• PDF keeps your formatting intact.
• Email lets you attach files, organize messages, and reach almost anyone.

How to attach a PDF:

Look for the paperclip icon when composing an email → browse for your PDF → attach → send. Most of the time, for 1 or 2 small PDFs, this will work fine. But what about larger documents?

When Your PDF Is Too Large

Most email services cap attachments. Gmail’s limit is 25MB, for example. Email services also have data limits that you may hit if you’re sending and receiving too many PDFs. You will have to go through and delete old emails pretty regularly, or set up a system to have older emails automatically removed. 

Workarounds for Apple Mail and Gmail Users

Gmail: The simplest way to share files between Gmail users is to upload the file to Google Drive, select Share and enter your recipient’s email address. This works as long as your recipient has a Google account (how to create a Google account).

Apple: Apple users can use Mail Drop, and your recipient can download the files from any device or email provider (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) using the link provided in the email.

Options to reduce file size

1. Compress the PDF

• Shrinks the file without changing the file type.
• Use a PDF compressor if you only need a modest size reduction.

Learn more about how file compression works to reduce the sizes of your documents and folders. 

2. Zip the file

Best for multiple large PDFs, a zipped file is a super-condensed version of larger files, and it could contain one large file or several files that have been highly compressed and changed into a new file format with a .zip extension. The zip file’s icon will have a folder with a zipper on it, and is commonly used for transporting multiple documents or file types in a single folder. 

• Create a .zip file containing all your documents.
• Recipient unzips it (double click) to access the original PDFs and other files.

How to unzip files:

• Windows: Right-click → Extract all or open
• Mac: Double-click, or right-click → Open

Attach the compressed or zipped file to your email as usual. Learn how to ZIP up files on both Mac and Windows systems.

Just like PDFs, zip files and compressed files can be uploaded and attached to an email for sending to others. Because both PCs and Macs typically come with installed unzipping capabilities, most recipients will be able to open your zipped file to see your PDFs. 

How to Email One Page of a PDF

If you only want to send a single page or section, you’ll first need to extract that single page from a PDF. This can be done either with PDF.Live or a web browser: 

Option A: Using PDF.live Editor

1. Open your PDF in the editor.
2. Go to Print → choose Pages → enter the page number(s).
3. Select Save as PDF as the destination.
4. Save the new file (desktop is easiest if you’re about to email it).
5. Attach it to your email.

Option B: Using Your Browser

1. Drag the PDF into your browser.
2. Open browser menu → Print.
3. Choose Save as PDF.
4. Enter the page number(s).
5. Save and attach.

Once you have your single page separated from your PDF, you can then attach it to an email the same as you would any other PDF. 

Can You Embed a PDF in an Email?

Gmail: Not directly

Gmail doesn’t support PDF embedding, but it does support images. Because PDFs are similar to images, you can convert a PDF to an image with minimal impact on the formatting. We recommend first splitting the PDF into a single page that you want to share via email for the cleanest formatting.

Workaround:

It’s important to note that converting a PDF to a JPEG works only for a single page. JPEGs do not support multi-page formats. So, this workaround is ideal if you want to embed a one- or two-page PDF. 

1. Convert the PDF to a JPEG.
2. In Gmail, choose Insert Photo (mountain icon).
3. Pick your JPEG to display it directly in the email body.

Great for:

• Invitations
• Simple one-page flyers
• Holiday cards

For larger, multi-page PDFs, just attach the PDF to the email instead. 

Outlook: Yes, with limitations

The email manager Outlook lets you insert a PDF as an Object (mostly works for single-page PDFs).

How:

1. New email → Insert → Object.
2. Select Create from File.
3. Choose your PDF → OK.

If the embed doesn’t look right, just attach the PDF normally. Outlook does actually allow you to view PDFs through the program, so there’s a chance you don’t need to embed the PDF in your email body. 

Other Ways to Share PDFs

Cloud storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox)

Good for:

• Larger PDFs
• Files that multiple people need to access
• Links instead of attachments
• Having updates made later on apply to the shared version of the PDF

Facebook Messenger

• On desktop: tap the + → use the paperclip to attach a PDF.
• Works for sharing event flyers or invitations.

