If you are a professional photographer, you understand that taking pictures is just one aspect of your job. Since there are so many parts in the photography process, You need a seamless workflow. After a photo shoot, you must meet with your clients and discuss the images to select the best one.
If you want to create a better workflow and get quick feedback, you should use online proofing. Read along to learn more about online proofing for photographers and how you can use this concept to improve your work life. We will also list the best online galleries for photographers to enhance your feedback process.
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Table of Contents
What is online proofing for photographers?
If you are a photographer and haven’t used online proofing, here’s an explainer to help you better understand this concept.
During a photo shoot, photographers take multiple photos of the same scenes, object, or person so they can select the best images afterward. Sometimes, clients are involved in the photo review and selection process. This is where online proofing comes.
Photographers’ online proofing is a way for individuals to improve file sharing and collaborate with your client to finalize which images they want to order, edit, print, or download. During this process, photographers use online proofing software and online proofing galleries.
Online proofing gallery vs. online proofing software
An important thing to note is that both these platforms are different. An online proofing gallery is a platform that allows you to share many pictures with your clients so they can select individual images for printing.
Typically, online proofing software is used by businesses to streamline the reviews, feedback, and approval process. In proofing software, clients give feedback on pre-selected images and tell you how you should edit these pictures.
What is online proofing software?
Many businesses use online proofing tools to share images for marketing campaigns. Online proofing software is a great way to share and review photographs. This software speeds up the image approval process and is one of the best ways to conduct online proofing for photographers.
For professional photographers, you can simply upload your file to a centralized platform so clients can quickly review the images, select their favorites and give feedback for potential edits.
You should use online proofing software for effective communication and collaboration if your photography involves several other creatives. Proofing software allows you to work with graphic designers and editors to change the styling and make changes to achieve the best possible results.
What are the features of online proofing software?
If you are a professional photographer or run a creative business, you must use online proofing software, which includes many benefits to enhance your work experience. To use a great online proofing software, it should have features such as:
- Add comments and online annotations
- Real-time collaboration
- One-click approval function
- Automatic file conversions
- Easily compare two versions of a picture (such as a before and after of an edit)
- Customizable due dates for reviews
- Notification and reminder feature
Here are some of the benefits of using online proofing software.
What is an online proofing gallery for photographers?
If you want to create a digital photo gallery, you should use an online proofing gallery. If you are a professional photographer, you will greatly benefit from an online proofing gallery for photographers.
A proofing gallery acts as a portfolio of your work, and photographers can also use this gallery to share images with their clients. Clients can easily view all pictures in place, choose their favorites, and download or purchase the prints.
For example, you can upload photos to an online proofing gallery if you are a wedding photographer. The wedding couple can view the pictures and choose their favorite to purchase and print from the gallery.
A proofing gallery eliminates major challenges that prevent you from delivering your pictures to clients. With an online proofing gallery, you don’t need to go through the complex system of folders, cloud storage, and unique file names. You can easily save all your work in one organized system.
What are the features of an online proofing gallery for photographers?
If you are not sure what are the best online galleries for photographers, remember to check for features like:
- Ability to share large quantities of files
- Optimized to work on all mobile and portable devices
- Select and download favorite images
- Personalized gallery covers for every client’s photo collection
- Quickly share proofed photos on social media
- Password-protected galleries
- Multilingual gallery functions for every client
What are the benefits of using an online proofing gallery?
Here are some great benefits of using an online proofing gallery for photographer and their customers.
- Ability to share all your image files in one location
- Create a portfolio online to manage and organize work between a client and photographer
- Allows you to create personalized gallery covers for a personalized touch
- Password protection features to give your clients full control of their images
- An organized and dated work management system to make your job easier
- Easily manage your orders and digital downloads.
Important tips for online proofing for photographers
Before you begin the online proofing approval process, here are some helpful tips to optimize your workflow. These tips will boost the efficiency of your work, and they will also improve your client’s experience. Follow these tips whenever you choose online proofing software.
Share your photos securely.
If you work in a creative industry, you understand how important it is to secure your work. Due to this reason, you must choose proofing software that allows you to password protect your images. If you are using online proofing software, always make sure you authorize access to your photos.
Password-protected photos will also prevent your work’s theft and fraud, showing your clients that you take their privacy seriously.
Allow simple accessibility
As a photographer, you look forward to an easy review process. Ensure your clients don’t need to create a separate account with proofing software to access their photos. With online proofing, you can provide easy access to your customers with just a few clicks.
A smooth user experience is important in every job industry, so make sure to use a proofing tool to make the review process fast, easy, and accessible.
Watermark your work
Aside from password protection, you can safely secure your work through watermarks. Watermarking an image protects your creative work and ensures that your client doesn’t use your images without your permission. Watermarks also stop others from stealing for work.
However, it is important to find the right placement for watermarks. Make sure that your watermarks are visible but just enough that they don’t obstruct the subject of the picture. You don’t want your watermark to ruin your work.
Optimize your workflow
One of the biggest advantages of online proofing software is that it streamlines and automates your workflow compared to the in-person review sessions. Your online proofing system carries out all the necessary tasks such as sending due date reminders, emailing invitations, billing, and invoices.
These automated tasks allow you to save time for other work-related tasks. You will grow your photography business and increase sales with an optimized workflow.
What is the best online proofing software for photographers?
Finding good online proofing software is tough, but with GoVisually, you can easily and efficiently optimize your photography process.
GoVisually provides you with the best possible tools to create secure proofs. The GoVisually proofing interface is easy to navigate, and you don’t need extensive software knowledge to start using this platform. Our proofing software lets you upload multiple file versions and compare them before deciding the final one.
All your GoVisually data is always secure, so you don’t have to worry about having your work stolen. You can also integrate other workspaces with GoVisually for improved collaboration between creative teams.
What are the best online galleries for photographers?
If you want to display your work online and collaborate with your clients, here are two of the best online galleries for photographers.
Pixieset
Pixieset is a great online gallery for creating visually-stunning photo collections. You can also use this gallery for online proofing and review to sell images to your clients. Some of the most important features of Pixieset include:
- Unlimited online gallery
- Instant downloads
- Password protection
- Social media integration
Shootproof
Shootproof is a great online gallery for photographers with a high-quality user interface. This gallery platform is fully optimized and works well on your desktop and mobile phone. You can create customizable gallery covers and send invoices to your customers with Shootproof.
Final takeaway
We hope that this article helps you ace online proofing for photographers.
And remember, you must use online proofing to optimize your workflow and establish effective communication with your clients.
Happy photography!
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