Sending someone a large file has always been a hassle. Most email services (including Gmail) have file size limits topping out at about 10 megabytes.

Several new web sites allow you to send files up to 1 gigabyte. You’re not actually ‘sending’ a file at all — you’re uploading it to a server. Your recipient is then sent a link to download the file. The file-size limits of both your email account and your recipient’s email account are totally irrelevant.

This is a service area that’s rapidly growing and changing, but one good option at the moment is Mail Big File. File size is up to 1 gb, although uploading a file that large would take many (many!) hours — and http uploads are notoriously prone to fail in the middle, with no way to resume. But for files up to 100 meg or so, it should be fine. When we tested Mail Big File with a 20 meg file, the upload was relatively quick and the notification email was sent immediately.

Currently, you don’t even have to register. You just enter your recipient’s email address, browse to the file you want to send, and optionally provide your email address and a brief message. We don’t know if Mail Big File will be around tomorrow (it’s unclear if the ad revenue these companies are counting on will be enough to offset the huge bandwidth costs in this market segment), but that’s no reason not to use them today. Files sent through Mail Big File will be available for up to 7 days, or a maximum of 3 downloads.

Here’s the list of features from their web site:

• Web Based – No software to download, if you can see the web, you can use Mail Big File.
• Easy To Use – 3 simple steps and your file is on it’s way.
• FREE – No cost, no registration – just start sending files.
• Safe – With the option to secure your file with 128-bit encyption, Mail Big File is more secure than standard email.
• Virus free – All files are virus scanned.
• Send big files – Up to 1GB in size.
• Progress Meter – Now features a progress meter.

And here’s their giant purple logo:

For many more uploading/sending options, check out this entry on the Creative Guy blog. He’s compiled a list of over 50 web sites.