Sending PDFs from Your Phone

iPhone

1. Find the PDF on your phone.
2. Press and hold → Share.

3. Pick an app (AirDrop, Messages, Mail) or person.

4. Send.

Android

1. Open the PDF on Android
2. Tap Share in the top bar.
3. Choose your app, like messenger or Gmail.
4. Tap Share again.

The post How to Send a PDF by Email appeared first on pdf.live.

In this post, we answer questions about how to turn email messages into PDFs. This comes in handy if you need to keep records, save receipts, or keep important messages from friends, family and businesses.  

Sending and receiving emails can be your primary form of communication with your work, school, or even friends and family. Just like any other channel that you’d use to talk to others, important information can be shared through an email that you might want to save. You may receive an invoice, an important letter, or other information that you need to retain for your records, and sometimes the email inbox or archive is not the best place. The best way to save email records is to convert the email to a PDF.

The PDF is a file format that preserves your document’s formatting settings across any device. That way the information within the PDF is always clearly viewable and easy to understand. Many common email services will actually allow you to save emails as PDFs with no external program needed.

Converting Emails to PDFs

PDF.Live is an online tool that converts files into PDFs and converts PDFs into other file formats. Our editorial team’s research suggests that people like you might be searching for ways to “convert emails to PDFs,” but after reading this you’ll see that the vast majority of email providers allow you to “save as” or “download as.” 

In this article, we’ll be going through how to “convert” emails to PDFs with two common email services. Even if you don’t use the email services we use as examples, the steps are similar with most other emails.

Save Gmail As PDF

Since 2012, Gmail has been the leader in email service, according to MakeUseOf. Of course, some users have multiple Gmail accounts (for example one for business and one for personal use), which inflates the number of “users”; that said, Gmail has over 1.8 billion user accounts, putting them in the top spot. 

But, we digress. Back to business: You can very easily download Gmail emails as PDFs with a few steps. 

1. Select the email you wish to save. 

Once you find the email in your Gmail inbox, select it. The email should open and you’ll see the body of text within. 

2. Select “Print”

You can either select the 3 vertical dots on the right-hand side and select Print from there or click the Printer icon on the top right of the email to print all. 

3. Save as PDF

When you print the page, the email will be reformatted by Gmail to display on single pages. You’ll be able to preview how your email will be displayed and make minor adjustments to the page layout. Once you have the email where you want it, select Destination and find Save as PDF. 

Instead of printing a physical copy, Gmail will prompt you to save a PDF document somewhere on your computer. You’ll then be able to open and view the contents of the email within this PDF. 

Save Outlook as PDF

Microsoft Outlook is the second most widely used email service (although some data counters suggest it’s third, and Apple Mail is second). 

Microsoft Outlook can act as a hub for all of your different email accounts and is a great email organization program. In fact, if you have a Gmail account, but you don’t like Gmail’s user experience, you can use Outlook to manage your Gmail accounts. 

Outlook’s converter to PDF follows similar steps as Gmail for saving emails as PDFs. (By the way, your Outlook prompts might look slightly different from our examples, if you’re using a Windows PC or a different version of Outlook. The following example was performed on a Mac.)  

1. Select your email and then File >> Print. 

2. Select Save as PDF. 

From the printer options, select the drop-down menu in the lower left corner. Then select Save as PDF. You should name your PDF and choose the file location.  

3. Find a destination to save your PDF.

When you select Save as, a dialogue window will pop up prompting you to choose where you’d like your PDF to be saved. During this stage, security options like password-protecting the PDF can be applied.

You can apply a password that’s required for someone to enter before they can open the PDF. Be sure to store it somewhere and don’t forget the password!

Other email services, including Yahoo, Apple, Comcast, iCloud and others, will similarly allow you to print individual emails and then select Save as PDF instead of printing a physical copy.

The post How to Save an Email as a PDF appeared first on pdf.live.