> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nextlevelmca.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Which documents go to lenders, and what if the package is too big?

> How attachments are picked in the submit window, the 20 MB email limit, automatic PDF compression, and the reference stamped on each page.

When you click **Submit to selected** on a deal's **Submissions** tab, the right side of the **Submit Deal** window is **Attachments**: the deal's documents, with the ones that usually go already ticked. This article covers what is ticked, the size limit, and what happens to the files on the way out. For the rest of the window, see [Submitting to lenders](/help/submitting-to-lenders).

## What is ticked for you

* **Bank statements and the application.** When the deal has watermarked copies (the lender-facing copies carrying your company name, made from PDFs uploaded in the app and from the application), the watermarked statements and the watermarked full application are ticked. The short application is not.
* **When there are no watermarked copies**, for example documents that came in through a merchant upload link or by email, the original statements and application are ticked instead.
* Nothing else is ticked. Voided checks, IDs, contracts and other files are listed but left for you to choose.

## Choosing files

<Steps>
  <Step title="Filter the list">
    Use **All**, **Apps**, **Statements** or **Other** to narrow the list. Each shows how many documents it holds.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Show or hide the originals">
    **Watermarked only** hides the original files when watermarked copies exist. It is on by default for deals that have watermarked copies. Untick it to see and pick the originals.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tick what you want">
    Tick or untick each file. **Select Visible** ticks everything the current filter shows. **Clear All** unticks everything. Each file shows its type, whether it's a watermarked copy, and its size.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The 20 MB email limit

An emailed package can be at most **20 MB** in total. The header shows the running total of what you've ticked, for example **Attachments (6 selected) · 14 MB of 20 MB**. It turns amber once you go over, with a note under it.

Going over doesn't stop you sending, because large PDFs are compressed on the way out:

* Any PDF over 5 MB is compressed.
* If the package is still over 20 MB, the other PDFs over about half a megabyte are compressed too, largest first, until it fits.
* A compressed copy is only used when it is actually smaller. Pages stay readable; images in the PDF are brought down to a lower resolution.
* Only the copies being emailed are compressed. The files stored on the deal are never changed.
* Images and other non-PDF files are not compressed.

The running total uses the stored file sizes, before compression. A package that shows over 20 MB often goes out fine.

If the package is still over 20 MB after compression, **nothing is sent to any lender**. You see a message like *The attachments are 26 MB even after compression, over the 20 MB email limit. Remove some documents, for example older bank statements, and send again.* Untick some files and click send again.

<Tip>
  To keep a package small, send the months the lender asks for rather than every statement on file, and leave out duplicates: the original and the watermarked copy of the same statement are two separate files.
</Tip>

## Lenders that take deals by API

For a lender set up to receive deals through its API, the documents you tick go to its system along with the application, not by email. The 20 MB email limit doesn't apply to them.

<Warning>
  If you tick **no** documents, an email lender gets the email with no attachments, but an API lender is sent **every** document on the deal.
</Warning>

## The reference stamped on each page

Every emailed submission gets its own document reference, such as **Ref K7M-3QX**. Each lender's copy of the PDFs has it printed in small grey text at the bottom right of every page, and it is also written into the file's details, so it survives printing, scanning and forwarding. Each lender gets a different reference, so a package that shows up somewhere else tells you who had it.

* The reference shows under the sent time in the submission's row on the **Submissions** tab and in its **Details**. Click it to copy.
* Search the reference on the **Deals** page to see which lender and deal it belongs to.
* Resubmitting to the same lender uses the same reference.
* Only emailed PDFs are stamped. Documents sent through a lender's API, images, and password-protected PDFs go out without it.
* The documents stored on the deal are never stamped. Each lender's stamped copy is made as the email goes out and isn't kept.

## Common problems

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The attachments list is empty">
    *No documents uploaded for this deal* means there's nothing to attach yet: upload files on the deal's **Documents** tab or [request them from the merchant](/help/request-documents). *No documents match the current filter* means the filter or **Watermarked only** is hiding them: pick **All** or untick **Watermarked only**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="'Could not load this deal's documents'">
    The list didn't load, so nothing can be attached. Check your connection or ad blocker, then click **Retry**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The send stopped because the package was too large">
    Nothing went out. Untick older statements or extra files until you're well under 20 MB, then send again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A lender says the pages have no reference">
    The file was an image or a password-protected PDF, or the deal went through the lender's API. Those are sent unstamped.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>


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