Add a picture to your mails in Outlook 2010

If you're lucky enough to work for an organization that has adopted Office 2010 and Exchange 2010 since the business launch a few weeks back (or participated in the beta), you may have noticed the appearance of your coworkers' pictures at the top of their mails to you.

This is a great feature for a number of reasons: company security to help ensure a person is who they say they are, and to guard against personal insecurity by helping you identify new people (or those who you feel foolish for having forgotten!) at meetings.

If your company already has a picture database and has synchronized it to the Global Address List, you'll already be in there. However, some companies may not automatically add pictures or there may be some accounts that lack them. If so, you may be able to add a picture for yourself.

The recommended picture is 96x96 pixels with a small file size, say 10K or so. If you have a picture that you want to optimize, try using Microsoft Office Picture Manager to crop and shrink it as needed.

To add a picture (if your organization supports it), click on your name in an e-mail addressed to you. This is the fastest way to open your Contact preview. Click Open Contact to display your full contact information. Now double-click the generic picture icon:

Generic Picture Icon

You'll be prompted to locate the picture you want to use. Find something appropriate for work, ideally a recent close up of your face. Then click Save & Close and you're done.

Suzanne