Adolsign FAQs

Inline images are not displayed in Outlook 2013/2016


By default, Outlook 2013/2016 behaves differently regarding the linked images.  While previous versions of Outlook embed those into the message, Outlook 2013/2016 keeps them linked.

A registry change is required to make sure that Outlook 2013/2016 behaves similar to previous versions:

For Outlook 2013:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value name; Send Pictures With Document
Value: 1

For Outlook 2016:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value name; Send Pictures With Document
Value: 1

See Inline images may display as a Red X in Outlook for more information.

How can I use conditional fields ?


Conditional fields are a convenient way to handle empty values. It is often desireable to drop leading or trailing texts in signatures if a field is not defined or empty in Active Directory. Adolsign supports five directives in field definitions:

--prefix text Adds text in front of the field if it is not empty
--postfix text Adds text at the end of the field if it is not empty
--ignoreline Drops the whole line if the field is empty. NB! option ignoreline has limited support for html signatures (removes br / tag only) and rtf signatures (remove \par tag only).
--default text Use text as default if the field is empty
--case directive[,...] ... Use directive for case manipulation. Allowed directives are lowercase, uppercase, lowerfirst, upperfirst. Multiple directives are allowed and they will be processed in the specified order.
--anchor type Generate HTML code for dynamic links. As an example --anchor http creates an http link.
--format format Formats the value according to the format. As an example, --format "%s%s *** %s%s" produces 12 *** 34 for the value 1234.

Conditional directives can be defined by using the following syntax:

scancode( one or more conditional directives )scancode 


field_telephone( --prefix "Tel: " )field_telephone

Produces Tel: +11111111 if the telephone number is +11111111. Produces nothing if it is empty.

field_department( --prefix "Department: " --ignoreline )field_department

Produces Department: Sales if the department is Sales. Produces nothing and removes the whole line if it is empty.

field_homepage( --default "" --case lowercase )field_homepage

Converts the homepage to lowercase. Produces if the homepage is not defined.

How can I distribute signatures offline ?

FAQSometimes it might be necessary to make signatures available by other means than login/startup scripts or group policies. You may have users with occasional access to your corporate network, or you want to distribute signatures by e-mail or a web site. Adolsign's makepackage can be useful for offline distribution.

adolsign --makepackage --user myuser --sig standard --addfile corporate.jpg --vcard

The command above

  • creates the signature files standard.txt, standard.htm or standard.rtf (at least one!), by mapping scan codes to Active Directory properties for the user myuser
  • picks up the image file corporate.jpg, assuming that it is used in the standard.htm
  • creates the vcard file standard.vcf
  • packs all of the files above into a tiny installer called myuser_signature_NNNN.exe

You can then make the signature installer available to your user. The signature standard will be available in Outlook, when the installer is run on his/her PC.

Can I use other fields in Active Directory ?


FAQYes. You can use the configuration file adolsign.config for that purpose:

[Field Mappings]

field_login = SamAccountName
field_fullname = FullName
field_firstname = FirstName

You can simply add your mappings to the list above. As an example, if you want to use ipPhone value from Active Directory, simply add the line below:

field_ipphone = ipPhone

You can now use field_ipphone in your signature templates.