Who can open your gallery, and for how long
Passwords, watermarks and expiry dates are access decisions. Make them before the gallery link goes out.
Who this guide is for
Photographers and studios who deliver galleries by link and want access, downloads and expiry settled before a client asks.
Set client permissions before sharing delivery links.
| Decision | Recommended Setting | Operational Purpose |
|---|---|---|
Password / PIN | Optional PIN on private client deliveries | Protects client confidentiality without adding login fatigue. |
Download Control | High-res batch enabled after invoice settlement | Eliminates chasing outstanding balances after photo delivery. |
Watermarking | Subtle corner mark during proofing; clean on delivery | Prevents unapproved proofs from circulating on social media. |
Access Expiry | 90-day active link with automated archiving notice | Manages cloud storage costs and sets clear client expectations. |
Password / PIN
Recommended Setting
Optional PIN on private client deliveries
Operational Purpose
Protects client confidentiality without adding login fatigue.
Download Control
Recommended Setting
High-res batch enabled after invoice settlement
Operational Purpose
Eliminates chasing outstanding balances after photo delivery.
Watermarking
Recommended Setting
Subtle corner mark during proofing; clean on delivery
Operational Purpose
Prevents unapproved proofs from circulating on social media.
Access Expiry
Recommended Setting
90-day active link with automated archiving notice
Operational Purpose
Manages cloud storage costs and sets clear client expectations.
A gallery link travels further than the person you sent it to. It gets forwarded to a partner, pasted into a group chat, opened on a phone at work. That is usually fine and occasionally it is not, which is why access is worth deciding before the link goes out rather than after someone asks.
Access is a decision, not a settings screen.
Gallery options tend to get ticked on the way out of the door, and then the client asks the questions those options were meant to answer: whether their partner can see the photos, whether the full-size files can be downloaded yet, whether the link still works next month. Each answer costs a reply and a delay. The useful question at delivery is not which settings exist, but who should be able to open this gallery and what they should be able to take away.
Match the lock to the work.
A password protects a personal gallery from a forwarded link, and it adds a step for a client who feels they have already paid for access, so it earns its place when the photos are private rather than on every delivery. Watermarked previews solve a different problem: they let you show finished-looking work before the balance is settled without handing over files you have not been paid for. Watermarking is available on the Studio plan.
“The link you send is the one that gets forwarded. Decide who it is for before it leaves.”
Give the link an end date.
A gallery with no end date is a quiet promise to host it forever, and it leaves storage tied up in jobs that closed last year. An expiry date gives delivery a shape: the client knows when to download, and you know when the job is finished. Expiring a gallery ends client access without touching the photos, so the work is still there for the client who writes in November about a shoot in March, and storage is freed when you decide to delete the files.
What to settle before the link goes out
- Whether the work is personal enough to need a password, or commercial enough that one is only forwarded.
- Whether previews stay watermarked until the balance is paid, which the Studio plan covers.
- When downloads open, in which sizes, and the date client access ends.
Let the gallery answer the questions.
Nearly every access question a client asks is one the gallery could have answered on its own. When the password, the download rules and the expiry date are decided before delivery, the message you send is short and the gallery carries the rest. Because gallery activity stays tied to the booking it came from, the record of who opened what sits beside the client history instead of in your sent folder.
Common questions
Should every client gallery have a password?
No. A password suits personal work — a wedding, a family session, anything a client would not want a stranger to open. Commercial work usually travels inside the client's company, where a shared password ends up in an email anyway and only adds a step. Decide by who will legitimately open the gallery rather than by habit.
What happens to the photos when a gallery expires?
Expiring a gallery ends client access and keeps the photos. They stay in your account, and still count toward your plan storage, until you delete them. An expired gallery can be reopened for a client who writes in late; storage is freed only when the files are removed.
Do watermarked previews use extra storage?
No. Only the files you upload count toward plan storage; the previews, thumbnails and watermarked copies a gallery generates do not. Watermarking is available on the Studio plan.