How to send large files for your ecommerce business (when email isn’t working)

You’re launching a new product for your DTC business. You need to get new product images to your agencies, resellers, distributors and anybody else who needs them. 

Email can be a convenient way to send smaller files, like documents or the occasional image. But when you're handling large or multiple high-quality images and videos, email quickly becomes inefficient and hard to manage. 😩

Frankly, most email clients, like Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail, aren’t up to the job of sending lots of large high-quality images. They all have a file size cap, meaning you need to search for another way to send your content.

In this article we’ll cover some alternatives you can use to send large files quickly, including our digital asset management software, Dash. 

When (and when not to use email)

First up, it’s good to note that sometimes email works just fine— like when you're sending small documents that don't exceed your email client’s file size limit. However, for regular large file transfers, multiple images, or managing numerous collaborators, email falls short. Here’s a short rundown of when and when not to use email for file transfers. 

When to use email:

• Sending small documents or files under 20-25 MB.
• Occasional transfers that don’t require tracking or organising.
• When file transfer isn’t a recurring task.

When not to use email: 

• Sending large files or high-resolution images that exceed email file size limits.
• Regularly sharing visual assets with teams, resellers, or agencies.
• When you need to keep track of shared assets and control permissions like expiration dates or download access.

Why you shouldn’t send large files via email 🚫

As I’ve mentioned, there are times when email works perfectly fine. But if you're sharing large visual assets or need to regularly send multiple files, email can become manual, time-consuming, and difficult to track. Here are more reasons why email is not ideal for sending large files: 

1. Your files can easily get lost

The average person receives over 100 emails daily — from cold pitches to app notifications and newsletters. With so much going on in their inbox, your resellers and collaborators can easily miss your messages containing important visual assets. 

2. File size limitations 

As I mentioned, you can’t send files exceeding a specific size as email attachments. The exact limit varies depending on your email service. Gmail, for example, won’t let you attach or send larger than 25 MB in total. 

Here’s a look at the file size limits for other popular email clients: 

To get around this problem, you might try sending large files using online storage systems like Google Drive and Dropbox. For example, you’ll upload the audio or video into Google Drive and then share the link via email. But this leads to a new set of problems because file storage services aren't built for visual content sharing, either. 

2. File management systems can't handle your visual content

SharePoint, Google Drive and other file managers work well for document management but lack the features needed to organise and manage your visual assets effectively.  

For example, Google Drive reduces your beautiful product images and video previews into generic thumbnails that look like this. 

Compare this to how stunning your images are in a DAM tool like Dash and the difference is as clear as day. Just look at this screenshot from one of Dash’s DTC customers, Goodrays. 😍 (And scoot down this article for a more detailed look at digital asset management).     

It’s also hard to find images stored in Drive due to its archaic naming system. Your partners and resellers have to remember the exact file name for product images or risk using the wrong ones for their online stores and product campaigns. 

4 apps that will help you share large files easily 

It’s clear why email isn’t the best way to share high-resolution images and videos. Here are four file transfer applications you can use to send large files to your ecommerce partners. 

1. Dash: DAM software for ecommerce businesses 

Dash provides everything you need to manage visual content for your growing ecommerce businesses, including file sharing. You can send large images and videos via public portals, collections, or links in your Dash. More on these later. 

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Dash’s really affordable, too. Our pricing starts at £79/$109 per month and gives you access to all our features for unlimited users. Depending on your plan, you can get up to 200 GB of storage, which allows you to send and receive as many ecommerce assets as required. You can also purchase additional storage anytime you want, meaning you’re not paying for anything you don’t need. 

2. WeTransfer: online tool for large file transfers 

WeTransfer lets you send large files (up to 2 GB) for free. Beyond that, you’ll need to subscribe to one of its paid plans, starting at $10 per person/month. 

You don't need a WeTransfer account to use it. Simply go to the website, upload your file and add the recipient's email. If you don't want to send the files via email, you can copy and share the WeTransfer link with the recipient directly. 

The download link expires after seven days, and WeTransfer will delete any files sent using the free plan. If your partners haven't downloaded the content by then, you'll need to send it to them again. 

