Creating a Pixieset Client Gallery starts with a new collection in the Client Gallery dashboard, followed by uploading finished photographs, arranging them into sets, choosing a design, configuring access and download controls, publishing, and sharing the link. This walkthrough explains Pixieset Client Gallery so clients can navigate confidently on computers and phones.
You will prepare files, build a logical photo story, create a polished presentation, and distinguish viewing passwords from download PINs. You will also learn how to manage favorites, control who can save files, and test the complete client experience before delivery. Because Pixieset can update interface labels and plan availability, confirm business-critical options in your current dashboard and the official Help Center.
What Is a Pixieset Client Gallery?
A Pixieset Client Gallery is an online collection built for presenting and delivering photographs or videos to a specific client or audience. Instead of exposing files inside a generic storage folder, it gives the work a designed cover, navigable photo sets, viewing controls, proofing tools, and optional download or store functions.
Clients can view images, mark favorites, share permitted content, and download files when the photographer enables those actions. If a connected store and appropriate products are configured, visitors may also purchase prints or digital products. Pixieset calls the main gallery a collection; sets are smaller groups inside it. That structure makes client photo delivery easier to understand while preserving the photographer’s presentation, privacy choices, and brand experience.
What to Prepare Before Creating Your Gallery
Finish the photographic workflow before opening the uploader. A gallery should contain client-ready exports, not test edits, RAW working files, or nearly identical variations that still require decisions. Prepare this checklist:
- Final edited images in a supported format and suitable resolution
- Consistent, client-friendly filenames using safe alphanumeric characters, dashes, or underscores
- A clear collection name, event date, and accurate client contact information
- A strong horizontal or adaptable cover photograph with room for cropping
- Privacy requirements, including who may view private sets
- Download preferences, desired file sizes, and any necessary limits
- A photo-grouping plan for meaningful sets
Export in sRGB for dependable screen color. Check official requirements before uploading unusually large files, RAW files, or video.
How to Create a Pixieset Gallery
The setup follows eight connected stages. Complete them in order the first time; later, presets can speed up repeated settings.
Sign In and Create a New Collection
Sign in, open Client Gallery, and go to Collections. Click New Collection, enter a name, optionally select an event date or watermark, and choose Create Collection. A collection holds the photographs, sets, design, and delivery settings for one job.
Choose a name clients will immediately recognize, such as “Maya and Daniel Wedding” or “Lee Family Portraits.” Avoid internal abbreviations, job codes, or labels such as “Final Final,” which look careless in invitations and on the cover. Include a year only when it helps distinguish recurring events or sessions.
Enter the Collection Details
Review the name and event date, then confirm relevant contacts. Accurate names and addresses keep invitations, restrictions, and activity records useful. Consider how the collection’s web address will look in email. Use readable wording, avoid sensitive information, and never assume custom-domain controls are included.
Select a representative cover that remains clear beneath text and across desktop and mobile crops. Use Pixieset’s focal-point control to keep the subject visible, and never feature an image the client wanted private.
Upload Photographs
Open the collection uploader and drag supported files into it, or choose Browse files. Pixieset processes uploads in the background, and its Lightroom Classic plugin provides another official workflow for photographers who prefer publishing from Lightroom. Upload only approved exports with completed color, crop, retouching, and sharpening decisions.
Use a reliable connection and allow large batches time to process. Review upload errors and compare the displayed count with your export folder. Exact file types, RAW availability, video allowances, and storage depend on current rules or plans. JPEG suits most delivery and is required for print products; use sRGB and reasonable dimensions.
Create and Organize Photo Sets
Sets divide one Pixieset collection into smaller, navigable sections. In the collection, choose +Add Set, give the set a clear name, optionally add a description, and save it. Then place the appropriate photographs into each set, using move or copy controls carefully; copied images occupy storage in each location.
A wedding might use Getting Ready, Ceremony, Portraits, Reception, and Highlights. An event might use Arrivals, Speakers, Awards, Guests, and Details. Keep labels phone-friendly. Arrange sets chronologically or by client use. Too many sets break the story, while one enormous set hides important images. Remove empty test sets.
Customize the Gallery Presentation
Open the collection’s Design area to adjust the presentation. Official design controls currently include cover style, typography, color, and grid choices. Grid settings can include vertical or horizontal emphasis, thumbnail sizing, spacing, and navigation displayed as icons or icons with text. Preview changes in the on-screen client view as you work.
Set the cover’s focal point and test different proportions. Branding controls, including logos, custom favicons or domains, and removal of Pixieset branding, may require an upgraded plan. Confirm availability before promising a white-label experience.
Configure Privacy and Client Access
Open Settings, then review Privacy. A collection password protects entry to the collection as a whole: anyone following the link must enter that password before viewing. Passwords are space-sensitive and case-sensitive, so copy them exactly when testing and communicating them.
Client Exclusive Access serves a different purpose. When enabled, it creates a separate client password and allows selected sets to be client-only. Guests can see the sets available to them, while someone entering through the client access field can see the client-only material. The feature can also allow clients to mark photographs private, hiding them from the public gallery while keeping them visible to the photographer and client.
Configure Download and Favorite Settings
In Settings > Download, decide whether visitors may download the full gallery, individual photographs, or both, based on the controls available. Select which photo sets are downloadable, choose offered resolutions, and enable a download PIN when extra authorization is appropriate.
