← NotesArchives4 min read

Packaging deliverables for a client

The work is finished; how it arrives shapes how it is received. Here is how to structure, name, check and send a set of deliverables so the client opens one clean package and knows exactly what they have.

The project is done. What remains is getting it to the client in a form they can open, understand and file — without an email chain asking which version is final or why half the fonts are missing.

Good delivery is a small job that makes finished work look finished.

1. Decide what is included

Before touching any files, write the list:

  • Final outputs — the files the client asked for, in the formats they need.
  • Supporting material — fonts, licences, style guides, source files, if agreed.
  • What is not included — working files, drafts and rejected versions, unless the contract says otherwise.

Source files are a contractual question as much as a practical one. Include them if the agreement says so; otherwise ask.

2. Structure the folder

A predictable structure the client can navigate without you:

ACME_brand-refresh_2026-10-04/
├── README.pdf
├── 01_Logo/
│   ├── Print/
│   └── Screen/
├── 02_Guidelines/
├── 03_Social-templates/
└── 04_Fonts-and-licences/

A few principles:

  • One top-level folder, named with client, project and date, so it files itself.
  • Numbered subfolders in the order the client will care about them.
  • Separate by use, not by file type: "Print" and "Screen" is more useful to a client than "PDF" and "PNG".
  • Nothing loose in the top level apart from the README.

3. Name the files

Consistent names that make sense outside the folder, because files get separated from their folders:

ACME_logo_primary_RGB.png ACME_logo_primary_CMYK.pdf ACME_guidelines_v1-0.pdf

No final, new or v7-FINAL-2. If the client will receive updates later, use version numbers from the start.

4. Write the README

One page, and the most useful thing in the package:

  • What is in each folder.
  • Which file to use for what — "Use the RGB versions on screen, CMYK for printed materials".
  • Any fonts or licences required, and their terms.
  • The version and date.
  • Who to contact with questions.

A PDF opens everywhere. A plain text file is fine too.

5. Clean it

Remove things that should not be there:

  • Hidden system files — macOS creates .DS_Store files in folders you have opened in Finder. They are harmless but look like clutter on Windows.
  • Drafts and working files that crept in.
  • Metadata you would rather not send — author names, comments, tracked changes in documents, location data in photographs, earlier versions embedded in some files.

6. Check every file opens

Open every file, or at least one of each type, from the delivery folder — not from your working folder. Broken links, missing fonts and the wrong version are found here, not by the client.

7. Package it

ZIP is the right default for clients: it opens on any computer without extra software.

  • Compress the top-level folder, so the client extracts one folder rather than a scatter of files.
  • If the content is large and mostly text or data, 7z will be smaller — but only if you know the client can open it.
  • Media files — images, video, PDFs — barely compress. The archive is for bundling, not shrinking.

Test the archive. Extract it into an empty folder and check that everything is there. If the client uses Windows, remember that archives created by Finder can include a __MACOSX folder of Mac metadata that looks like junk to them.

Checksums are worth adding for large or important deliveries. In Terminal:

shasum -a 256 ACME_brand-refresh_2026-10-04.zip

Put the result in the email. The client can confirm the download was complete and unaltered.

8. Send it

  • Under about 20 MB: email attachment is acceptable.
  • Larger: a download link from your cloud storage, or Mail Drop if you use Apple Mail. Check the link works from a private browser window before sending, and note when it expires.
  • Confidential: if you password-protect the archive, use strong AES encryption and send the password by a different channel — a text message, not the same email.

In the email, list what is included in two or three lines, repeat the link's expiry date, and say what happens next — sign-off, invoice, support period.

9. Keep a copy

Archive exactly what you sent, with the date. When the client asks in eight months for "the logo you sent", you can send the identical file rather than trying to recreate the final version.

Where Ziploom fits

Ziploom is an archive utility for Apple silicon Macs. It creates ZIP and 7Z archives from files and folders — ZIP for clients who need it to just open, 7Z when you know they can handle it — with progress on large jobs and the finished archive revealed in Finder.

It also covers the other direction: when a client sends you material as RAR, ZIP or 7Z, including password-protected archives, it extracts them after safety checks for unsafe paths, symbolic links, suspicious compression ratios, oversized jobs and available disk space. It does not create RAR.

All processing stays on your Mac, which matters for client material, with no accounts, analytics, advertising, telemetry or network features.

Keep reading