Number 308 - January 2009
Sending Large email files
by Ron Weinberg, Member at Large,
Tampa PC Users Group


   After a recent vacation, I created a photo slide show with Photoshop Elements and emailed it to some traveling companions. I was quickly reminded that the file was too big for email because my ISP rejected it. ISP's have file size limits, mine was 20MB. The attachment slide show was over 32MB.

   The question was how to distribute this file.
   
  • Create and send individual CD's by US Mail; not a practical solution.

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  • Upload to my own web site and then send out links? That would work, but, although I have the allocated space, I have not seen the need for my own site so far.

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  • Use a free photo service such as Google Picasa? No, I already had created the show.

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  • Share through Windows Live Spaces, new SkyDrive or some other password-protected online storage? No, because I would have to set up permissions and defaults. For SkyDrive, each access would require the person to have either a Live ID, Hotmail, Messenger or an MSN account.
       
  • Find or create some other FTP server to host the file. This may require hardware and/or software.

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  • Use a service that specializes in this issue.


    •    It seems that there are an abundance of ways to tackle this issue.

       I did not want to make it too complicated for the recipients with passwords and URL's since some are reluctant PC beginners. I seldom need to send out large files so a simple quick way would be preferable.


       A search using the phrase "sending large email files" returned a large number of hits, mostly referring to the service method (#6 above). I checked out several that looked promising. There were too many to check them all.

       Most of the larger, more reputable services cater to business accounts and have many attractive features. Some of these features are automatic notification of recipients, delivery tracking, delivery certification, delivery receipts, plug-ins to send directly from popular programs and high levels of security to protect your files.

       These services require paid contracts for different levels of service. Many have free trial periods, which have various restrictions.

       I chose YouSendit.com, which offers a free level rather than a free trial. No credit card was required - This free level, called Lite, has limited functionality compared to the paid versions but was more than adequate for my needs. It allowed a 100MB maximum file size, 100 downloads per file and a seven-day expiration of the file. After a quick initial registration, I uploaded the slide show, entered the email addresses of the recipients and some comments, and that was about all there was to it. Lite does not access any address book. You have to manually enter a list of contacts' email addresses.

       The recipients quickly got an email containing the link and telling them I had sent the link. They clicked on the link and received the download. They required no link addresses or passwords.

       If you have the need to email large files, you should choose a service or method that fully satisfies your particular requirements.

       A good starting point would be a search, as indicated above, and the excellent article, "Top 9 Services to Send Big Files via Email by" Heinz Tschabitscher, About.com, which can be found at: http://email.about.com/od/sendbigfilesviaemail/tp/send_big_files.htm.
      Number 308 - January 2009