Portrait and wedding client galleries: a checklist

Client galleries separated from others, with sub-galleries

Make sure that your galleries are organized in a way that is easy for you to manage in the long run, by separating private client galleries from other galleries (for example portfolio galleries). In practise, this means having a “Client galleries” gallery, under which you create sub-galleries (folders) for each shoot, client, or year.

It can also make sense to divide a shoot’s gallery into further sub-galleries for easier browsing. For example, for weddings, you should create a sub-gallery for each “chapter” in the day, a separate sub-gallery for group images, etc…

• Clients galleries
  • Jane + Joe
    • Church
    • Party
    • …
  • Taylor
• Portfolio
  • Portraits
  • Weddings
  • …

You may also consider splitting the event galleries by year, making it easier to delete at once old galleries to free up storage space, but some platforms (like PhotoDeck) allow to automatically expire and delete old galleries.

Well secured galleries

Make sure that your client galleries are protected by a password. Your clients trust you with their personal images, and unauthorized access can have dire consequences, especially in countries with strict privacy laws, like in Europe.

You must therefore ensure that every client gallery is secured by login or password. When working with private individuals, the protection should be simple enough to use for the client. While a login-based protection that require a personal account to access a gallery is ideal for security, allowing only specific individual to access it, you might instead consider using a simpler protection, with a general password. A general password can “leak” and be shared, but it is also easier for people to use thank a personal login. PhotoDeck supports both methods for flexibility.

In addition, it is a good idea to hide the galleries, so that third parties cannot even list client galleries, or alternatively, to use an “anonymized” gallery cover and name.

PhotoDeck offers gallery presets as a starting point. Once you’re happy with a gallery’s configuration, you can use it as a template for future client galleries, so that creating new ones is very fast!

High resolution files available

Your clients should be able to immediately download files, either in multiple formats or as high-res images, at least for “final“ images that don’t need retouching.

It is therefore important that your platform hosts your original high-quality, high-resolution photos and footage (and that it is able to automatically resize them for delivery if needed).

Uploading your high-res files also acts as a backup for yourself, and allows you to access them easily from any location.

PhotoDeck is integrated with Lightroom and Photo Mechanic, making it easy to integrate gallery creation and uploading in your workflow.

Beautiful AND functional presentation

Even if you use a gallery platform or a website only to deliver images and don’t expect further sales from the same client, its presentation should be polished. It is another opportunity to impress, and impressed customers are the ones that promote you to their friends. The whole experience, including delivery, impacts future business.

Your website must look modern, clean and present the images/videos in an appealing manner. It should:

• look professional and representative of your brand, without drawing attention to itself and overwhelming the images: you want people to focus on the images, not on the website design;
• be very easy and fast to navigate and to use -- that is crucial. Usability trumps beauty and special effects.

For portrait and wedding galleries, it means that while you should always strive to display large-size images, the buttons to add to favorites, rate, purchase or download must be prominent.

The galleries might be large and clients might have to review a large number of photos, so the site and in particular the navigation must also be fast!

Useful info pages and portfolio…

Your portrait and wedding client galleries should not be anonymous nor obscure. Make sure to include detailed info pages about who you are, the kind of work you do, what clients can expect from you, and with detailed contact information.

Similarly, a dedicated portfolio section (and perhaps referrals) will help people understand your work, and that is of course especially important if you make yourself available for new assignments and projects.

PhotoDeck provides all the tools needed to create great-looking free-format content pages and display portfolio galleries, so you can build a full online presence on the same platform!

… or seamless integration with another website

Alternatively, if your main website is on a separate platform, make sure that both websites are well integrated for a seamless user experience:

• Clear links in in both websites’ navigation menus (perhaps the same navigation in both sites);
• Consistent branding: logo, colors, typography.

PhotoDeck specifically allows the integration with another website, so that for example all Home links redirect to your “main“ website.