3. iCloud Drive: file management software for Apple devices

iCloud is the file management system for Apple Devices. There are two ways to use it to share large files: 

• Upload the file you want to share into iCloud, set the content and file permissions, and share it with recipients. iCloud lets you share files via email or direct link.

• Use Mail Drop to share up to 5 GB files in your iCloud email. MailDrop uploads large email attachments to iCloud and sends the link to the recipient. The recipient can download the file by clicking on the link, even if they don't use iCloud.

iCloud has many of the downsides associated with popular file management systems like Google Drive and Dropbox. Also, its maximum file size is 50GB, which is pretty small compared to other file transfer software like Dash.  

4. SharePoint: online cloud storage service

SharePoint is a web-based platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. It is primarily used as a document management and storage system but also includes features such as wikis, blogs, and social networking capabilities.

SharePoint is good for sending and receiving documents within your team. But it doesn’t work well when you try to share visual content with people outside your organisation, like freelancers and agency partners. It’s also hard to browse through images in SharePoint to find what you need quickly. 

If you want to learn more about SharePoint’s limitations, check out Amy’s detailed guide comparing SharePoint to digital asset managers like Dash. 

How to send large files with Dash

There are three ways to share big files with resellers and agencies in your Dash. You can track all the assets you've sent in your shares tab, regardless of the method. 

1. Create a public portal of your Dash 

Let’s say you just onboarded a new reseller for your online store. You don’t want to add them as a new user to your brand’s Dash account but need an easy way to share high-quality product images that resellers can use on their websites. That’s where portals come in. 

A portal is a permanent, public, searchable view of selected folders from your Dash account. It’s a mini-version of your Dash and delivers the same branded experience to visitors. They can search for assets easily and download them in one click for projects.

You can create multiple portals for different projects and collaborators and add passcodes to restrict access. Then, invite visitors to your new portal with a shareable link. 

2. Create quick share links to assets 

A share link lets you send assets to people in your team, as well as external partners. 

All you need to do is select the assets you want to share, click the “share button” to generate the link, and share it with the recipient either directly or by entering their email in Dash. You can also set an expiration date and download permissions to control how the recipient uses your assets. 

Upon receipt, the recipient will see a preview of all the content you sent. They can download all of them or select what they want based on the file permissions. 

3. Create and share collections

A collection is a group of visual assets related to a specific project. 

For example, say you're working on a new product launch and want to send updated images to your PR team. In that case, you can create and share a collection with them. This streamlines your work so that everyone involved in a project can find the assets they need quickly. 

Creating a collection is easy. First, you'll create a new collection and give it a name. Next, select assets you want to add to that collection. And finally, share it with your team mates. Anyone with the link can view your collection. You can send the link via email or directly. Don’t forget to set up download permissions and link expiration dates.

Organise all your visual content in Dash easily

While email has its uses for quick or small file-sharing tasks, a dedicated tool like Dash is the perfect solution when you need more control, organisation, and efficiency in handling your brand’s visual content. 

Beyond file sharing you can use Dash to:

• Crop and resize images and videos to match the specs for different online platforms and social media channels. You can save these dimensions in Dash, so you won't have to manually trim and adjust subsequent assets. Simply download the images in the dimension and file type you need and deploy them to your channels. 
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• Collect creative assets from UGC creators via guest uploads. This allows freelancers and other collaborators to submit images and videos to your Dash directly. You’ll be able to review these assets before approving them to be added to your Dash.
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• Control how team members and external collaborators access and use your visual content. Dash lets you set image usage rights for your images and videos. For example, you can restrict specific assets to only be used on your website, and others to social media.

• Use images from Dash directly in your Shopify and WooCommerce stores. No need to waste time downloading and re-uploading your visual assets. You’ll be able to insert images from your Dash into product listings and pages without leaving your online store. You can also add expiration dates to shared links and password protection to your content portals. 

For a full list of features, check out why you need an ecommerce DAM like Dash. If you want to try it for yourself, you can grab a 14-day free trial, no credit card required. ✨