FTP File Submissions
File Transfer Guidelines
Because of the wide variety of electronic equipment that routes data across the Internet, many issues can affect your work when transferring job files. By taking a few simple precautions, you can avoid problems resulting in file corruption. Please note that the following may not occur on your system; these are merely suggestions should you have problems associated with file transfer.
File-naming issues
Even though the Mac OS and Windows operating systems allow you to add spaces and nonalphanumeric characters to filenames, avoid such practices when transferring files over the Internet. Routers, gateways, and other equipment that move the data from client to host may strip characters from the name or change characters that are not recognized.
For best results:
Avoid spaces in filenames. Use the underscore character instead (for example, file_name) Avoid symbol characters (for example, !@#$%^&*=+\ -). Use only letters and numbers. Mac OS users should apply filename extensions. If a Mac OS file is copied to a Windows computer and then copied back to a Mac OS computer, the file type and creator data may be lost. The Macintosh is then unable to determine what is stored in the file.
File compression
Another way to save time and protect files during a file transfer is to use a file compression program. In some cases, a file's total size can be reduced by as much as 95% when compressed. This can substantially reduce the amount of time necessary to send large files from client to host. This is also a good way to avoid file corruption. Uncompressed binary (graphic) files may also be corrupted during transfer. A compressed file is more robust and less susceptible to transfer problems. Another benefit is that you can compress several files in one archive and transfer a single file to the host, rather than send multiple individual files.
Aladdin Systems' StuffIt for Macintosh and Windows and PKWARE's PKZIP for Windows are recommended applications for compressing files.
