Can I just send the .prproj file?

Only if the other editor already has the exact same footage in the exact same folder structure. A .prproj file is tiny because it contains no media — it's a list of edits that point at file paths on your drive. Open it on a machine without those files and you get a wall of 'Media Offline' red. To hand off a project properly you have to send the media alongside it.

How do I collect all the media into one folder?

In Premiere Pro, go to File → Project Manager, pick the sequences you want, and choose 'Collect Files and Copy to New Location'. Premiere copies the project plus every piece of media it references into a single folder. Tick 'Exclude Unused Clips' to leave out footage you never cut with — on a big shoot that alone can cut the size dramatically.

How do I send a Premiere Pro project that's over 100 GB?

Not through a cloud transfer service — free tiers cap out around 2 GB and even paid plans make you upload the whole thing before the other person can start downloading. Transfer it directly instead: AlterSend sends the collected folder straight from your machine to theirs, with no size limit and no upload step, so a 300 GB project works the same as a 3 GB one.

Does Project Manager include fonts, effects, and plugins?

No. Project Manager collects media, not the software around it. Fonts, third-party plugins, LUTs, and effects presets have to be installed on the other editor's machine separately — otherwise the project opens with substituted fonts or missing-effect warnings. Send your fonts and LUTs in the same folder to save a round trip.

Can I send a Premiere project to someone using DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut?

Not as a .prproj — that only opens in Premiere. Use File → Export → Final Cut Pro XML (or AAF for audio-led workflows) to produce an interchange file that Resolve and Final Cut can import. You still have to send the media separately, and expect to redo effects, transitions, and colour work, since those rarely survive translation.

What's the fastest way to hand a project to a collaborator?

Collect the files with Project Manager, then transfer the folder directly rather than uploading it. A direct device-to-device transfer runs at your connection speed with no upload-then-download round trip, so the other editor starts receiving immediately instead of waiting for your upload to finish first.

AlterSend

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Send a Premiere Pro project. With the media.

A .prproj file holds no footage — it's a list of edits pointing at paths on your drive. Here's how to collect the whole project properly, and how to get 200 GB of it to another editor without an upload queue or a 2 GB cap.

Download free Start with Project Manager

AlterSend transferring a large Premiere Pro project folder between editors

Why emailing the .prproj doesn't work

A Premiere project file is often only a few megabytes, which makes it look easy to send. It isn't easy — it's just empty. The .prproj stores your sequences, cuts, effects settings and a set of file paths. The actual video, audio and graphics live wherever they sit on your drive, and none of it is inside the project.

Open that file on another machine and Premiere goes looking for /Users/you/Footage/Day01/…, finds nothing, and fills the timeline with Media Offline. The other editor can see your edit structure but can't play a frame of it.

So a real handoff is always two parts: collect the project and its media into one folder, then move that folder — which is where the size problem starts.

Step one: collect the files

In Premiere Pro, open File → Project Manager. Tick the sequences you're handing over, choose Collect Files and Copy to New Location, and pick a destination folder. Premiere copies the project file plus every asset it references into that one folder, rewriting the paths so they resolve relatively — which is what lets it open cleanly on someone else's machine.

Turn on Exclude Unused Clips before you run it. If you shot 4 TB and cut 90 minutes, this is the single biggest size reduction available to you. Include Handles adds a few seconds either side of each clip so the other editor still has trim room.

One caveat worth knowing up front: Project Manager collects media, not your environment. Fonts, LUTs, third-party plugins and effect presets are not included and must exist on the other machine. Drop your fonts and LUTs into the same folder before sending and you'll save a round trip.

Step two: the part that's actually hard

Your collected folder is now somewhere between 20 GB and several hundred. Here's what editors normally reach for, and what each one costs.

WeTransfer / cloud transfer link

Upload the collected folder, send a download link.

Free tiers stop around 2 GB. Editing projects routinely run 50–500 GB, and the link expires.

Google Drive or Dropbox

Sync the folder, share it with the other editor.

You pay for storage you don't want, upload the entire project before anyone can touch it, and quota runs out fast.

Ship a physical drive

Copy to an SSD and courier it.

Reliable for huge projects, but it costs a day or three — and the drive can go missing.

Or send it directly

AlterSend moves the collected folder straight from your machine to the other editor's — no upload step, no storage plan, no size ceiling. Because there's no server in the middle, the transfer starts the moment they accept instead of after you've finished uploading.

No size limit

A 20 GB rough cut or a 500 GB feature project — identical workflow.

Whole folders, structure intact

Send the collected folder as-is, so relative media paths still resolve.

No upload step

Transfer starts immediately — no uploading everything before they can download.

Client work stays private

End-to-end encrypted, never stored on a server. Embargoed footage stays yours.

Also useful: sending large files free and how AlterSend compares to WeTransfer.

The whole handoff, in three steps

01
Collect the project
File → Project Manager → Collect Files and Copy to New Location. Exclude unused clips.
02
Pair the two machines
Install AlterSend on both, scan a QR code once. No account, no upload.
03
Send the whole folder
Drag the collected folder across. Any size, encrypted, straight to their drive.

Questions

Hand off the whole project. No cap.

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