MacUser / February 1997
If you don't know all the requirements of your software and those of your correspondents', a graphic may show up mangled, a spreadsheet may turn into weird code, or an attachment may not show up at all. Things get even trickier when you want to send a file cross-platform, because you have to know non-Mac e-mail protocols, such as those for Windows.
No matter whom you correspond with and no matter what software your correspondents use, you can help ensure the safe arrival of your e-mail attachments by following the steps in our "Successful File Attachments" table. They detail the special requirements of the most common e-mail software for the Mac (such as America Online and Claris Emailer) and for Windows (such as Microsoft Exchange and Internet Explorer). In addition, have a look at the rest of this article for general tips that can help get stranded e-mail on its merry electronic way no matter what software you're using.
Agree to Agree
Discuss with your correspondents before you exchange a file what file types (such as Word document or TIFF), compression formats (.SIT or .ZIP), and encoding types (uuencode or binhex) you want to use. Agreeing to specifics beforehand can save you such inconveniences as having to resend the file.
Group and Compress Files
Multiple files have the best chance of arriving at their destination safe, sound, and readable if you compress them into a single archive before sending them. You can choose your compression weapon, be it StuffIt Deluxe or a ZIP utility. Even a single file can benefit from being slipped into an archive before being e-mailed. If you have trouble sending a single file and don't know why, try archiving it.
When to Zip It
Sometimes using any old compression scheme isn't enough to make an attachment readable for your recipients. If you're sending an attachment to PC users (or don't know what platforms the recipients have), your best bet is to choose the ZIP format. StuffIt's SIT archives are prevalent on the Mac platform but even though there's a Windows version of StuffIt Expander, the SIT format is virtually unknown outside Mac circles. StuffIt Deluxe can decode ZIP files, but to create one, you'll need a ZIP utility such as ZipIt, from Tommy Brown.
Can't Beat 'Em? Join 'Em
Even the way you name a file can hinder the e-mail process. Specifically in the case of sending files cross-platform, it's safest to use the 8+3 DOS naming convention (filename.doc). Otherwise your file may be renamed or processed in a way that will make the contents unusable.
Work Around Big Files
Large file attachments, say 500K and up, tend to run into problems. They may get corrupted by the time they reach their destination or may simply be kept out of some e-mail systems. The best way to deal with such hefty attachments is to try to reduce their size.
If you have a graphics file, you could make it smaller by reducing the graphic's color depth or size -- for example, the original file may have millions of colors, but if the recipients need it for Web use, 256 will suffice.
If the file is a page-layout document and the recipients need only to be able to view and print the file (not edit it), there's another technique you can use to squeeze the file. First, save the document to a PostScript file, using a program that lets you, such as PageMaker, QuarkXPress, or FrameMaker. Then compress the PostScript file. Since PostScript is a text-only format, you can compress a PostScript file to a much smaller size than that of the original. If it's crucial that you save your formatting, you can still get a tightly compressed page-layout document if you use Adobe Distiller. Distiller boasts powerful compression algorithms and options for dealing with graphics that make its compression highly efficient.
No matter what type the file is -- graphic, page layout, or something else -- you can get it safely to its destination by using yet another method for shrinking a file -- segmentation. To do so, first agree with your recipients on a compression method (ZIP or StuffIt, for example); then compress the large file across several segmented archives (see your compression software's documentation for instructions). Once you've created several small archives, send each one in a separate e-mail message. The recipients reconstruct the file by joining the segmented archives together.
Despite all the options you have for reducing file size, you may have a file you don't want to alter in any way. If that's the case, the next-best method is to use a more complicated procedure -- FTP (file-transfer protocol) -- instead of e-mail (see the "E-Mail Alternative" sidebar for details on using FTP).
Send Help
It's a nice touch of netiquette to add a reminder about an attachment's file and compression type as well as special instructions for handling the attachment. For instance, it's helpful to tell your recipients if they need to use a particular utility, such as the shareware StuffIt Expander with DropStuff, to decode and extract your file.
Get the Message
At the end of the day, it's money you'll save and frustration you'll avoid if you can manage to make e-mail function reliably. Not only may you kick the habit of using a courier by following our tips but you may also be able to ride to the rescue of frustrated others in your life who can't get their attachments to behave properly.
Sidebar: The E-Mail Alternative: Help with sending large files
Sidebar: An E-Mailer's Best Friends: Essential utilities
Sidebar: Successful File Attachments: All the right steps (chart)
Gregory Wasson, a MacUser contributing editor and former NetCarta Webmaster, has been furiously flinging file attachments through electronic passageways for years.
You can find the shareware and freeware programs that are referenced in this article at MacUser's Software Central. You can also find them in the MacUser areas on CompuServe (GO ZMC:MACUSER) and America Online (keyword MACUSER).
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