Email Multiple Attachments Securely
Often when I get emails from clients with multiple attachments they send them over with multiple loose files attached to the email directly. I then have to download each attached fileĀ separately. While this method works, I’d like to show you another way that adds security and helps with email file size limitations. The alternative method deals with zipping multiple files into one larger file.
1. Smaller File Size
Often there are file size limitations on an email attachment, these days most commercial email hosts accept 25MB email attachments. I’m sure at some point you’ve emailed someone with an attachment and got a bounce back email explaining that the file size was too large. Keep in mind that the email size encompasses the attachment & the email which is very small but still counts. When you zip your attachments, you are given the ability to compress files making their file size smaller and enabling you to send them via one email instead of having to send multiple emails with multiple attachments. We will go over the details in the tutorial below.
2. Security
In addition to being able to decrease the files size of your attached files, you can also password protect your zip file so that only the recipient can view the attachments. I would suggest sending two separate emails, one with the password protected files, and one with the actual password which is needed to open the zipped archive. If you ever need to send password protected documents, enable a password in Adobe or zip your files up and password protect the zipped archive. Here’s how…
WinRAR Zipping Application –Ā http://rarlabs.com/download.htmĀ <Download Here
1. Once you download the most recent version, install it & reboot.
2. Your now able to start zipping. Find some files that you want to send to a client, highlight them, right click on one and click Add to Archive…
3. Click Browse at the top right and choose where you want to save your archive.
4. Under Archive format, click ZIP, as it’s more common than RAR.
5. Under Compression Method, click Best. This is where the archive will be compresses and save you on attachment size.
6. Click the Advanced Tab at the top and click Set Password. In the Enter Password box, enter your password twice. Don’t forget it andĀ don’tĀ delete your original files before you make this passworded archive, there will be no way to recover the files from the archive if you forget the password.
7. Once you hit OK, your archive will take some time to be created and it will be saved in the place you chose when we clicked Browse at step 3.
Depending on the files your trying to zip they may or may not compress well. Pictures tend to compress a bit and so do word files. PDF files can be iffy, but you always have the option within Adobe to decrease file size.
