vCards are virtual business cards, and they’re popular in the business community because you can use them to share details about yourself with other people without having to physically hand out your business card.
In order to send and receive vCards in Mail, all you need to do is get the right file format and then attach it to an email message, whereupon it will be automatically converted into an iCalendar attachment that your recipient can open on their computer and read on screen. Here’s how to send and receive virtual business cards (vCards) in Mail on your Mac computer.
Attaching a vCard
To attach a vCard to an email in Mail, first create a new message. Then, click the Attach button in the toolbar and select Contact vCard from the drop-down menu. In the file browser that appears, navigate to the vCard you want to attach and click Open. The vCard will be added as an attachment to your email. To send the email, simply address it and click Send.
Opening an Attached vCard
If you receive a vCard as an attachment in Mail, you can open it and add the person’s information to your Contacts app. To open a vCard attachment:
1. In the Mail app, open the message that has the attachment.
2. Tap the vCard attachment.
3. If prompted, choose Add to Contacts or Save to Files, then tap Add to Contacts.
4. Tap done when finished.
5. If you’re adding the contact to Contacts for the first time, create a new contact with their name and information from their vCard; if not, choose an existing contact in Contacts with similar details and tap Merge Contact Info.
6. A prompt will appear asking whether you want to merge all of the contacts’ data or just certain fields. Choose which fields you want to merge and tap Merge Selected Fields.
7. Once merged, any additional fields will be deleted because they’re redundant between two people’s profiles. 8. When finished merging, touch done at the top of the screen to save changes and close out of the window.
Sending a vCard from an Email Signature
You can add a vCard to your email signature, which allows people to save your contact information to their address book with just a few clicks. To do this, create a new signature in Mail and click the insert picture icon. Then, drag and drop your vCard into the signature box. Save your changes and you’re all set! Now when you send an email, it will automatically attach your vCard as well as display it in the body of the message.
Adding Your Profile Picture from Your Contact Card
When you create a new contact in Mail, you can add a profile picture to their contact card. This is especially useful if you have a lot of contacts and want to be able to easily identify them. To add a profile picture, open the contact card and click on the Add Photo button.
You can then choose an image from your computer or take a new one with your webcam. Once you’ve added the photo, it will appear on the contact card whenever you view it in Mail. However, when someone else views the contact card they won’t see your profile pic unless they download it from iCloud.
They’ll need to first go into Contacts and select vCard (if they don’t already have vCard selected). Then they’ll need to select Edit Contact Information, scroll down until they find Profile Picture and click on Change Picture… From there, they’ll just need to browse for the appropriate file that contains your photo.
Importing a vCard From Online Storage Solutions
Most online storage solutions, such as iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox, have an option to export your contacts as vCards. To do this, simply go to your contacts page on the website, select the contact or contacts you want to export, and click the export button.
The vCard will then be downloaded to your computer. Next, open up your email program and compose a new message. You can either attach the file from your computer or copy/paste it into the body of the email message. When you are done composing your message, send it off!
Creating Personalized Backgrounds for Profile Pictures
Personalized backgrounds for profile pictures are a great way to show off your personality and make your online presence more unique. Plus, they’re easy to create! Here’s how:
1. Choose or create an image that you want to use as your background. Make sure it’s high-resolution so it looks good when it’s enlarged.
2. Go to your settings page on the site or app where you’re creating your profile picture.
3. Look for the option to add a background image. If there isn’t one, look for something like choose an image or upload a photo.
4. Find the file of your background image and upload it using the directions given by the website/app.
5. You can now see the result live on the site/app.
6. Some sites allow you to change your background without uploading a new image, while others require uploading a new file if you want to update your design later.
7. Check out this tutorial from YouTube if you need some help with how to edit photos with Photoshop. It will teach you how to remove a background, add text and other cool effects.
Editing and Updating Contacts on a vCard
If you need to update or edit any of the information on your vCard, simply open the card in Mail and make the changes. Once you’re finished, click Save and your vCard will be updated. If you need to delete a vCard, select it and press the Delete key. You can also drag a vCard to the Trash.
Doing so will remove the vCard from your Mac’s address book, but not from the recipient’s Mac. Keep this in mind if you want to ensure that the person receiving your virtual business card is deleting it from their system too. To do this, first export the contact as an .ics file by going to File -> Export Address Book Entry.
Send Digital Business Card via email
Then send them the file via email and ask them to import it into their address book before they trash it. You might also choose to delete a vCard from your own address book if you are no longer connected with the person for whom you created the vCard.
Open Contacts then go to Card view to locate the person for whom you created the vCard. Right-click on their name and select Delete Contact; confirm when prompted. Next, find the corresponding contact entry in your Address Book and right-click on their name. Select Remove from Group followed by All Groups. Finally, delete the virtual business card for that person by opening it in Mail and selecting Delete Card under Actions > Edit Properties. Click Yes when asked to delete this card and its associated data from your Mac. Be aware that doing so removes all copies of the virtual business card from your Mac’s memory. Your recipient may still have a copy after you’ve deleted it from yours!
Deleting a vCard from your Mac does not necessarily mean that the other person has done so too. To avoid confusion and duplicate contacts, we recommend sending out one or more virtual business cards via email and asking recipients to delete them once they’re opened in Mail. If they prefer to keep them in their address books, at least request that they delete the vCard when they’re done viewing it. We also recommend removing a vCard from your Address Book if you are no longer connected with the person for whom you created the card.
Find and delete the contact by following these steps: open Contacts, then go to Card view to locate the person for whom you created the vCard, right-click on their name and select Delete Contact; confirm when prompted.
How to receive vCards in Mail
If you want to receive a vCard in Mail, you first need to have the sender send you the vCard. This can be done as an attachment to an email, or by using a file-sharing service like Dropbox.
Once you have the vCard, open it in Mail and click on the person’s name or image. This will open a new contact card. Click on the Add to Contacts button at the bottom of the card. You’ll now see that this person is listed in your contacts with their contact information from the vCard.
Once you’ve received a vCard from someone else, you can add it to your contacts list so that when they email you again, their contact information will show up automatically instead of forcing them to manually fill out all their details every time they send an email. To do this, simply drag and drop the vCard into the sidebar under All Contacts. Once there, you’ll notice that it has been added to your address book.
A Quick Wrap
In today’s business world, sending and receiving virtual business cards (vCards) is a common occurrence. vCards are a great way to exchange contact information quickly and easily. You can send them from within your email program or from within the Contacts app on your iPhone or iPad. When you receive a vCard, tap on it and then tap the Save button to save it into your Contacts app for future use.
If you don’t want to keep it in your contacts, just delete it by tapping on the Delete button next to the card name. To add more than one card at once, tap on the Add button at the bottom of your screen and select all of the contacts that you would like to add to your list.
Once you have selected the people that you would like to add, tap on their names. Next, click on each of their individual cards and then click Done at the top right corner of your screen. Now they will be added to your list automatically! Remember: with these changes saved, whenever you type in a person’s name into an email message field and hit return/enter or Send icon button, their vCard will automatically appear!