How to Email Large CAD Files and Engineering Drawings

You've finished a detailed AutoCAD drawing — a 75MB DWG file — and need to send it to a client or contractor for review. Gmail rejects it. Outlook won't accept it. You upload it to Google Drive and share a link, but your client's IT department has cloud storage blocked. You try WeTransfer, and the link expires before their engineering team gets around to downloading it.

SendSplit sends CAD files up to 200MB as real email attachments. No cloud links, no download pages, no account required on either end. The file arrives directly in the recipient's inbox — ready to open in their CAD software.

Why CAD Files Are Hard to Email

Engineering and design files are large by nature. A single AutoCAD drawing can easily exceed 20MB. Complex assemblies, point clouds, or BIM models routinely reach 100MB–200MB. Email providers weren't designed for this:

• Gmail — 25MB attachment limit; anything larger converts to a Google Drive link automatically
• Outlook / Exchange — 20MB limit; corporate Exchange servers are often capped at 10MB by IT policy
• iCloud Mail — 20MB limit; larger files use Mail Drop with a 30-day expiry link
• Yahoo Mail — 25MB limit; large files must be manually uploaded to cloud storage first

The result: engineers and architects routinely resort to cloud storage links, FTP servers, or physical media — adding friction, delays, and access barriers to every file transfer.

Why Cloud Storage Links Fail Engineering Teams

Sharing a Google Drive or Dropbox link seems like the obvious workaround — but it creates real problems in engineering and construction contexts:

• Corporate firewall blocks — many engineering firms, contractors, and government clients block Dropbox, Google Drive, and external cloud services entirely
• Sign-in requirements — clients may be prompted to log in or create a Google account before downloading
• Link expiry — WeTransfer free links expire after 7 days; busy teams reviewing drawings later lose access
• No delivery confirmation — you don't know whether the recipient has actually received and opened the file
• Version confusion — when you update a shared folder, recipients may accidentally work from an outdated link

How SendSplit Delivers CAD Files via Email

SendSplit splits your CAD file into email-sized parts and delivers each part as a standard attachment. The recipient's email client receives normal attachments — no plugins, no cloud accounts, no download links to click.

Supported CAD and Engineering File Formats

SendSplit works with any file format your engineering workflow uses:

• DWG / DXF — AutoCAD drawings, 2D plans, site layouts, as-built documentation
• STEP / STP — 3D solid models, assembly files, exchange format between CAD platforms
• IGES / IGS — Legacy 3D surface and geometry exchange
• STL — 3D printing models, mesh geometry for fabrication
• Revit / RVT — BIM models (packaged as ZIP for transmission)
• PDF — Engineering drawing PDFs, stamped shop drawings, submittal packages
• ZIP / RAR archives — Project folders with multiple drawings and reference files bundled together

Who Needs to Email Large Engineering Files?

• Architects and structural engineers sending drawing sets to contractors, consultants, and building departments for review and approval
• Mechanical and industrial engineers transmitting 3D models and assembly drawings to manufacturers and machine shops
• Civil engineers and surveyors sharing site plans, topographic surveys, and infrastructure drawings with project owners and regulators
• Product designers and industrial designers delivering CAD models to prototyping shops, toolmakers, and manufacturing partners
• Construction project managers distributing RFIs, submittals, and as-built documentation to subcontractors and owners
• Government and municipal engineers submitting permit drawings and infrastructure plans to agencies with strict IT access controls

Tips for Emailing Engineering Files

• Use 10MB splits for corporate and government recipients — Exchange servers at engineering firms and public agencies are commonly capped at 10MB; when in doubt, use the smallest split size
• Bundle drawing sets as a ZIP before uploading — if you're sending a set of related drawings, zip them first so the recipient gets a single archive rather than individual files
• Add password protection for proprietary designs — enable SendSplit's optional password encryption for confidential product designs, unreleased plans, and IP-sensitive engineering drawings
• Tell the recipient to expect multiple emails — include a brief note that they'll receive several emails with attachments and must download all parts before extracting
• No SendSplit account needed for the recipient — your client, contractor, or consultant never needs to visit any website or install anything

Stop fighting with cloud storage links that get blocked and links that expire before the engineering team downloads them. Try SendSplit — send CAD files and engineering drawings up to 200MB as real email attachments that land directly in your recipient's inbox. No accounts. No links. No expiry.