How to send photos by email - The Big Tech Question

Sending a photo by email is simple enough: click the attach button on your email program, find your photo and attach it. The precise actions may vary from app to app, but the procedure of sending photos by email is largely the same.

Mobile and tablet email apps can be an exception to the rule. Some of these programs don’t have an attach button and instead work the other way around: you choose your photos first and then tap a share icon to attach them to an email.

So sending a picture or two by email is relatively straightforward. The problems come when you want to send a whole holiday’s worth of photos at once. With camera technology improving, the file size of today’s high-resolution images has mushroomed, yet email hasn’t kept up with the times. The maximum attachment size you can send is often dismally low, with the likes of Google offering 20MB, and many others capping it at a paltry 10MB.

How do I send a batch of photos by email?

One of the most common methods of sending multiple photos by email is to keep under the attachment size limit and only send a few pictures at a time. It works, but it’s a pain for both you and the person receiving your many messages. Thankfully, there are better ways of sharing your photos via email on your computer. Let’s take a look at a couple.

WeTransfer

WeTransfer is an online transfer website that gives a quick and simple way to transfer large files and photos. There is a free option that allows you to send up to 2GB at a time, and you don’t have to create an account if you don’t wish to.

Go to the WeTransfer website and on the main page there is an upload box. To start a transfer, either click the blue plus sign to select your photos or choose to share a folder of photos by clicking on Or select a folder.

Once you’ve added your photos or folder, fill in the rest of the details: the email address of where you want to send them, your email address and also a title and message if you wish. If you don’t want to create an account, then you’ll need to enter a verification code sent to your email address. When the box is all filled in and completed, click the Transfer button.

WeTransfer will send you emails to let you know the files have gone and also when the person sent the photos downloads them. The recipient will also receive their email and be able to enjoy your photos.

Dropbox Transfer

Dropbox is a popular way to sync files between devices, but it also provides simple ways to share photos, too. If you don’t already use the service, you can sign up for free at the Dropbox website. Once signed up, you can use its Transfer service to share up to 100MB of photos per email, and you can do so by either installing the Dropbox program onto your computer or using the website.

Sending photos by email using the Dropbox program

These instructions are for Windows, but the procedure is very similar for Apple Macs. First, make sure you have the app installed on your computer and that the photos you want to share are available in Dropbox. Ideally, stick your pictures in a folder to make things easier. Once ready, right click on the folder and select Send with transfer from the menu that appears.

The Dropbox Transfer window will now appear, and you can add more photos if needed. Otherwise, click on Create Transfer.

You can now either copy the link and paste it into an email or click the Send with email option at the bottom of the window.

Transfer ready - send with email Dropbox

If you select Send with email, type in the email address you want to send your photos to – along with any message – and click Send.

Dropbox will now let you know it’s on its way, and you can close the Transfer window, unless you want to send it again to someone else.

Your recipient will now receive an email and be able to download your photos.

Sending photos by email using the Dropbox website

It’s also possible to use the Transfer option through the website. Head over to Dropbox, sign in and make sure your photos are available. If not, then you can use the Upload option to copy them across.

Once your photos are available, click the grid icon in the top left of the website and select Transfer from the menu that appears.

To start the transfer process, click on the three vertical dots under the Transfers heading and then select Create transfer from the menu that appears.

Next, select the photos you wish to send by either dragging the files into the box or clicking the Upload files button and selecting your photos.

Dropbox website Upload files or drop files

Once you’ve selected your photos, click on the Create Transfer button.

Dropbox will now create the transfer and offer you the option to send it by email or copy a link. Click on the Send email button unless you wish to use the link option.

Dropbox website Transfer Send email or copy link

Now type in the recipient’s email address, and any message into the boxes provided. Once done, click Send.

Dropbox website Transfer add emaila nd message

Your recipient will now receive the email and the chance to download your photos.

How do I send photos by email on my phone or tablet?

While the likes of Dropbox offer a transfer service via its mobile app, you can also send a large amount of photos from your phone or tablet using other methods.

Sending photos by email on an Apple iPhone or iPad

If you use Apple Mail on an iPhone or iPad, then Mail Drop is the answer to sending multiple photos by email. Mail Drop has a limit size of 5GB per email and your photos must be available in iCloud, but what’s great about this system is that it kicks in automatically: if you attach too many photos to your email, a message pops up asking if you want to use Mail Drop instead.

To use it, just tap on Use Mail Drop and the app will send your message. The recipient will receive images of the photos with the email and the option to download the full versions within 30 days.