complain about this. Perhaps either they dont realise how their emails look, dont care, or dont ever correspond with people who use Outlook. (The last possibility is the least likely...)
But there are a lot of us who do. Surely, by now, how our email looks is one of the most important things to many of us and is our main way of doing business. This problem is truly the single most ridiculous aspect of OS X, not least because it is so easy to fix.
Please fix this.
Or could someone come up with an alternative email client (maybe a version of Mail, which is like BusyCal's version of iCal: almost the same, just a little better). I would gladly pay for something like that.
Many thanks,
Conrad.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
