Why are Large Email Attachments Problematic?

Sending large files by email can be an issue because many email servers have a limit on file size, which means that if your attachment is too large the email may not be delivered. Even worse, you may not even realise that your email has not been sent, because delivery notifications may not appear for a few days afterwards.

Large files can also affect the speed of mail servers for both sender and recipient, especially if there are multiple recipients, causing delays with other emails companywide, and filling up the recipient’s inbox, preventing the receipt of further emails.

How Large is Too Large?

Email attachments of less than 20MB don’t usually create issues, but as some mail servers have a limit of only 10MB, so anything over 10MB does have the potential to cause problems.

Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules as every mail server has a different limit. Best practice is to avoid email if your file is over 10MB, or just switch from using email to some other method for sharing all your files.

Sharing files via other methods has additional benefits, in that you have more control over the document, you can delete outdated documents whenever you choose, and you can limit access to a particular time frame, or alter user access any time you choose.

How to Share Large Files without Email

There are now many options for sharing files without having to resort to email. They are easy to use, many are free, and they are gaining popularity as they become more widely known. The basic premise is that you upload your file to your preference of cloud storage and share the link with your recipient.

WeTransfer offers a temporary option that is easily accessible without either sender or recipient having an account, where our other suggestions offer personal accounts with longer term storage and file sharing.

Temporary Transfer

The biggest difference between WeTransfer and our other suggestions for file sharing is that the free version of WeTransfer does not maintain your files in their cloud storage long term - they will be deleted within a few days. If you need to share files regularly, or you require storage along with your file sharing, one of the other options might be more suitable.

WeTransfer

The best thing about WeTransfer is that it does not require the sender or recipient to have an account, which makes it immediately accessible by virtually anybody. This is a great option if you’re only sharing files once in a while.

The site is extremely user friendly and they have distilled the sharing process down to the bare essentials, making sharing files so much faster and easier. Just enter your email address, the recipient’s email address, upload your files and you’re done. WeTransfer email both you and your friend when the upload is complete and they’ll notify you when the recipient downloads the files.

With WeTransfer you can share up to 2GB per transfer, a vast improvement on the 10MB limit for email.

Cloud Storage Sharing

The following suggestions do all require that you have an account. All three are cloud storage platforms and offer a whole host of additional features over and above file sharing, including the ability to sync your cloud folder with a folder on your computer, effectively creating an automatic backup copy in the cloud that can be accessed anytime from any computer.

Dropbox

As one of the oldest file storage and sharing methods, Dropbox deserves a mention.

Once you have created an account, the free version of Dropbox allows you to store 2GB of files in the cloud, which you can then share with others at a file or folder level by entering their email address and setting their level of access. You can then share the link to the file or folder for the recipient to access.

Sharing with someone who is not a Dropbox member will allow them read only access, where if you need them to edit, they will need a Dropbox account.

Google Drive

Some are not aware of this, but anyone with a Gmail account automatically gains 15GB of free storage in Google Drive which can be accessed by logging in to Google Drive using your Gmail log in details.

Like other cloud storage platforms, your recipient does not need a Google account to access your documents - indeed you can even give them permission to edit using the permissions settings.

Microsoft One Drive

With this platform, like Google Drive, you can edit user permissions to allow anyone to view or edit the documents you want to share, even if they don’t have a One Drive account. Microsoft One Drive offers free storage of 5GB.

Send Us Your Artwork!

Now you’ve discovered the best ways to share your artwork with us, you can send it on to us. We can print directly from your print ready files, or alternatively liaise with our graphic designer and we’ll take care of everything from design to delivery. Contact us today for a quote.