Uploading of files, whether for personal, business, or legal reasons, involves compliance with some file standards to facilitate the upload process and security. The standards in the majority of instances involve restriction of the file size, supported file types, and name requirement. This paper is a comprehensive examination of the document upload requirements across different platforms.
File size restrictions
File size is an essential component of file uploading. Websites have varying limits:
- SSA (Social Security Administration): No individual file more than 25MB.
- HubSpot: Up to 2 GB on paid accounts, though 1 GB+ files may be an issue.
- Proof: All transactions must be below 30MB, and the combined size of all transactions may be 500MB.
- OpenForms: Default 50MB with maximum 1GB.
- Turnitin: Files should be less than 100MB.
Acceptable file types
Acceptable file types to upload vary by platform:
- SSA: BMP, JPEG, TIF, DOC, DOCX, GIF, PNG, XLS, XLSX1.
- HubSpot: Most file types, e.g., PDF, PPTX, CSV, DOCX, XLSX3.
- Proof: Ideally PDF, directly created from digital documents4.
- OpenForms: Can restrict to some types like PDF or Word documents.
- Turnitin: Microsoft Word, PDF, PowerPoint, and others for similarity checks.
File naming and organization
File names must be short and omit some characters:
- SSA: File names must be 150 characters or less and not contain special characters like /,, :, *,?, “”\\\\””\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\”””, <, >, or |.
- General practice: File names must be short and descriptive without unnecessary characters.
Image and document quality
For images and documents:
- SSA: Images must be in focus, front-facing with a black background.
- Proof: Scanned, not photocopied, in PDF form so they can be read.
Security and virus scans
To prevent malicious uploads:
- OpenForms: Viruses on all uploaded content.
- General practice: Update antivirus applications regularly and don’t upload suspicious documents.
Understanding the file specifications supported in uploading files is required to provide and ensure security in manipulating electronic platforms. Users are confident in successfully uploading files in an efficient manner following these specifications. Educational submissions, business communications, and court documents, by being compliant with these specifications, ensure data consistency and avoid upload issues.
Read more: What is the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and how can I apply?
