How to let clients pick their favorite photos

After a family session or a product shoot, there are usually more good frames than the package covers. The client needs to choose, and the choosing tends to happen in an email that reads “we love 4821, 4836, the one where she’s laughing, and maybe 4902 if it’s not too dark”. The photographer then works out which laughing frame they meant, and whether “maybe” counts as a yes.

This guide covers how photographers usually collect picks, where those methods cause back and forth, and how to set up a selection round in Fabric with sharing and comments. It sits alongside the broader guide on how to let clients proof and choose photos online, and focuses on the selection step itself.

How photographers usually collect a client’s picks

Many photographers use a client gallery service such as Pixieset, ShootProof, or Pic-Time, where clients tap a heart on each photo. These are built for exactly this and often include print sales. The trade-off is another subscription and another place where client work lives, separate from the files, contracts, and notes for the same job.

Others share a Dropbox or Google Drive folder and ask the client to reply with filenames. It costs nothing extra and clients know how to open a link. The picks come back as a list of numbers in an email, and any notes about cropping or retouching are described in words rather than shown on the image.

A smaller group sends a contact sheet as a PDF and asks the client to circle their favorites. That works on paper. On screen, clients often print it, mark it by hand, and send back a phone photo of the page.

Step 1: Put the proofs in the client’s space

Create a space for the client and a folder for the shoot. Sharing the space means the client sees only that space, so other sessions stay private.

Export your proofs at a size that looks good on screen and drag them into the folder, or click Upload a file. Uploading handles large numbers of files at once, so a few hundred proofs can go in together. If you work from Lightroom or Capture One exports in a folder on your computer, the Fabric desktop app mounts Fabric as a drive, so you can export straight into the client’s folder.

Keep the originals in a separate folder that you don’t share. How to organize a photo library has ideas for structuring shoots, selects, and finals.

Step 2: Share the gallery folder with commenter permission

Click Share on the folder and give the client the commenter role. Commenting needs a shared link: published links are view and download only, so they won’t work for picking. The roles and permissions in Fabric (viewer, commenter, editor, admin) mean the client can comment on photos without moving or deleting anything. They don’t need to sign up to use the link.

Tell the client how to mark a pick before they start. A simple rule works best, such as leaving a comment that says “yes” on each photo they want, and adding any retouching notes in the same comment. If the package covers a set number of images, say so in the message with the link.

For private sessions you can add password protection to the folder on the Pro and Team plans. Access lasts 6 hours before the password is asked for again, and there’s no reset, so store the password before sending it.

Step 3: Let the client comment and draw on their picks

On images, a commenter can draw on the photo and attach a comment to the drawing. So a client can circle a stray hair, mark where they’d like a tighter crop, or point at the sign in the background they want removed, and the note sits on the exact spot. The annotations page shows how image comments work.

If two people are choosing, such as a couple or a marketing team, they can both comment on the same folder. Replies thread under each comment, so a disagreement about one frame stays attached to that frame.

This selection process is a workflow built from sharing, comments, and drawings, so the rule you set in Step 2 does the job a heart button would do in a gallery service.

Step 4: Gather the picks and track your edits

Go through the folder and move or copy each photo with a “yes” comment into a Selects folder. As you finish editing each one, mark its comment completed. The comments then act as a checklist for the order, and the client can see which picks are done.

If you like to see progress at a glance, switch the Selects folder to a kanban view with columns such as To edit, Editing, and Done, and drag each photo across as you work. Kanban is optional; a plain folder works fine for a small order.

When a client picks one frame and you want to check the rest of that sequence for a sharper version, select the photo and use similarity search. For images, similarity covers composition, color, and subject, so frames from the same moment come up together.

Step 5: Deliver the finished photos

Put the edited images in a Finals folder and publish it as a link. Click Share, open the Publish tab, click Create link, name the link, and turn on allow downloads so the client can save full-size files. A folder publishes as a web page, and downloads are available on every plan. If you replace an image after a late retouch, editing the source in Fabric updates the published version.

Frequently asked questions

How can clients choose their favorite photos online without an account?

Share the gallery folder from Fabric with commenter permission. External people can use shared links without signing up, and they mark picks by commenting on each photo.

Is there a heart or favorite button for clients in Fabric?

Client picks in Fabric use comments. Ask the client to leave a comment such as “yes” on each photo they want, then gather those photos into a Selects folder.

Can clients mark retouching requests on a specific part of a photo?

Yes. Commenters can draw on an image and attach a comment to the drawing, so the request sits exactly where the change is needed.

Can clients pick photos from a published gallery link?

No. Published links allow viewing and, if you turn it on, downloading. Picking needs a shared link with commenter permission.

How do I keep track of which client picks I’ve edited?

Mark each pick’s comment completed once the edit is done. You can also use a kanban view on the Selects folder to see progress.

Can I stop clients seeing other clients’ galleries?

Yes. Create a space for each client and share only that space with them. They see that space and nothing else.

Can I password protect a client photo gallery?

Yes, on the Pro and Team plans. A password on a folder also covers photos added to it later.

How do clients download their final photos?

Publish the Finals folder as a link with allow downloads turned on. The download option is available on every plan.