FinderBuddyA dozen photos straight from an iPhone can easily come to 40 MB, and many email services refuse messages over about 20–25 MB. Even when it goes through, the person on the other end has to download all of it.
Nobody needs a 4000-pixel photo to look at in an email. Here's how to make photos small enough to send from your Mac without them looking soft.
How small should email photos be?
- Viewing on screen: about 1600px on the long side at JPG 75–80%. That's usually 200–500 KB per photo and looks sharp on laptops and phones.
- Someone will print them: send the full-size files with Mail Drop or a shared album instead of shrinking them.
Keep an eye on the total. Attachments are encoded for sending, which makes a message roughly a third larger than the files themselves, so 18 MB of photos can be close to a 25 MB limit.
Method 1: Let Apple Mail shrink them
- Start a new message in Mail and attach the photos (or drag them into the message).
- In the message header, find the Image Size menu. Mail shows it when a message has photo attachments.
- Choose Medium or Large. The message size next to it updates, so you can see whether it fits.
- Send. Your original photos aren't changed.
This is the easiest option when you use Mail. Other email apps and webmail don't shrink photos for you, so use one of the methods below first.
Method 2: Export smaller copies from Photos
- Select the photos in the Photos app.
- Choose File → Export → Export Photos.
- Set Photo Kind to JPEG, JPEG Quality to Medium or High, and Size to Medium or Large. Choose Custom to type a maximum width, such as 1600.
- Click Export and pick a folder. Attach those copies to your email.
Exporting as JPEG also solves the other common email problem: recipients who can't open HEIC photos. More on that in how to convert HEIC to JPG on Mac.
Method 3: Shrink photo files in Finder or Preview
For photos that are already files on your Mac, two steps make them email-friendly:
- Resize to about 1600px on the long side. See how to resize multiple images on Mac at once.
- Save as JPG at 75–80%. In Preview, choose File → Export and watch the estimated size as you move the Quality slider. More settings are in how to compress images on Mac.
For a quick batch, Finder's Quick Actions → Convert Image with Format set to JPEG and Image Size set to Medium does both in one step.
Method 4: One right-click with FinderBuddy
Select the photos in Finder, right-click, and choose FinderBuddy → Resize Image to set 1600px, then Compress Image to make the files smaller still. Both work on a whole batch and save copies next to the originals, so your full-size photos stay safe.
The photos are processed on your Mac, not uploaded to a compression site. See pricing.
Still too big? Use Mail Drop
When the attachments are over your provider's limit, Apple Mail offers to send them with Mail Drop. The files go to iCloud and the recipient gets a download link instead of a heavy message. Mail Drop handles attachments up to 5 GB, and links expire after 30 days.
It's the right choice for full-resolution photos meant for printing or editing, where shrinking would defeat the purpose.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I make a photo smaller to email from a Mac?
- In Apple Mail, attach the photo and choose Medium or Large from the Image Size menu in the message header. Outside Mail, export a copy from Photos or Preview at about 1600px and JPG quality 75–80%.
- What is the attachment size limit for email?
- It depends on the provider, but many cap messages at about 20–25 MB, including the extra size added when attachments are encoded. Gmail's limit is 25 MB.
- Where is the Image Size option in Mail?
- It appears in the message header, on the right, once a message has photo attachments. If you don't see it, check that the photos are attached as images rather than inside a ZIP or PDF.
- Will the recipient see blurry photos?
- Not at around 1600px. That's sharper than most laptop and phone screens need. Only send full-size files when the photos will be printed or edited.