How to let clients choose their photos: pick limits, wording and what to do with the selection

Letting clients choose their photos sounds simple: send the gallery, ask them to pick favorites, edit what they pick. In practice the round goes wrong in two ways. Either the client hearts 180 photos when the package includes 30, or nothing comes back for three weeks while the job sits half done.

Both problems start in the request, not in the gallery. This guide covers the decisions to make before you send anything: what the selection is for, how many photos the client may choose, how to word the request, and what to do with the list once it arrives. For the bigger picture of why proofing matters, see our photo proofing guide.

Decide what the selection is for

A selection always feeds something, and that something sets the number. Name it before you open the gallery:

• ·A retouching package: the client chooses the photos you will fully edit, for example 20 or 30.
• ·An album: the client chooses photos for a set number of spreads.
• ·Prints or wall art: the client chooses one photo per frame, or a small shortlist for each.
• ·Headshots: each person chooses one to three photos for their profile and the company site.

If a gallery has two jobs, for example an album and a few large prints, run them as two lists rather than one long one. A client can decide 'which 50 for the album' and 'which 3 for the wall', but not both at once.

How to set the pick limit

The limit should come from what the client paid for, not from how many photos you show. A few working rules:

• ·Retouching packages: the limit is the number in the package. Thirty included means a limit of thirty.
• ·Albums: count the spreads and how many photos you usually place per spread. A 20-spread album with two or three photos per spread is roughly 40 to 60 picks.
• ·Prints: one per print, plus one or two spares if you want room to swap a frame that does not crop well.
• ·Headshots: one to three per person keeps a team of twenty from turning into a hundred edits.

How many photos to show

Clients choose faster from a tight set. If a family session gives you 60 strong frames and the package includes 15, show the 60, not the 250 you shot. As a rough guide, a gallery a few times bigger than the limit gives a real choice; a gallery ten times bigger usually means the cull was not finished and the client is doing it for you.

Remove near-duplicates before the round. Two frames a blink apart force a choice that only you can judge well.

How to word the request

A good request answers five questions in a few lines: what to do, how many, by when, how to ask for changes, and what happens next. For example:

Your gallery is ready to choose from. Tap the heart on the photos you would like me to edit, up to 30, which is what your package includes. If a photo needs something specific, open it and leave a note. When you are happy, press Submit selection. If you can send it by Friday 21 March, your edited photos will be ready about two weeks later.

• ·One number and one date. 'Up to 30 by Friday' gets a reply; 'pick your favorites when you have time' does not.
• ·Say who should choose. A couple choosing together, or each parent choosing separately, are different requests.
• ·Say whether they can change their mind after submitting, and until when.
• ·Tell them what the photos look like now: proofs with light edits, so they choose by moment and expression, not by colour.

With or without downloads during the round

Many photographers switch downloads off while the client chooses, so the proofs are for looking, not for posting. If you worry about screenshots of unedited frames, add a watermark to the proofs as well; we cover placement and opacity in how to watermark proofs. Switch downloads on when you deliver the edited photos.

What to do with the selection in Lightroom and Capture One

What you want back is a list of file names you can find in your catalog in one step, plus any notes the client left. A few habits make that painless:

1. Keep the camera's file names when you export the proofs, so IMG_4821.jpg in the gallery still points to IMG_4821.CR3 in your catalog. If you rename files, rename them in the catalog before exporting, so both carry the same name.
2. If the list has .jpg endings and your catalog holds RAW files, remove the endings first with one find and replace in any text editor, so IMG_4821 matches the RAW file.
3. In Lightroom Classic, open the Library filter bar, choose Text, then Filename and Contains, and paste the names. If the field keeps only the first name, put the names on one line separated by spaces first. Select the result and give it a color label or a collection named after the client.
4. In Capture One, search for the file names in the Filter tool, then give the result a color tag or put it in an album.
5. Read the notes before you start. 'Warmer', 'crop tighter' and 'remove the sign behind us' are easier to plan for at the start than to redo at the end.
6. Confirm the list to the client in one line: 'Got your 30, editing now.' Anything added after that is a new, separate request.

When the client picks too many, too few or nothing

• ·Too many: a pick limit prevents it. Without one, reply with the number included and the price of extras, and let them trim or add.
• ·Too few: offer to choose the rest yourself from your own favorites, so the package is complete.
• ·Nothing at all: send one friendly reminder a few days before the date. Some photographers also agree in advance that if no selection arrives by a set date, they will choose their own favorites, which keeps the job moving.

How Capturely handles client selections

In Capturely you switch favorites on in the gallery's settings, name the list, for example Album picks, and set how many photos a client may choose. Your client sees the count as they go, can leave a note on any photo, and presses Submit selection; the list reaches you by email. Everyone in the gallery gets their own list and their own limit. Export picks gives you the chosen originals as a zip, a Filenames .txt list for Lightroom or Capture One, or a spreadsheet with each file, client, note and time. It is all on every plan, Free included, and the photo proofing page shows each step.

Questions photographers ask

How many photos should a client be able to choose?

As many as the package includes, and no more. For an album, count spreads times the photos you usually place per spread; for a retouching package, use the number you sold.

How long should I give clients to choose?

A week or two works for most sessions: long enough to sit down with it, short enough that it does not slide. Give a date, not a number of days, and send one reminder before it.

Can a couple choose together?

Yes, but agree who submits the final list. In a gallery where each person has their own list, it helps to say 'choose separately, then we will merge' or 'one of you sends the final selection'.

Should clients choose from watermarked photos?

Only if you have a reason, such as unpaid work or proofs that may be shared publicly. A light, well-placed mark does not get in the way of choosing; a heavy one does.