Compress attachments
Below you will find a quick guide to creating a rule in CodeTwo Exchange Rules PRO enables automatic compression of attachments that are carried inside email messages. This is a useful feature if you want to curb the weight of messages that exceed the limit defined on the server. CodeTwo Exchange Rules PRO will compress the attachments to make the messages smaller in size and enable sending through the server.

To create a new rule click Add in the List of rules pane. Next, provide the name for the rule in Add new rule dialog box e.g. Compress attachment and confirm by clicking OK.

The new rule Compress attachment will appear in the List of rules pane while the right pane will how the rule property tabs. (Fig.1.).

Property tabs for new rule.
Fig.1. Property tabs for Compress attachment rule.

The rule tabs i.e. Overview, Conditions, Actions, Exceptions, Options are used to tune how the rule should work. Now you need to perform a few simple steps inside the tabs in order to configure the rule.

Overview. This tab is used to provide a comment describing the rule. Also, it will be updated with data from all remaining tabs as you configure them.

Conditions. In the Conditions tab choose the conditions that will trigger the rule if a message matches the defined criteria. Leave the tab empty, so the rule will apply to all messages.

Actions. The Actions tab is used to configure the work and contents of the Compress attachment rule. Click Add and choose Compress attachment (Fig. 2.). The right pane will show the action properties.

Choose Compress attachment action.
Fig.2. Choose the action Compress attachment.

In the properties pane you can provide the file extensions that you want to exclude from compressing as well as set the attachment file size below which Exchange Rules PRO will not compress.

To set the file size provide the digit in megabytes in the Compress attachments that are bigger than edit field (Fig.3.).

Setting the attachment file size below which the program will not compress.
Fig.3. Setting the attachment file size below which the program will not compress.

To define a file extension that will not be compressed by the program, click Add and provide the extension in the edit field (Fig.4.). You can remove the extensions by clicking Remove.

Removing file extensions from the list.
Fig.4. Removing file extensions from the list.

Exceptions. The Exceptions tab is used to define the criteria for the rule that if met by a message should exclude it from processing by the given rule. Because we do not want to define any exceptions, this tab will be empty.

Options. The Options tab is used to configure the settings related to the current rule. For the purpose of this rule, this tab can be left with default settings.

The rule is ready to use. Click Save in the main window of the program to approve all recent changes. Once the rule is saved it begins to operate and the attachment files in messages will be compressed by CodeTwo Exchange Rules PRO.