How do I compress files for email?

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Level 1

58 points

How do I compress files for email?

Hi. I'm trying to compress both MS Word and .pdf files to email out, but can't seem to do so. I don't want to use Quartz as I want the files to be opened and printed by others with the same quality. I've tried Stuffit's 'Dropstuff', but the files all seem to come out about the same size. Any ideas on how I can do this?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jul 20, 2010 3:10 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,765 points

Jul 20, 2010 3:47 PM in response to miniman

Select all the files you want to send, CTRL- or RIGHT-click and select the Compress option from the contextual menu.

Note that Word and PDF files are already binary data and very likely will not be compressed much if at all. Zipping them is only a convenience for sending multiple files within a single compressed archive.

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Answer 2

miniman Author

Level 1

58 points

Jul 20, 2010 4:52 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for the quick reply. Yep, like you said, being PDF and Word files, they won't compress enough to email out. Oh well....

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,765 points

Jul 20, 2010 5:03 PM in response to miniman

You can archive them, which may be convenient. You may get some compression with Word document files, but you probably won't with PDFs. Word now uses a form of binary file to store its documents and they may not compress much. But give it a try. Some files do compress while others may not.

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Answer 4

miniman Author

Level 1

58 points

Jul 20, 2010 5:44 PM in response to Kappy

I actually talked to a tech at Smith Micro where I got Stuffit from, and he directed me to their free file delivery site where I can send huge files without having to compress them:

https://www.sendstuffnow.com/default.aspx

Thanks for your help once again though!

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