You hit send. Email comes back: 'attachment exceeds size limit'. The PDF is 47MB. Your email allows 25.
What's actually going wrong
Email providers cap attachments. Gmail at 25MB, Outlook around 20MB, corporate servers often less. PDFs above the cap are refused outright with no graceful workaround built into the email client.
Most large PDFs are large because of uncompressed images and embedded fonts — fixable with one tool.
The quick fix
Compress PDF in Flint. The compressor downsamples images and rebuilds structure. A 47MB report typically comes back at 5-10MB — well under every email limit.
Attach the compressed file. Recipient sees identical content; email delivers without complaint.
If that didn't work
If compression doesn't get it under the limit, split the PDF and send in parts. Recipients can merge them back.
For PDFs that must stay whole and are too big even compressed, share via cloud link instead. Upload to Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox; share the link in your email. Works for any size.
Prevent it next time
Compress PDFs as standard practice before attaching anywhere. Scan in black-and-white for text documents. And know your email provider's actual limit — knowing it's 25MB saves dozens of failed sends.
FAQ
What's the largest PDF I can email?
Depends on provider. Gmail and most consumer providers cap at 20-25MB. Corporate servers vary, sometimes as low as 5MB. Always compress before sending.
Does compression hurt PDF quality?
Flint's compressor preserves text sharpness and downsamples images to screen resolution — invisible during normal reading. For typical office documents, no perceptible quality loss.
Can I send a 100MB PDF?
Not as a direct attachment. Compress aggressively (might get under 25MB), split into parts, or share via cloud link.
Why does my PDF stay large after compression?
If it's mostly text already, there's not much to compress. If it has uncompressed images, expect 60-90% reduction. If compression barely helps, the file is already optimised.
Don't fight email size limits. Compress in Flint and the file sends.