Use web files for sharing and high-resolution files for printing. Collection or contact-based limits may vary by subscription and updates, so test behavior with the intended user type. In Settings > Favorite, enable Favorite Photos for selections. Favorite Notes accept instructions, while preset lists can limit album, retouching, or package choices. Give clients a naming rule and deadline.
Preview, Publish, and Share the Gallery
Preview as a client, not its logged-in owner. Open the public link privately on desktop and mobile. Test the cover, sets, favorites, passwords, client access, downloadable files, PIN, and restrictions. Publish when settings are ready. Use Pixieset’s email tools or copy the direct link into your client email. Identify the gallery, explain entry and available actions, and provide help details.
Send access credentials thoughtfully. A collection password permits viewing, while a download PIN permits downloading; label each one. For sensitive work, separate the link and credentials. Click the sent link to catch copying errors, outdated credentials, or unpublished changes.
How to Organize Images for a Better Client Experience
Organization should reduce decisions for the viewer. Begin each set with one of its strongest images, then maintain a logical chronology or visual rhythm. Keep proofs separate from fully edited finals, and label proofing sets clearly so clients do not mistake unfinished work for deliverables.
Recommended practices include:
- Use short, specific set names that make sense without explanation.
- Put Highlights first only when it adds value rather than duplicating everything.
- Break long events into meaningful phases, not arbitrary equal batches.
- Remove duplicate files, test exports, blinking frames, and wrong edits.
- Keep related portraits or sequences together to preserve the story.
- Review filename order before relying on automatic sorting.
For large collections, check the navigation on a phone, where many set names become cumbersome. A smaller, intentional structure helps clients locate family groups, ceremony moments, or final selections without endless scrolling.
Design and Presentation Best Practices
A polished gallery supports the photographs instead of competing with them. Select a cover image with a clear subject, usable negative space, and a crop that survives desktop and mobile layouts. Set its focal point, then confirm that names and text remain readable.
Use one consistent visual style across the cover, grid, typography, and colors. Keep navigation labels obvious and choose icons with text when unfamiliar clients may not understand icons alone. Match available branding to your website and delivery emails, but remember that certain logo and white-label options require an eligible plan.
Review the gallery at a narrow mobile width. Text should be readable, controls tappable, and important subjects visible rather than cropped away. Avoid crowded set menus, low-contrast colors, excessive spacing, or a decorative cover that delays access. The strongest presentation feels intentional, loads sensibly, and lets clients move from viewing to favorites, purchases, or downloads without guessing.
Privacy, Passwords, and Client Access
Use each control for its specific job rather than assuming one setting protects every action.
| Control | Main Purpose | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Collection password | Blocks general viewing until entered | Private deliveries shared with known viewers |
| Client-exclusive access | Gives clients separate access to client-only sets or privacy tools | Galleries containing guest and client-only material |
| Download PIN | Authorizes permitted file downloads | Delivery where viewing and saving need different controls |
| Homepage visibility | Shows or hides a published collection on the gallery homepage | Reducing casual discovery while retaining direct-link access |
| Download restrictions | Limits who can download, what they can save, or how much | Proofing, packages, controlled licensing, or guest access |
Homepage hiding is not secure access control, and a download PIN is not a viewing password. Test as a guest and, when enabled, as the client. For sensitive collections, combine appropriate access settings with careful credential delivery.
Controlling Client Downloads and Favorites
Full-gallery downloads suit final delivery, while individual-photo downloads let clients save only selected images. In the collection’s download settings, enable the needed method, choose eligible sets, offer suitable sizes, and apply a PIN, contact restriction, or download limit when your agreement requires control.
Web-size files are convenient for online sharing; high-resolution or original files are more appropriate when clients need printing or archival delivery. Original-resolution availability depends on an eligible upgraded plan. Remember that allowing downloads from a favorite list still follows the collection’s download permissions and PIN requirements.
Favorites support online proofing without moving filenames through email. Clients can create lists, add photos, attach notes when enabled, share or submit selections, and work within a preset limit you create. Review the submitted list in gallery activity before retouching, album design, or fulfillment. Exact settings can vary by plan and later updates, so verify the options displayed in your account.
Common Pixieset Gallery Mistakes to Avoid
- Uploading unfinished images: Clients may download or judge files before correction.
- Skipping permission checks: Default or inherited download settings may expose the wrong sets.
- Confusing passwords and PINs: One controls viewing; the other authorizes permitted downloads.
- Using vague set names: Labels such as “Set 1” make navigation needlessly difficult.
- Sharing without previewing: Owners can overlook restrictions that guests actually experience.
- Ignoring mobile presentation: Cover crops, menus, and long titles can fail on narrow screens.
- Leaving duplicates: Repeated images weaken curation and consume available storage.
- Sending credentials insecurely: Public messages can undermine otherwise careful privacy settings.
Use a repeatable pre-delivery checklist so these errors are caught before every collection is published.
Conclusion
Pixieset Client Gallery means treating delivery as more than an upload. Prepare finished files, build clear sets, choose a restrained design, configure the correct privacy and download controls, and enable favorites when proofing is required. Before sending anything, test the published collection on desktop and mobile as the intended visitor. That final review protects client access, presentation, and the expectations established in your photography agreement every time.