Proofing
Client photo selection is proofing: the client reviews the shoot and approves the photos they want. Done over messages, it collapses into file-name lists and “which one was that again?”. Done in Smart Photo Selection, it is a gallery where every photo is Selected or Not selected, a submit button that locks the decision, and a ZIP download of exactly the approved set.
The problem
Without a selection gallery, approval lives wherever the client last typed: screenshots with circles drawn on, voice notes describing “the one where…”, file names copied by hand. Every handoff risks a wrong photo, and nobody can prove what was agreed.
A file name in a chat is one typo away from the wrong frame getting edited and printed.
You and the client each hold a different picture of what was chosen, and both are partly wrong.
Every “actually, also this one” restarts the count, the edit queue and the album plan.
Meanwhile every guest messages separately for their photos — a queue only a self-serve finder clears.
The client side
One gallery link in the browser — no account, no app, on phone or computer.
Functions or sessions in order, each with a count, at whatever pace suits them.
Selected / Not selected on every photo, filters for either view, Select All or Unselect All per view.
The running shortlist, visible as one set — gaps and excess show immediately.
One submission locks the set. That lock is the approval you work from.
Your side
The client never scrolls past rejects — confidence in the gallery starts with what is absent.
After submission nothing can be selected, uploaded or deleted by mistake. Changes after that are visibly change requests.
Match the package: client downloads on for digitals-included deals, off where you sell the files.
Deletion date visible on the booking, extendable while edits and albums run over.
Name, Instagram and number on the gallery turn every share into a referral surface.
After submit
The difference between favourites and proofing is the lock. A submitted selection is dated, immutable and downloadable as one ZIP — the input your editing queue, your album plan and your delivery all read from. Disputes about “I chose that one” end where the submitted view begins.
From there the set moves forward: download it for editing, deliver it through the online photo gallery, or start the album automation from the booking's photos.
FAQ
One gallery, one locked set, one ZIP — proofing your clients will actually finish.
