Before transferring files between two sites, the files may need to be preprocessed to eliminate problems. Prior to preparation, the following points may assist to transfer files efficiently.

1. If several files are to be transferred, they may need to be placed into one file.
2. Files may need to be compressed to improve the transfer speed. Small text files are appropriate to send as is, but image files may contain a large amount of data that takes much longer to transfer without compression.
3. If you plan to send a file as an attachment to an e-mail, keep in mind that the receiver of the e-mail may have limitations on the total size of the attachments that they can accept.
4. Make sure the recipient of a file via an e-mail attachment has the same software program that was used to create the file. The same software program is needed to ensure that the recipient will be able to open the file correctly. Text files can be saved in a common format such as plain text or Rich Text Format which can be interpreted by most computers. 
5. The spread of computer viruses can be a problem when files are transferred from site to site. Files should be scanned for viruses before they are transferred.