Compressing Files

[narlee]

Does anyone know how to get these files down to reasonable size for e-mailing. My files typically run between 10meg and 20meg, and zipping doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

I thought about trying worksets (which are a real PIA), but don't know if I can break down projects and then reassemble them without the worksets feature embedded.

[Steve_Stafford]

They ARE compressed which is why you don't see much change after "zipping" for example. So, you must resort to broadband connections, or CD's...

You will usually observe some file size reduction when you do a SAVEAS to a new project name and/or purge the project, take care to only purge excess families and such, not your office standards. I routinely saveas now (only do this if you're not concerned about rolling back) and have seen a 50% decrease in file size on occasion. (true for 5.1...too soon to say for 6.0)

[Dimitri Harvalias]

I've found the best method for sending anything over 2megs is an FTP site. It makes access really simple via a web browser, anyone can get the files without fear fo having them cut out because of e-mail settings or limitations on message size.

[gregcashen]

As I posted elsewhere, you can setup an account at godaddy.com or aitcom.com or ipowerweb.com or... for about $8/month and get like 200MB of online storage plus a couple gigs of bandwidth. When you need to send something to someone, give them a login to the site and let em go.

[narlee]

Thanks very much for the input, guys. I actually have an account at GoDaddy, so that's great! And will try the purging more often. Just one question for HCSL. What's an "FTP"?

[aaronrumple]

FTP - File Transfer Protocol. Been around since the start of the internet.

Typically ftp://my.site.com insteap of http://my webpage.com

You can use a special app to do FTP like WSFtp or use Internet Exporer.

[gregcashen]

Your account at godaddy should alow you to have 2GB of monthly bandwidth, which is more than enough to upload 50MB files and have someone download them. If you want to get creative, check out the post in the Architectural Practice forum here on ZDBB and read about the open source PHP collaboration tools. You could setup accounts for file sharing with each of your clients and all they have to do is log in and download.