Client photo gallery delivery: privacy, review, downloads, and prints
How to prepare a private client gallery, verify access and downloads, and decide when to turn on print sales.
Updated 2026-09-29
The short answer
A client photo gallery should be checked as a client would see it before you send the link. Confirm that the correct photos are published, the intended client has access, download settings match the contract, and any print store can fulfill orders. Pictage gallery routes require a signed-in workspace member or valid client portal access; a public link alone is not permission.
What should you check before sending a gallery?
Open the gallery with the same access the client will use. Check the cover, sequence, crop, thumbnails, full-view images, and the last frame. Review who can access it, whether downloads and favorites behave as promised, and whether the expiry date is right. If the gallery contains sensitive images, make a separate private selection before delivery.
Pictage's gallery route is private: a signed-in workspace member or a client with valid portal access can view it. A password or unlock cookie by itself is not the access grant. That distinction matters when testing the link in an incognito tab; being denied may mean the portal invitation is missing, not that the gallery is broken.
How do downloads and print sales fit into the handoff?
Ask what the contract promises: web-size files, full-resolution downloads, or print ordering. Test the exact client experience rather than assuming your member controls are what clients see. Make sure the couple knows where to find the download control and whom to contact if access expires.
Pictage's private print storefront only loads for a published gallery if the workspace has an enabled lab connection or self-fulfillment turned on. With self-fulfillment, the photographer handles shipping by hand. Without either fulfillment path, visitors see a no-store state, not an unfulfillable cart. Do not promise automated lab fulfillment for every account.
What belongs in the delivery message?
Keep the note short: what is ready, how the client enters the portal, how to download or order if those options are active, and when the gallery expires. Send it to the actual client and any other approved recipients, not a guessed family group. If the contract includes a selection deadline or revision window, repeat it accurately.
After sending, check that the client can enter. If they cannot, fix the access rather than making the gallery public as a shortcut. A test of your own member account does not prove that a client portal invitation works.
Frequently asked questions
Can anyone with a Pictage gallery link view the photos?
No. Pictage gallery routes require workspace-member sign-in or valid client portal access. A link alone is not access.
Can a password or unlock cookie replace client portal access?
No. The gallery route does not treat a password or unlock cookie by itself as authorization.
Will every gallery show a print storefront?
No. The gallery must be published and the workspace must have an enabled lab connection or self-fulfillment mode and sellable items.
Does self-fulfillment mean a lab ships the order?
No. In self-fulfillment mode the photographer ships by hand; an enabled lab connection is a different fulfillment path.
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