This help article is for an old version of Direct Mail.
Direct Mail has long been compatible with Apple Mail stationery (where it appears in the “Legacy” section of Direct Mail’s template chooser). However, Apple is removing Apple Mail stationery from macOS 10.14. This will not present a problem for most customers, since stationery is rarely used these days.
If you do, however, still use Apple Mail stationery for your email campaigns, you can prepare by reading the instructions below.
What happens when Apple Mail stationery is removed from macOS 10.14?
Unless you take the steps outlined below, you will lose access to Apple Mail stationery once you upgrade your Mac to macOS 10.14. This means that when you view your message in Direct Mail, it may appear to be missing images (including background images).
Apple’s Mail app will no longer allow users to compose messages using stationery. Apple Mail users will still be able to receive and read email that was sent using stationery.
How do I know if I am using Apple Mail stationery?
In Direct Mail, you can find Apple Mail stationery in the template chooser under the "Legacy Templates" section (which is hidden by default). Here are the names of the legacy Apple Mail stationery templates that will be going away:
- Air Mail
- Baby
- Bamboo
- Banners
- Butterfly
- Daisies
- Dinner
- Dinner Party
- Doodles
- Dots
- Flower
- Formal Invite
- Fun
- Get Well
- Gift
- Heart
- Lunch
- Maple Leaf
- New Address
- Party
- Picnic
- Postcard
- Pssst
- Sand Dollar
- Save the Date
- Sticky
- Tack Board
- Thank You
- Trophy
- Vacation
- We've Moved
If you are using any of the above templates (and wish to continue doing so), please read the instructions below to preserve your access to these templates.
How can I preserve Apple Mail stationery?
The best and easiest thing to do is to upgrade to at least Direct Mail 5.3 before you upgrade to macOS 10.14.
If you upgrade to Direct Mail 5.3, it will automatically create a backup copy of Apple Mail stationery that will survive the upgrade to macOS 10.14 and which will be available to you in Direct Mail. After you upgrade to Direct Mail 5.3, you can proceed to upgrade your Mac to macOS 10.14.
Another option is to convert to templates any messages that you are currently using Apple Mail stationery with. Here's how:
- In the Messages tab, select your message
- Choose "Message > Create Template from Message" from the menu bar at the top of your screen
This will turn the currently selected message into a template that will work properly even after upgrading to macOS 10.14. The template will appear in Direct Mail’s template chooser.