The editing is done and the client is waiting. Now comes the part they actually touch: how the photos reach them. There are four common ways to do it, an online gallery, a file transfer link, a shared cloud folder or a USB drive, and each one fits some jobs better than others.
This guide compares the four from a working photographer's side: what each costs you in time, what it feels like for the client, and where it quietly goes wrong. First, though, the part that decides most of it: what clients expect when the photos arrive.
What clients expect when their photos arrive
Clients rarely say it out loud, but the same few expectations come up again and again, whatever the shoot:
- To open the photos on their phone, straight from the message, without installing anything or making an account.
- To see the photos before they download anything. Most people want to look first and save later.
- To get the full-size files easily: all at once for themselves, a single photo for a grandparent.
- To share the photos with family and friends without forwarding a 3 GB download.
- To know how long they have. A link that dies without warning is the most common source of the awkward 'can you send them again?' email.
- To keep a copy that is theirs, on their own devices, long after your link has gone.
Hold each delivery method up against that list and the choice usually makes itself.
Option 1: an online client gallery
A client gallery is a web page made for one shoot: a cover, the photos in a grid, a full-screen view, and download buttons. The client opens one link on any device, looks through everything, and saves what they want.
- Strengths: the photos are presented as finished work, not as a file list. Viewing and downloading happen in one place. Family can browse the same link. Most gallery tools also let clients mark favorites, which matters as soon as there is an album or a retouching package.
- Weaknesses: it is one more tool, usually with a monthly plan once you outgrow the free tier. Galleries also live inside a storage limit, so you need a habit for closing old ones.
- Best for: weddings, families, portraits, events, anything where the photos will be looked at and shared, not just filed.
Option 2: a file transfer link
File transfer services send a bundle of files behind a link. They are quick and familiar, and the recipient does not need an account to download. WeTransfer, for example, also offers previews and comments on files.
The catch for client delivery is time and size. WeTransfer's own help centre (checked in November 2026) says uploads on the Free and Starter plans can be kept online for up to 3 days, and the Free plan allows up to 10 transfers or 3 GB in any 30-day period. A client who opens the email a week later finds nothing, and a full wedding will not fit in a free transfer.
- Strengths: fast to send, nothing to set up, good for a handful of files.
- Weaknesses: built for moving files, not for looking at photos; short expiry on the free tiers; every new batch is a new link.
- Best for: sending files to a retoucher, a second shooter, a printer or a magazine, or a small set of finals to a commercial client who will file them straight away.
If you deliver this way today and wonder what changes with a gallery, we put the two side by side in Capturely compared with WeTransfer.
Option 3: a shared cloud folder
Many photographers already pay for Google Drive or Dropbox, so sharing a folder feels free. Google's help pages say that anyone with the link can open a shared file without signing in to a Google Account, and the folder stays until you delete it.
The downsides show up later. The client sees a list of file names and thumbnails rather than a gallery. The folders sit in the same space as your own work and are easy to forget. And the free space is small: Google's 15 GB is shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos, and Dropbox Basic gives 2 GB.
- Strengths: no new tool, folders do not expire on their own, good for ongoing work.
- Weaknesses: looks like storage, not like a delivery; old client folders pile up; sharing settings are easy to get wrong.
- Best for: commercial clients who want a working folder they will keep adding to, or a team that already lives in the same drive.
For a closer look at that trade-off, see Capturely compared with Google Drive.
Option 4: a USB drive
A USB drive in a nice box still feels like a gift, and some clients ask for one. It also has real limits: many new laptops only have USB-C ports, most people look at photos on a phone, which does not read a USB stick without an adapter, and drives get lost in drawers. Each one costs you money and often postage.
Photographers who keep offering USB tend to treat it as a keepsake next to an online delivery, not instead of one. That way the client can open the photos on the day they arrive and still has something to hold.
The four options side by side
| What the client gets | Online gallery | File transfer link | Cloud folder | USB drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Look before downloading | Yes, as a gallery | Previews on some services | File list with thumbnails | Only after plugging it in |
| Works on a phone | Yes | Yes, files go to the phone's storage | Yes, through the app or browser | Needs an adapter |
| Everything in one download | Usually, as a zip | Yes | Yes, as a zip | Already on the drive |
| Easy to share with family | Yes, one link | Forwarding the link, until it expires | Yes, if the link is shared | No |
| Client marks favorites | Usually built in | No | No | No |
| How long it lasts | Until the date you set | Often days on free plans | Until you delete it | As long as the drive survives |
| Cost to you | A plan, free tiers exist | Free with limits, or a plan | Your existing storage plan | Each drive, plus postage |
Which option for which job
- Weddings: an online gallery. The couple, the parents and the guests all want to look, and an album selection usually follows. Add a USB drive as a keepsake if it is part of your package.
- Family and portrait sessions: an online gallery, or a gallery where the client first chooses the photos to edit.
- Corporate headshots and events: a gallery with a password, or a transfer link when the client only wants the files for their own systems.
- Files for other professionals (retouchers, printers, publications): a transfer link or a shared folder, whatever they already use.
How to make any delivery go smoothly
- Export with delivery in mind: full-size JPEGs in sRGB, with file names that keep the order of the day.
- Tell the client before the shoot how the photos will arrive and roughly when, so the link is expected and not lost in spam.
- Send one link in a short, warm message that says how long it stays open. If you need wording, here are five delivery message templates.
- Ask the client to download the photos and keep a second copy, and say so in plain words.
- Check a few days later that they could open everything. A quick 'did the download work?' saves a frantic message months later.
How Capturely handles delivery
In Capturely a delivery is one gallery link. Your client opens it on any phone or laptop without an account, downloads single photos at full size or everything as a zip, and a long day can be split into folders that download on their own. Send to client emails the link for you, with the password if the gallery has one, and with the client's email on the gallery they get a reminder before it closes. The details are on the photo delivery page.
Questions photographers ask
What is the most professional way to deliver photos to clients?
For most portrait, family and wedding work, an online gallery: it presents the photos as finished work, works on a phone, and keeps downloads, sharing and favorites in one place. Transfer links and shared folders are fine for professionals who just need the files.
Should I still offer a USB drive?
If clients ask for it, or it is part of a premium package, yes, as a keepsake. Send the online delivery as well, so they can see and share the photos on the day and are not stuck without a USB port.
How long should the download link stay open?
Long enough to download and choose comfortably, with a reminder before it closes. Many photographers give a few weeks for a portrait session and a few months for a wedding, so there is time for relatives and for an album selection.
Do clients need an account to download their photos?
It depends on the tool. With a client gallery like Capturely they do not: the link is enough, and the first time they heart a photo they are asked for their name, so you know who picked what.
Send your next shoot as one gallery link, with no card required to start.
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