Email Attachments & Sharing Large Files

Email attachments are commonly used for sharing documents, images and other files with others.  However, some difficulties can arise with attachments, particularly if they are large files or if you try to attach a lot of files to a single email.

In order to ensure the efficient operation of our mail server, Rhodes imposes a maximum size limit of 5 MB on attachments to a single email.  You can neither send nor receive email messages that exceed this attachment size limit.

Even attachments that are under the 5 MB limit can quickly fill up a recipient’s mailbox and cause problems.  At Rhodes, users are limited to having 100 MB in their mailbox. 

If you encounter a problem with sending attachments or if you simply want to exercise good practice in sharing files with others, there are a number of things you can do.

1. Post Files on the Fileserver

If all the people with whom you want to share your files have Rhodes email addresses, one of the most efficient things you can do is not to send the files via email at all!  Post the files on the fileserver in your public folder, or put them in a private folder and grant access rights to each person.

When copying or moving the files to the fileserver, take note of the full path to the directory in your Windows Explorer window and use that to tell people where they can find the files:

2. Compress Files Before Attaching

Some files will become much smaller if they are compressed or zipped.  You can then send the compressed file to your correspondents and they can uncompress it when they open it on their computers for viewing and editing.  Examples of files for which compression yields significant advantages are Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint documents and some PDFs.

Compressing files into .zip files is also a way of sending files that would otherwise be blocked by Outlook for security reasons.  Access database (.mdb) files, for example, cannot be sent to someone using Outlook.  However, if you compress the database into a .zip file and attach it to an email, the person will receive the .zip file.

If you have WinZip installed on your computer, you can compress a file by right-clicking on it, selecting WinZip, then clicking on the default zip filename.  The compressed file will be saved to the same folder as your original document.  In this particular example, SampleFile.doc was 384 KB; its compressed version, SampleFile.zip, was 247 KB, a reduction of nearly 36%.

If you don’t have WinZip installed, you can use the Windows compression utility to zip your file.  Right-click on your file, then select Send To > Compressed (zipped) Folder.  The compressed file will be saved in the same folder and will have the same filename except with a .zip extension.  The reduction is comparable to the compression achieved with WinZip.

Whichever utility you use, remember to attach the .zip file to your email instead of the original document.

Both WinZip and the Windows compression utility can be used to compress multiple files into a single .zip file or folder.

3. Make Images Smaller and Save Them as Compressed File Types

Digital cameras typically save images at a resolution that is great for printing but too large to send as a good email attachment for online viewing.  If you are sending image files, consider editing the images first to make them smaller (perhaps 640 pixels wide).

Windows XP has a utility that easily enables you to reduce the size of images before sending them.  If you open a folder of images and select the ones you wish to send, you will see at the left side of the screen a list of File and Folder Tasks.  Click on E mail the selected items.

A pop-up window will offer you the option to make your pictures smaller.  Click on OK.

You will then be presented with an email composition window with the smaller images attached.  In the example to the right, two large 2048-pixels-wide images totaling 2.62 MB were reduced to 640-pixels-wide images totaling 118 KB, a 95% reduction.

Some image file types (e.g., JPG and GIF) compress data before saving it.  Others (e.g., BMPs and most TIFFs) do not.  If you are sending image files, consider editing the images first to make them smaller (perhaps 640 pixels wide) and saving them as a compressed format.  JPG usually works best for photographs.

4. Use a File-Sending Service

Some files cannot be compressed enough to get them under the 5 MB size limit.  And you will sometimes need to share them with people outside the Rhodes community.

In this situation, it is best to use a file-sending service like YouSendIt.com.  With such services you upload your file to the service and the recipient gets a message from the service and a link to download the file to their computer.

The main screen on the YouSendIt.com website prompts you for the recipient email address(es), your email address, and an optional message to be sent with the file.

Click on the Browse button to find the file on your computer that you want to send them. 

A typical Choose File window will open.  Navigate to the file, select it and click on Open.

The file name (with full directory path) will paste into the form.

Now click on the Send It button.   You will have to wait some time while your file uploads.

Here is the message (with a download link) that your recipient will get from YouSendIt.com:

 
5. Post Files on Sharepoint

If you are sharing files with a Rhodes committee or other group which has been granted space on the Rhodes Sharepoint site, remember that you can use the Shared Documents section to upload and view files for the group.

Ask Us! if you would like to explore the possibility of creating a Sharepoint space for your committee or group.