As a photographer, you want to share your photos with your clients as best as possible. You want them to be able to see your work in a beautiful and professional setting, and you want to make it easy for them to download and share their favorite photos.
There are a few different ways to share photos with your clients. And the best way for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences. This blog post will discuss the best ways to share photos with your clients, considering factors such as file size and quality, ease of use, and security.
Whether you are a new photographer just starting or a seasoned pro, this blog post will help you choose the best way to share your photos with your clients.
Considerations before deciding how to send photos to clients
There are certain things you need to think about when deciding which of the photo-sharing methods you should be using:
Price
If you send many photos to your clients, you must check the cost of the file-sharing sites you want to use.
Most of the popular photo-sharing services like Google Photo and Apple Photos have free versions to use. It may not be as feature-rich as the paid versions. You may need to be able to send large files or too many photos at a time.
You would need access to unlimited storage to scale your photography business and have plenty of documents, photos, and videos to store.
So, looking for an affordable photo-sharing solution for our image-sharing needs is a must.
Delivery speed
The faster you can upload your photos and share them with clients, the more satisfied the client will be. Additionally, they would be coming back to you for more projects.
A photo-sharing service should be able to provide instant delivery, and you need not have to go through multiple steps or wait for too long before the client gets the images.
File size and quantity
When you share print-ready digital files, the images must be high resolution. There’s a catch, though. These high-quality images will require more storage space. The photo-sharing tool you would be using should be able to large files and that too in large quantities.
Most DSLRs have a high megapixel count, and the popular Canon 5D Mark IV has a 30.4-megapixel sensor. The Canon 5DS gives you 50.6 megapixels. Even though the pictures captured on these high-end cameras are top-notch, it comes at the cost of cumbersome files.
Remember that you should also be able to share the images in different variations like sizes and resolutions for each image. You should be flexible enough to meet client’s requirements when they ask for increasing the file size and quantity.
Email attachments may only work for large files if you are ready to share dozens of individual files, which will be tedious. Using a file-sharing or cloud storage service to get more storage space or create online photo galleries is better.
Have the end-user in mind when going with a file-sharing platform. Small files are best if the pictures are meant only for social media. Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp have optimal file size requirements. They compress large files, discarding unnecessary data.
And, if you are sharing large files on web platforms, they may cause the page to load more slowly. You must face the wrath of your clients, who must wait far too long for your photo gallery to load. Ultimately, it leads to poor user retention and SEO.
Proofing capabilities
Professional photographers usually have to send photos to clients for proofing. Using a client gallery service can help simplify the proofing process. This way, clients can easily comment and mark their favorites directly on the photo you share.
Security constraints
Taking some precautions while sending your photos is a must for ensuring maximum security. You don't want your private photo albums to land in the hands of some random strangers.
A tool that gives you private password protection for sharing photos in private can come in handy and avoid security breaches.
Other security features like watermarking and turning off the right-click mouse function can safeguard your intellectual property and negate the possibility of unauthorized use of the images.
Image format and resolution
The image type, format, and resolution are essential when deciding what tool to use while sharing photos.
Online image-sharing services can handle any image type or format. But only some will support specific resolutions.
Best methods for sharing photos with clients
Multiple options are available to share photos with clients; each method has advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the best and easiest ways to share your digital photos and photo gallery with your clients:
Client Galleries by Pixpa
Client galleries are a powerful tool for creative professionals, particularly photographers, designers, and artists. They provide a secure and professional platform to share your work with clients, collect feedback, and even facilitate sales.
Pixpa is a no-code website builder, and its client galleries enable photographers to share their work easily with clients. You not only get the benefit of creating a stunning photography portfolio website without writing any code. But also gets to leverage its client galleries to a significant effect.
Pixpa's client galleries are an excellent way for photographers to share their work with clients securely and professionally. With Pixpa, you can create beautiful, branded galleries that showcase your photos in the best possible light.
You can easily showcase, share, proof, sell, and deliver your images to clients, ensure client satisfaction, increase revenue, and grow your business. Here are some of the examples of Pixpa’s client galleries.
Benefits of Pixpa’s client galleries:
1. Easy to collaborate on any device
Client galleries provide a simple digital workflow where the clients can view, proof, purchase, and download images on any device.
Simply put, clients can select their favorite images, share feedback, and download images directly from the gallery. This interactive feature streamlines the review process and encourages collaboration between you and your clients.
2. On-brand experience
With Pixpa, you can create beautiful, branded galleries. You can customize the look and feel of your galleries to match your brand.
3. Track client activity
Pixpa lets you see who has viewed your galleries. You can export filenames and download client favorites.
4. Instant delivery
You can enable secure downloads on galleries and select sizes available for download. For extra security, you can add PIN protection as well. This will help your clients to share the work you have done for them with their family and friends in a private, secure way.
5. Ecommerce integration
You can sell images, both prints and digital downloads. Clients can order prints, download images, or even pay for services directly through the client gallery.
You can sell prints by easily setting up print labs, pricing, and shipment methods. Or, you can sell digital downloads where customers get download link when they make a purchase.
You can manage multiple fulfillment methods, price lists and price list categories, discounts, shipping rates, taxes, checkout options, payment methods, and order status. Learn more on selling images through client galleries.
For example, Pixpa’s client gallery is the best way to share wedding photos with clients. Look at this Pixpa-powered client gallery that allows wedding photographers to share photos and videos of various wedding events with their clients, such as engagements, pre-weddings, and wedding days.
