Guide · Updated 28 September 2026
What is a client gallery, and what should it have?
A client gallery is a private web page where a photographer delivers a shoot. The client views the photos, marks favorites and downloads them, under the photographer's brand. A good one is fast on a phone, never alters your originals, lets you decide who gets in and what can be downloaded, and tells you what your client did.
What your client sees
- A cover with the title and your name, then the photographs full width
- Scenes such as Getting ready, Ceremony and Party, so a long day stays easy to follow
- A heart on every photo, and a list of favorites to come back to
- Comments on a single photo, instead of a thread of emails
- A full-screen slideshow of everything, one scene or only the favorites
- Downloads of one photo or the whole set, as you allow
What you control
- Who gets in: public, a private link, a password or a sign-in link by email
- What can be downloaded: web size, high resolution or the originals, everything or only a selection
- Whether a client leaves an email address or a PIN before downloading
- A watermark on the previews, while the original stays clean
- An end date, with a reminder three days before
- Your logo and colours, and from Pro your own address and white label
What you get back
- Views, visitors, favorites and downloads per gallery, without IP addresses or third-party trackers
- Selections as thumbnails and as file names, ready to paste into Lightroom
- A message when a client sends a selection, marks favorites, comments or downloads
What to check before you choose one
- Are your originals stored untouched, and can you take them all back out yourself?
- Where is your clients' data stored? For clients in Europe, storage in the EU keeps the GDPR simple.
- What happens to galleries you already delivered when you stop paying?
- Can a client download a whole wedding without waiting for a ZIP to be prepared?
- Do you pay per month, per gallery or per download?
In Shyreo the original is never re-encoded, and one page hands every file back. Accounts and galleries are stored in Ireland, the photos in private storage in Western Europe. Galleries you delivered stay online when you stop paying, downloads start straight away, and you pay per month or per year, with no commission on downloads.
Questions
Is a client gallery the same as a portfolio?
No. A portfolio shows your best work to people who might book you. A client gallery delivers one shoot to the people who were in it, usually privately.
Can a client gallery be private?
Yes. In Shyreo a gallery can be reached only through its link, which ends in characters nobody can guess, and it can ask for a password or send a sign-in link by email. Galleries are hidden from search engines unless you say otherwise.
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