Change the Appearance of Your Calendar: Change the Background Color

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click Calendar Options.
2. Under Calendar options, in the Background color list, click the color that you want.

Notes:
* The color that you choose is applied to the Day and Work Week views. The Week and Month views use system background colors, which are gray and white, by default.
* The color that you choose is applied to weekday hours. A darker shade of the background color is applied to night and weekend hours.

Print Blank Calendars
You can use Microsoft Outlook to print a blank calendar. Blank calendars may be useful to take notes on or to consult when you meet to discuss a project with your team.

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
2. In the Create New Folder dialog box, in the Name text box, type a name for the folder.
3. In the Folder contains list, click Calendar Items.
4. In the Select where to place the folder list, click Calendar, and then click OK.
5. In Calendar, in the Navigation Pane under the My Calendars section, select the check box for the calendar you created.
6. On the File menu, click Print.
7. In the Print dialog box, under Print this calendar, click the calendar you created.
8. Select the print style options you want, and then click OK.

Make an Appointment or Meeting Private
1.  Create or open the appointment or meeting that you want to make private.
2. On the Appointment tab, in the Options group, click Private.

Important: You should not rely on the Private feature to prevent other people from accessing the details of your appointments, contacts, or tasks. To ensure that other people cannot read the items that you mark as private, do not grant them Read permission to your Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks folders. A person with Read permission to access your folders could use programmatic methods or other e-mail applications to view the details of your private items. Use Private only when you share folders with people whom you trust.

Propose a New Time for a Meeting

1. In the open meeting request, on the Message tab, in the Respond group, click “Propose New Time”.
*Note: If you open the meeting from your calendar, on the Appointment tab, in the Respond group, click Propose New Time.
2. Click either Tentative and Propose New Time or Decline and Propose New Time.
3. Click a time when all invitees are available.
4. Click Propose Time.
5. Click Send.
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 sends a default message saying that you want to propose a new time but you have tentatively accepted the meeting. You can change this default message to say that you want to propose a new time, and that you are declining the meeting:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click Calendar Options.
2. In the Use this response when you propose new meeting times list, click the setting that you want.

*Note: You can also change this setting for individual meetings. In the open meeting request, on the Message tab, in the Respond group, click either Tentative and Propose New Time or Decline and Propose New Time. If you open the meeting on your calendar, on the Appointment tab, in the Respond group, click either Tentative and Propose New Time or Decline and Propose New Time.

Microsoft Outlook 2007: Preview attachments

When you receive an attachment in a message and want to quickly see what the attachment contains without opening it, you can preview the attachment in the Reading Pane (Reading Pane: A window in Outlook where you can preview an item without opening it. To display the item in the Reading Pane, click the item.) or in an open message. Attachment Preview, a new feature in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, allows you to preview some attachment file types without opening them. Messages that have attachments are identified by a paper clip icon in the message list.

You can preview an attachment in the Reading Pane or from within an open message. The attachment previewers that come with the 2007 Office release are on by default.

* Note: To preview an attached file created in an 2007 Microsoft Office system application, you must have that 2007 Office application installed on your computer. For example to preview a Word attachment, you must have Word installed. To preview an Excel attachment, you must have Excel installed.

Preview an attachment in an open message

1. Open the message that has the attachment. Messages that have attachments are identified by a paper clip icon in the message list.
2. In the open message, click the attachment to preview it.
3. To return to the message body, click the Message button.

Preview an attachment in the Reading Pane

1. In the message list, select the message that has the attachment that you want to preview.
2. In the Reading Pane, click the attachment. If there are multiple attachments, you may need to scroll horizontally to find the attachment that you want.
*Note: A preview might not show the most up-to-date content in the file. To see the most complete, up-to-date content, open the file. For example, you can double-click a .docx attachment to open it in Microsoft Word.
3. To return to the message body, click the Message button.

How do I set up the “automatic replies” rule?

1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
3. In the Rules Wizard, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
4. Under Step 1, select the Uses the form name form check box. (You may need to scroll down to find this option.)
5. Under Step 2, click Form name, and then select Accept Meeting Response and Tentative Meeting Response. After you add the two forms, click Close and then Next in the main Rules Wizard window.Choose Forms dialog box

Be sure to select Application Forms from the drop-down list at the top of the dialog box, or you might miss Accept Meeting Response and Tentative Meeting Response.
6. Select the following exception: Except if the body contains specific words.
7. In Step 2, click Specific words, type a space, and then click Add and then OK. Step 2 in Rules Wizard
8. Click Finish.

Create an Electronic Business Card for Your Signature

In Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, you can create and share customized electronic business cards, giving you a personalized way to communicate your information. You can customize your contact information by using electronic business cards that include logos and photos, making contacts more personally relevant and easier to locate.

Here’s How:

1. Click the arrow next to New, and then click Contact.
2. Type your personal contact information, such as name, title, company, work phone, and work fax number. Note: As you type, a preview of your business card appears in the business card box in the upper-right corner.
3. Click the Business Card button on the Ribbon to open the Edit Business Card dialog box.
4. In the Card Design section, click the Change button next to Image to add your photograph, company logo, or other pictures. Click the Background Color button to change the background color of your business card. In the Edit section, you can change the size, justification, or color of your text.
5. To use your customized electronic business card as your signature, click the Business Card button on the Message tab of the Ribbon.