A client proofing gallery is a private online gallery where your client looks through the photos from their session before the final edit, marks the ones they want and leaves notes on them. You then retouch and deliver only those. It replaces the email that says "we like 12, 47, the one by the window and the black and white one", which somebody then has to translate back into filenames.
Setting one up well comes down to a handful of decisions made before the link goes out: how many proofs to show, how many the client may pick, what happens past that number, and the date the choosing stops. Below is the setup, step by step, the message to send with it, and the numbers that work.
How do you set up a client proofing gallery?
- Cull and batch edit. Take 1,500 frames down to the 150 worth showing, with a consistent base edit so the client is not choosing between two white balances.
- Export for screens, not for print. sRGB JPEGs at 2,048 to 2,400 pixels on the long edge are sharp enough to judge focus and expression, and keep the gallery fast on a phone. Name files in shooting order so a note about "0412" means one frame.
- Create the gallery and lock it. One gallery per session, with a PIN or password and no client account to create. If family will look too, give them separate view-only access so their hearts do not land in the couple's selection.
- Switch downloads off. Proofs are for choosing. Downloads go on when the final edit is delivered.
- Set the selection limit to the number in the package, so the client sees "18 of 25 picked" while they choose.
- Put the deadline in the gallery itself, in the title or the header, not only in the email.
- Open the link in a private browser window and check it on your phone before sending. Most "I can't get in" emails are a PIN typo or a link to the admin view.
- Send it with a short message (below), then wait for the client to mark the selection as finished before you start retouching.
The shortlist comes back tied to the actual files, which is the whole advantage over email. Nobody has to guess which window.
How do you send proofs to clients?
Send the link and the PIN in the same email, with the three numbers in plain words. Something like:
Your proofs from Saturday are ready: [link], PIN 4821. Pick your 25 favourites by tapping the heart, and leave a note on any photo you want changed. Please send your selection by 14 October. Extra images beyond 25 are €25 each. Your finished gallery follows within two weeks of your selection.
That is the whole brief. Long instructions do not get read; a price and a date do. Send a single reminder two days before the deadline, and if the client picks fewer than the package allows, ask once before you start editing.
What does "proof" mean in photography?
A proof is a preview image, shown so the client can decide, not the finished product. The word comes from the film era, when a lab printed a contact sheet or a stack of small, cheap prints from every usable negative, often stamped "PROOF" across the corner so nobody framed it. The client circled what they wanted on the sheet, and only those frames were enlarged and retouched.
Digital proofs do the same job. They are usually culled, colour corrected and exposure balanced, but not retouched: no skin work, no removing the exit sign, no head swaps. They are often shown at web resolution, sometimes with a watermark, because the point is choosing, not keeping.
Are proofs edited?
Lightly. A reasonable standard is that a proof looks like the final image with the retouching still to come. If proofs are straight out of camera, the client picks with their eyes on problems you would have fixed anyway, and you get notes like "this one is too dark" on a frame that was always going to be lifted a stop.
The opposite mistake is fully retouching everything before the client picks. On a 150 frame proof set with a 25 image package, that is 125 retouches nobody paid for. The whole economic reason for proofing is that the expensive work happens after the choice.
How many proofs should a client see?
Show enough that choosing is real, not so many that it becomes a chore. Rough ranges that work:
- Portrait or family session, 25 images included: 60 to 120 proofs.
- Headshots, 1 to 3 images included: 20 to 50 proofs, since the client is choosing between near-identical expressions.
- Wedding album, 60 to 80 images for the spreads: the full delivered gallery of 500 to 900 is the proof set.
The ratio that drives it is roughly three to five proofs for every image in the package. Below that the client feels boxed in. Above it they stall, because comparing 40 near-duplicates of the same pose is tiring work. Cull harder rather than showing more; the culling guide covers how to get a thousand frames down in one sitting. If you are unsure what the delivered number should be in the first place, the photos per session calculator and the ranges in how many photos to deliver per session are a starting point.
Should you limit how many photos a client can pick?
Yes, if your price includes a fixed number of edited images. A visible limit does two things: the client knows how picky to be, and you are not handed 70 favourites on a 25 image package, followed by an awkward conversation.
What happens past the limit is a pricing decision to make before the gallery goes out, not after. The common options are a flat price per extra image, a larger package upgrade, or a digital collection of the whole set. Per image prices for extras are often €15 to €50 ($20 to $60), driven by how much retouching each image gets and by the price of your next package up. Put the number in the booking confirmation so the first time a client sees it is not while they are choosing.
How long should clients get to choose?
Give a deadline, and make it short. Seven to fourteen days works for most sessions. Without one, a portrait selection can sit for a month, and your editing schedule and your delivery promise both stretch with it.
Tie the deadline to what happens if it passes. Two workable versions: you choose the selection yourself from the client's favourites so far, or the gallery expires and reopening it costs a fee. Write that in the contract. A gallery that says "please choose by 14 October" in the header gets answered; a reminder buried in the original email does not.
Why notes on each photo matter later
Ask for comments on the photo, not in a single message box. People write far more specific notes when the image is in front of them, and those notes are the record of what was agreed. If a client is unhappy after delivery, handling an unhappy client covers what to do when that record is missing.
Is soft proofing the same thing?
No. Soft proofing is an editing term with nothing to do with clients: it previews on your monitor how a photo will print on a specific paper, using that paper's ICC profile. In Lightroom Classic, tick Soft Proofing under the image in the Develop module (or press S). In Photoshop, use View, Proof Setup, then Ctrl+Y (Cmd+Y on a Mac). If a print came back darker than your screen, that is what you need, not a client gallery.
Do you need a separate proofing tool?
Not necessarily. The workable setup is the one where proofing and delivery happen in the same gallery, so the client never learns a second link and your picks do not have to be copied from one system to another. If your client is an art director approving frames, a review tool is the better fit (see the best photo proofing sites). Xposure galleries work this way: turn on proofing for an album, set a selection limit if the package has one, and the client hearts photos, leaves notes on individual frames and sends their selection when they are done.
Whatever you use, set the three numbers before the link goes out: how many proofs, how many picks, and the date the choosing stops.
