File transfer for architects, from drawing sets to BIM models

What an architecture practice sends

Email stops at 20 to 35 MB depending on the account, and many project extranets cap uploads or require every consultant to have a login. A transfer link carries the whole package, and the recipient downloads it without signing up. For format-specific advice, see send CAD and 3D files.

How to send CAD files and models without breaking references

1. 1

   Step 1

   Package the drawing or model

   In AutoCAD, eTransmit gathers a drawing with its xrefs, images and fonts. For BIM, collect the central model and its linked models in one project folder.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Keep the folder tree

   Drag the whole project folder onto transfr.me. The structure is kept, so relative paths still resolve when the consultant opens the files.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Add a readable link and expiry

   For example transfr.me/school-extension-stage4, valid for the review period (up to 7 days free, 60 on Pro).

4. 4

   Step 4

   Protect tender material

   Add a password for competition entries or confidential clients, and a download limit if only one firm should get it.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Send to the team

   Email up to 10 consultants at once, or paste the link into your project correspondence.

Markups on PDF drawing sets

For design reviews, export the set to PDF and turn on comments for the transfer. Clients and consultants open the PDF in the browser and pin a comment on the relevant page: “widen this corridor”, “check the stair headroom here”. With a free account, you get an email for each comment, and the notes stay attached to the sheet they concern. It is a lightweight review loop for people who don’t have your CAD software, alongside the formal markup tools you already use with your consultants.

Receiving files from consultants and contractors

Structural, MEP and landscape consultants send models back; surveyors send point clouds; contractors send as-built photos. Create a file request per project and share its link: each party uploads up to 100 GB without an account, and you get an email when files arrive. Set a deadline for the issue date and a password if the request link might circulate. Submitted files stay available for 7 days, so file them into your project server promptly.

Renders and walkthroughs for clients

Clients rarely need your model; they need to see it. Send final renders and MP4 walkthroughs in a transfer: images and H.264 videos play in the browser, so the client can look without downloading gigabytes. On Pro, the page carries your practice’s logo and a background image of your choice, and Send & Track shows whether the client actually watched the walkthrough and for how long. See branded file transfer.

Sending from site or from a slow office line

Site cabins on 4G and small studios on basic broadband often upload at 10 to 20 Mbps, which turns a 5 GB model into a 35 to 70 minute upload. Transfr splits files into parts and retries any part that fails, so a dropped connection doesn’t restart the whole job; if you close the tab, re-adding the same files resumes where it stopped. For very large packages, start the upload from the office at the end of the day. Site photos and short videos can go straight from a phone browser. Background on speeds in why is my upload slow.

Security and data location

• Encrypted in transit and at rest, with optional end-to-end encryption for sensitive projects (government, healthcare, private residences). The key lives in the link and is never stored on our servers.
• Stored in Western Europe by default, or in the region you choose per transfer, which helps with clients abroad.
• Links expire, and files are deleted afterwards, so old tender packages don’t linger.
• More in secure file transfer.

Free or Pro for a practice?

Most single deliveries fit the free plan. Practices that issue packages weekly, exchange point clouds or want one branded space for the whole team tend to move to Pro. For freelance designers working alone, see file transfer for freelancers.

To try it, send your next stage issue to one consultant through the free plan, folder and all, and ask them to open the drawings on a machine that has never seen the project. If references resolve there, they will resolve everywhere.