PixShoot
All guides

Studio quick start · 12 minute read

Create and deliver your first gallery

This guide follows one album from setup to the client link. The screenshots come from the current PixShoot interface, and the light outline marks the control to use.

Before you start

Have the customer name, album name, shoot date, expiration date, and a cover photo ready. If the files are already separated into folders such as Ceremony, Portraits, and Reception, use those names for the album events too. Clients will see the same event order.

Files you can add

PixShoot accepts JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC/HEIF, common RAW formats, TIFF, BMP, and JFIF. RAW and TIFF originals need a generated browser preview, so they may appear after processing.

1. Start a new album

Open Albums, then select Add Album. Existing albums stay on this page with their photo, people, and event counts.

PixShoot album list with three sample wedding galleries
The Add Album button is in the upper-right corner of the album list.

2. Add the album details

Enter the album name and a short description, then add a cover. The customer field accepts an existing customer or creates the customer with the album. Choose a shoot date and the date when the client gallery should stop showing.

The album remains visible to studio admins after it expires. The client-facing gallery does not.

New album form filled with a title, description, and cover photo
Name the album and choose a cover before creating it. These details appear in the gallery presentation.

3. Set up events

Events are the tabs inside a gallery. Keep their names short and recognizable. Add or remove rows on the setup screen, then select Create Album. You can edit events later from the gallery toolbar.

New album form showing customer, dates, and event rows
Set the client-visible dates on the left and the event tabs on the right.

4. Upload the media

On the Add Media screen, choose whether the files belong to an existing event or a new one. Confirm the destination before picking files. This prevents a large batch from landing in the wrong part of the gallery.

Add Media screen with an existing event selected as the destination
This batch will be added to the Ceremony event. Change the event before choosing files if needed.

Drop files into the upload area, select photos or reels from the device, or import from Google Drive or Google Photos. The header button adds more photos to the same destination.

PixShoot upload area with device, Google Drive, and Google Photos controls
Device uploads sit in the main drop zone. Google Drive and Google Photos are directly below it.

5. Check processing

Keep the page open until the file transfer finishes. Browser-ready previews, thumbnails, face groups, search text, and review signals can continue processing afterward. The AI switch applies the full pipeline to the new photos; turn it off when you only need delivery files.

  • A ready preview means the photo can display in the gallery.
  • Missing people or search results usually mean AI processing is still running.
  • A failed item can be retried without uploading the successful files again.

6. Organize and review

The gallery toolbar keeps the main jobs in one place. Filter by a person, switch events, select photos, add media, run AI Review, open videos, or build a collage. Use the search button for a visual description such as "couple portraits at sunset."

Album gallery with event tabs and the gallery management toolbar
The top toolbar covers selection, uploads, sharing, AI review, videos, collages, people, and search.

Below the toolbar, choose a sort mode or edit the custom order. Event tabs show their photo counts. Select photos before moving, downloading, or applying a preset to a group.

Album gallery showing event tabs, sorting controls, and photos
Use event tabs to narrow the view, then set the order for the current album or event.

7. Set access and share

Select Share in the gallery toolbar. Set the passcode and expiration first. Then decide whether clients can download files, whether AI features appear, and whether shared previews need a watermark. These settings save automatically.

Share gallery dialog with passcode, expiration, download, background, and watermark settings
Review Access and Client experience before copying the link. The lower cards control presentation and watermark placement.

Use the narrowest link that works

Send the full gallery to the main client. For a guest who should only see photos containing them, choose the person in the gallery and create a person-specific link instead.

8. Check the client view

Open Preview from the Share dialog, then open the exact copied URL in a private browser window. Check the cover, album title, event order, visible photo count, passcode, watermark, and download button. A signed-in admin session can hide access problems that a client would see.

The passcode is requested once and rejects the wrong code.
People-specific links do not reveal unrelated photos.
Downloads appear only when the link allows them.
RAW or TIFF uploads have browser-ready previews.

Gallery ready

Keep the delivery link with the job record

Save the client URL and its expiration date wherever the studio tracks the job. If access changes later, reopen Share and update the same gallery instead of sending an untracked replacement link.

Open albums