A dedicated sales page for each kind of service you offer

Create a dedicated page for each kind of session or service your offer, easily accessible from your front page and from your navigation menu.

Each offer page should:

• show plenty of example images
• provide a detailed description of the service, in terms of what the customer will get from it
• include testimonials
• include clear pricing
• have a prominent call-to-action, for example a contact form or the option to directly purchase online.

With PhotoDeck, you can not only create beautiful custom pages and custom contact forms, but also sell services directly from those pages and collect payments.

Suitable client tools ready for photos review and proofing

Not all shoots and customers are created equal. In some cases a simple way to download everything is enough to distribute the photos. In others, the objective is to let the customer review and select their favorites. It is up to you to offer the right set of tools in your galleries, and a flexible platform helps.

In PhotoDeck, proofing tools to help clients go through shoots include:

• Selections / favorites
• Image rating and filtering
• Comments

Suitable download or ordering options in place

Similarly, the client might want to simply download available high-res files, download resized files, or order images for editing and retouching. And downloads might be free or against payment.

That might mean that different galleries are set up differently, so exploring what your platform has to offer is a wise investment of your time!

PhotoDeck offers different download options for different scenarios, from allowing to simply download all files in a couple of clicks, to letting clients select and order (or purchase) unedited files and automatically receiving them when they’re ready.

Optional: photos individually priced and purchasable for additional sales

Your main business model might be to sell shoots or sessions through packages, and those will not necessarily include the delivery of all digital images. In this case, offering the customer to purchase more images in addition to the package would be beneficial.

Similarly, even if all downloads are free, you might want to sell additional framed prints for wall decor, letting the client select the size and finishing options and pay for them in addition to the initial package.

So make sure to be able to price the images individually as digital downloads (in a couple of size options) and/or prints, and making sure that the payment and delivery are as automated as possible.

If selling downloads: a good watermark

If you sell digital downloads to your portrait/wedding clients, they will be tempted to grab the preview images from your website for free, so you must protect them.

Watermarks applied to the images displayed in your galleries are the most effective means to prevent image theft on your website. If your business would be negatively affected by people grabbing images or video previews on your website and using them for free, you cannot afford not having an effective watermark.

A good watermark is a fine balance between protection against theft and image legibility and appeal. The advent of AI-based watermark removal tools make the equation even more complex. Here are some general recommendations:

• Part of the watermark should be highly readable, helping also with attribution (i.e. your business name or URL should be visible).
• The watermark should cover a wide part of the image. For example, a combination of a relatively faint watermark across most of the image combined with a stronger but more localized text or logo.
• Trying to defeat ever-learning AI tools is a cat and mouse game. It will be harder for AI tools to remove fully opaque watermarks (i.e. with no transparency at all) obfuscating key parts of an image (but you’re right thinking that such a watermark is also more intrusive and disturbing for clients).
• The watermark is a good place to display a clear copyright ownership notice, which can be useful in case of litigation following unauthorized use.

Legal matters in good standing

Needless to say, you want to make sure to not expose yourself to legal troubles or bad surprises. This will mean slightly different things based on where your business is based, but the following must be in order:

• Taxes: if you use your website to sell online and are subject to sales taxes (e.g. VAT), your website should be set up to collect them, and you should know how to report them to your tax authorities. Double-check with your accountant or local tax office for peace of mind!
• Data protection: make sure that your clients’ personal data is processed according to your privacy laws, for example the GDPR in Europe. This requires both a platform that does not do anything incompatible with the law (like PhotoDeck), but also that you yourself comply to it when processing personal data.
• Terms and conditions: when licensing images, make sure that your clients agree with terms that for example prohibit uses not covered by the license. PhotoDeck lets you ensure the client accepts your terms when ordering, and automatically include T&Cs in PDF form with digital file deliveries.
• Mandatory mentions: make sure that your website and other formal documents (for example, receipt invoices) include the necessary mentions.

See related checklists

• Client galleries for commercial and corporate photography

‹ View all checklists