You can't attach files to emails you create in the email editor. For journeys started through the API, you can attach a PDF. In most cases, linking to the file is the better choice.
Why we recommend a link
- Deliverability: spammers often use attachments, so mailbox providers treat emails with attachments with more suspicion. Your emails are more likely to go to spam or be blocked, which can hurt your sender reputation over time. See Deliverability basics.
- Size: some mailbox providers block emails that are too large, and an attachment makes the email much larger.
- Loading time: large emails take longer to load for the recipient.
Link to a file
For a file that's the same for everyone, either host it yourself and add a link to it, or upload it to Symplify by choosing the link type File.
For a personal file, host the files yourself and include an identifier in each file name, for example the contact's originalId:
https://yourfilehost.com/files/100245.pdf https://yourfilehost.com/files/100246.pdf
Then build the link with a placeholder, so each contact gets the link to their own file:
https://yourfilehost.com/files/{{contact.originalId}}.pdf
For files with sensitive personal content, don't link to the file directly. Keep the files on your website behind a login, and guide your contacts there.
Attach a PDF in a journey
If you start a journey for one contact through the API, you can include the URL of a PDF, for example an invoice. Symplify downloads the file when the email is sent and attaches it.
- Only PDF files can be attached, one per contact and journey start.
- The file can be at most 10 MB. If it's larger, the email isn't sent.
- The URL must be reachable by Symplify when the email is sent. The file name in the email is taken from the URL.
See the API documentation for starting a journey with an attachment, or contact support for help setting it up.