Email photos from your Mac.

From the Photos app

1. Open Photos and select the photos you want to send. You can select several at once.
2. Click the Share button in the toolbar, then choose Mail.
3. Mail opens a new message with the photos attached. Add the address and a subject, then click Send.

This uses Apple Mail. If your email is Gmail, add your Google account in Mail first.

Pick a size in Mail

Mail adds photos at their actual size. To send them smaller, use the image size pop-up menu on the right side of the message header, when Mail offers other sizes.

In Gmail in your browser

1. Get the photos out of Photos first: drag them to a folder in Finder, or choose File > Export.
2. In Gmail, click Compose, then click the paperclip and choose the photos. You can also drag them into the message window.
3. Add the address and click Send.

When the photos are too big

Personal Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB per email. If you go over, Gmail removes the attachments and puts a Google Drive link in the email instead. For other ways round it, see File too large for Gmail?

In Apple Mail, Mail Drop can send attachments up to 5 GB through iCloud. If it won’t send, see Mail Drop not working on your Mac?

You can also make the photos smaller before you send them. In Photos, choose File > Export, pick JPEG, then choose a smaller size.

Sending a document rather than a photo? See How to email a file from your Mac.

Do it in a few keystrokes with Sendoff

If you send photos to the same few people, Sendoff skips the compose window. Drag the photo to the notch, type “mom”, then Enter, Enter. It goes the way you usually reach her, by Gmail or iMessage. If it’s too big for Gmail and she has iMessage, it goes that way instead. Wrong person? Undo within three seconds.

Join the waitlist below, and tick the beta box if you want to test it first.