How can I prevent the Mac OS 'Mail' app from reducing the file size of image attachments?

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Level 1

8 points

How can I prevent the Mac OS 'Mail' app from reducing the file size of image attachments?

If I am entering a photo in a competition, I want to send it with the highest file size allowable. Many competitions require entries be jpg files, less than some specific file size. For example, say that limit is 10 MB. If I convert a 455 MB image to jpg, a quality setting of 11 will give me a file size of 8.4 MB.

If I send that 8.4 MB image using the Mac OS 'Mail' app, the image is further compressed to 542 KB. If I send it by Gmail, using a browser like Safari, it is sent as is, arriving with a file size of 8.4 MB. The difference in image quality is dramatic.

Is there any way to force Mail to send the file without additional compression?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jan 23, 2021 7:50 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

dialabrain

Level 10

122,939 points

Jan 23, 2021 8:03 AM in response to RTR-MT

RTR-MT wrote:

Is there any way to force Mail to send the file without additional compression?

FWIW, setting Image Size to Actual Size comes closest…

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Answer 2

6x6

Level 6

12,650 points

Jan 23, 2021 8:04 AM in response to RTR-MT

You may also want to consider Mail Drop: Add an email attachment in Mail on iCloud.com - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Jan 23, 2021 7:53 AM in response to RTR-MT

How exactly are you adding the image to Mail? If you drag it to a message or click the attachment button and select it, it will send the file as is,AFAICT.

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