Clients can mark images as favorites, download images instantly, buy images as prints and digital files, and share images on social media.
Photo Gallery Apps by Pixpa
Imagine having a pocket-sized album of your photos curated just how you want them to be. Photo gallery apps can help you organize your photos and videos into beautifully designed albums, ready to be shared with clients.
Pixpa’s Photo Gallery Apps offer a personalized mobile photo album designed to delight clients. It benefits photo sharing and branding, marketing, and building client relationships.
Benefits of Pixpa’s Photo Gallery Apps:
1. Ease of access for clients
It lets clients have images at their fingertips. It is helpful for quickly reviewing, sharing, or revisiting memories from their devices anytime.
2. Easy to create
Setting up a photo gallery is quick and straightforward. It’s just a matter of minutes to pick or upload images or even convert clients’ favorites into a gallery app.
3. Enhanced branding and professionalism
They also act as your branding instruments, comprising your branding and contact information, turning each shared album into a marketing opportunity.
4. Social media integration
Integrating social media sharing tools within each app makes it easier for clients to share favorite images. This both delights the clients and amplifies your work’s social visibility.
5. Custom app icons
Add a personal touch to the gallery apps with the custom app icons, enhancing the overall aesthetic and user experience and making the apps more appealing and memorable.
6. Multiple sharing options
You can share a direct link or send an invite via email or SMS.
7. Word-of-mouth referrals
As clients share their gallery apps with friends and family, your work gains more exposure, increasing the potential for word-of-mouth referrals.
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File sharing services
File-sharing services are another excellent option for clients to access photos and videos simply and straightforwardly. You need to create and send a link to the client’s email address so they can access the media.
There is no need for complex technological know-how for clients to see the photos with file-sharing services. It’s easy to use with simple clicks.
There can be a need to pay to enable unlimited photo storage, and you can, more often than not, get a cloud storage service for a reasonable price.
Here are some of the examples of file-sharing services you can rely on:
1. Indy
Another file-sharing service that makes it easy to receive feedback on your work files is Indy. It enables you to store, share, and get approvals on all file types, such as photos, videos, spreadsheets, zip files, etc.
Clients don’t even have to create an account on Indy. They will love how organized the comments and revisions trail is. It is easy to keep a tab on the progress using the files tool.
You can determine who can view the files, and the access to your photos will remain private until you share them. You can unshare if you want to alter the access permission.
You get a free plan with unlimited access to all the core tools (like file sharing). The Pro plan can give you access to workflow automation and integrations.
2. Prodibi
For displaying, embedding, and transferring your photos in high-quality and at superfast speeds, Prodibi can be a good option.
Its Capture One plugin, for instance, allows you to get clients’ feedback on proofs in full resolution. Clients can also download digital files directly. Prodibi comes in both free and paid-for options.
3. Google Drive
It is a fantastic and easiest way to share the files if you are on a low budget. With this, you get a storage space of up to 15 GB on a free version, which is good enough for the starters. You can share both individual files and folders. You can even decide whether or not you can give a view or edit access.
Since Google Drive is one of the most commonly used storage options, clients would also find it easy. Google security standards also ensure that there is never a security concern arising.
4. Lightroom
Besides being an excellent tool for organizing, archiving, and editing photos, Lightroom can be useful for delivering images to clients. All you need to do is select the images you want to send while in Grid view and then add the email addresses with a message to send to clients.
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5. Dropbox
Widely used for cloud storage services, its free tier gives you 2GB storage space, which can upgraded to 2 to 3 TB.
Dropbox allows you to share files via a link sent to an email address. You can share a folder and choose if the recipient can edit or view the content to improve collaboration.
The clients will be able to share their comments, and you will have the authority to allow them to add the files to their Dropbox to share them.
6. WeTransfer
If you are looking for a free file-sharing platform where you can share files without registering an account, WeTransfer is the way to go.
All you need to do is enter the email address of your client and yours, attach the photos, and just send them across. On receiving the notification, clients can list the images you sent and choose which ones to download.
There is a limit of 2GB at one go. You must send four different folders if you have 8GB of images. You can go for the paid version for extra space and features.
7. Smash
For sending larger files without the worry of file size limit, Smash is a good option. It does so even with the free version. Easily and quickly upload and send files. And there is no need to register an account for that!
You can email the photos to the client from Smash or embed the link in an email and other media types.
Choose exactly how long your files stay. Its intuitive interface lets you set custom expiration dates. In the free tier, files expire after 14 days.
8. Email attachments
Attaching the image files to an email has traditionally been the go-to method for sharing photos. And it is still quite common.
High-resolution photos of large file sizes are a hassle to send via email. Moreover, email photos are more casual and are not a good option when you want your clients to see you as a professional photographer.
9. Portable storage devices
In cases where you or your clients prefer going offline while sharing photos, you can use storage devices like USB sticks, memory cards, etc.
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Conclusion
The photo-sharing methods mentioned in this blog post can ensure clients have a positive experience when receiving their photos. This will help you build strong relationships with your clients and keep them returning for more.
One final tip: don’t forget to get feedback from your clients on how they prefer to receive their photos. This will help you improve your process and provide your clients with the best possible experience.
Try Pixpa for free to launch your photography portfolio website and leverage its built-in client gallery or photo gallery apps to showcase, share, proof, and sell your photos to clients.