Email attachment too big? Send a link instead

Everyone has hit it. You attach the PDF, send it, and either the message bounces or the person says it never arrived. Mail systems limit how large an attachment can be, and the limit differs from one to the next, so a file that goes to one person fails for another.

Compressing helps a little, at the cost of picture quality. A link solves it.

Why a link is better than a file

• It is small. A link is a line of text. It goes anywhere.
• It cannot bounce for size. There is no attachment to be too large.
• It is always the latest. Update the document and the same link shows the new version. With an attachment, the old one stays in every inbox.
• It opens on a phone. A big PDF on a phone is slow and awkward. A flipbook opens in the browser.
• You can still send the file. Readers can download a searchable PDF from the flipbook, unless you switch that off.

How to do it

1. Open the Studio at app.flipbookiq.com and choose New flipbook.
2. Drop in the PDF. It is turned into pages in your own browser, and only the finished page images are uploaded.
3. Publish it and copy the link.
4. Paste the link into your email with a line about what it is and who it is for.

The free plan accepts a document of up to 40 MB and 20 pages, and keeps it online for fourteen days. The paid plans take larger documents, up to 200 pages on Pro and 500 on Business, and keep them online until you remove them.

Write the email so people open it

• Say what it is: "The Q3 price list, updated October 12".
• Say who it is for and what to do: "Please check pages 3 to 5 by Friday".
• Put the link on its own line so it is easy to tap.
• Say whether it expires, if you set an end date.

When to still attach

If the file is small and the person needs the actual file, such as a form to fill in or a document to edit, attach it. If it must be a record at the recipient's end, attach it. A link is best for something to read.

A small habit that saves time

After you change a document, do not resend it. Update the flipbook and say "Same link, updated". People who open it get the new version, and nobody has two.