The last edit is done. Now the delivery evening
You finish the final wedding image and feel relief for about ten minutes. Then you export in two sizes, upload to your gallery platform, split images into sets for prep, ceremony, portraits and evening, pick a cover image, set the download permissions and print store, check the gallery expiry, and write the delivery email with the right links.
You also send the family a guest link with a different password, add the couple's favourites set, and remind yourself to share a handful of images with the venue. It is nine o'clock by the time you finish, and you still have not blogged it.
Delivery is dozens of small, repeatable steps
Gallery platforms such as Pic-Time, Pixieset and ShootProof make each step easy. The time goes because there are so many steps, and they have to be done in the same way every time, by hand.
- Exports in more than one size for web and print.
- Images split into sets by the part of the day.
- Cover image, gallery design and expiry chosen per wedding.
- Download, sharing and print store settings checked.
- Couple, family and supplier links, each with different permissions.
- The delivery email, with the right names and next steps.
When any one of these is missed, you find out when the couple email to ask why they cannot download, or why Grandma cannot see the gallery.
What manual delivery costs
Each delivery takes an evening that could have gone on the next edit, so manual delivery extends your whole queue. Errors create follow-up emails at the moment when the couple should simply be enjoying their photos.
Inconsistency is a quieter cost. Couples compare notes, and if one got a lovely set structure and another a single folder of images, it shows.
How we build a delivery run
- You export into a folder named for the wedding, in the sizes your platform needs, using your usual export presets.
- The delivery run reads the folder and creates the gallery through your gallery platform's API, where it offers one, with your default design, expiry and download settings.
- Images are placed into sets by capture time against the wedding timeline, so prep, ceremony, portraits and evening land in the right set. You can move any image before publishing.
- The couple link, a family link and any supplier links are created with the permissions you set for each.
- A delivery email is drafted from your template with the couple's names, links and next steps, such as the album design process.
- A checklist shows every step as done or needing attention, and nothing is published until you approve it.
| Step | By hand | With the delivery run |
|---|---|---|
| Create gallery and sets | Drag, drop and sort | Created from the folder and timeline |
| Settings | Checked each time | Your defaults applied |
| Family and supplier links | Created one by one | Created with preset permissions |
| Delivery email | Written from scratch | Drafted from your template |
What can be automated depends on your gallery platform's API. Where a step cannot be done through it, the checklist tells you to do it by hand, so nothing is missed.
Delivery day afterwards
You export, start the run, and review the gallery it has built: sets, cover, settings and links. You change what you want and approve. The couple get their email, the family get their link, and the suppliers get theirs.
The evening that used to go on delivery now goes on the next wedding in the queue.
Signs your gallery delivery needs this
- Delivering a gallery takes you an evening or more.
- You sort images into sets by hand for every wedding.
- Couples have emailed because download or sharing settings were wrong.
- Family and supplier links are created one at a time.
- Delivery emails are written fresh each time.