Attaching Multiple Images or Files to Email in Django from FileField or ImageField

Ahmed Yasin
3 min readApr 17, 2023

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Attaching Multiple Images and Files with Email Directly from FileField or ImageField in Django: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Sending emails with attachments is a common requirement in many web applications, including those built with Django. If you’re using Django’s FileField or ImageField to handle file uploads and you want to send multiple images or files as attachments in an email, you may encounter some challenges. However, with the following steps, you can easily accomplish this task.

Step 1: Retrieve the Files or Images :

First, retrieve the file paths or image paths from your FileField or ImageField in your Django model. For example, let's assume you have a model called MyModel with a FileField called my_file and an ImageField called my_image. You can retrieve the file paths or image paths using the path attribute, as shown below:

# models.py
from django.db import models

class MyModel(models.Model):
my_file = models.FileField(upload_to='files/')
my_image = models.ImageField(upload_to='images/')
# views.py or wherever you want to send the email
from django.core.mail import EmailMultiAlternatives
from django.conf import settings

# Retrieve the file paths or image paths
my_model_objects = MyModel.objects.all()
file_paths = [my_model.my_file.path for my_model in my_model_objects]
image_paths = [my_model.my_image.path for my_model in my_model_objects]

Step 2: Create an EmailMultiAlternatives Object :

Next, create an EmailMultiAlternatives object, which allows you to send alternative emails with both text and HTML content. You can specify the subject, body, sender, and recipient of the email, as shown below:

# views.py or wherever you want to send the email
msg = EmailMultiAlternatives(
subject='My Subject',
body='This is the body of the email',
from_email=settings.DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL,
to=['recipient@example.com'],
)

Step 3: Attach the Files or Images to the Email :

Loop through the file paths or image paths and attach them to the email using the attach_file() method of the EmailMultiAlternatives object. This method takes the file path as an argument and attaches the file to the email, as shown below:

# views.py or wherever you want to send the email
for file_path in file_paths:
with open(file_path, 'rb') as file:
msg.attach_file(file_path)

for image_path in image_paths:
with open(image_path, 'rb') as image:
msg.attach_file(image_path)

Step 4: Send the Email :

Finally, call the send() method on the EmailMultiAlternatives object to send the email with the attached files or images, as shown below:

# views.py or wherever you want to send the email
msg.send()
# finally views.py will look below.

from django.core.mail import EmailMultiAlternatives
from django.conf import settings
from .models import MyModel

def send_email_with_attachments(request):
# Retrieve the file paths or image paths
my_model_objects = MyModel.objects.all()
file_paths = [my_model.my_file.path for my_model in my_model_objects]
image_paths = [my_model.my_image.path for my_model in my_model_objects]

# Create an EmailMultiAlternatives object
msg = EmailMultiAlternatives(
subject='My Subject',
body='This is the body of the email',
from_email=settings.DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL,
to=['recipient@example.com'],
)

# Attach the files to the email
for file_path in file_paths:
with open(file_path, 'rb') as file:
msg.attach_file(file_path)

# Attach the images to the email
for image_path in image_paths:
with open(image_path, 'rb') as image:
msg.attach_file(image_path)

# Send the email
msg.send()

# Return a response indicating the email was sent successfully
return HttpResponse('Email sent successfully with attachments.')

Please note, that attaching multiple files or images to an email can result in large email sizes, which may be limited by the email service provider or the recipient’s email server. Make sure to consider any size limitations and choose an appropriate method for sending large files, such as using a third-party file sharing service or compressing the files before attaching them to the email.

In conclusion, attaching multiple images or files to an email directly from FileField or ImageField in Django is achievable using the EmailMultiAlternatives object and the attach_file()

Tested :

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