Online proofing for wedding photographers: how to run it

How to run online proofing as a wedding photographer: build the proof set, use favorites as selections, set the deadline, and hide proofs when the finals go up.

Run online proofing through the gallery you already use: upload the proof set to its own gallery or section with downloads off, tell the couple to heart the photos they want (album, retouching, prints, or purchase), give them a deadline of 2 to 3 weeks, pull the favorites out as a list of filenames, do the work, then hide the proofs the day the finals go up. No separate proofing tool, no spreadsheet, no email thread of numbers.

What proofing is for at a wedding

Most wedding photographers do not proof the main delivery. The couple gets the finished gallery, and that is that. Proofing still has 3 jobs:

Album selection. The couple picks 80 to 150 photos from the delivered gallery for the album.
Retouch selection. The package includes a number of fully retouched images (10, 20, 50) and the couple chooses which.
Proof-to-purchase. The gallery is a shop: the couple sees watermarked proofs and buys files or prints. Common in portrait work, rare in wedding packages, but some studios run it.

The mechanics are the same for all 3. The difference is what the couple is choosing and what happens after.

The proof set

What goes in the proof set depends on the job.

For album and retouch selection, the proof set is the delivered gallery. There is no separate export; the couple picks from finals. You only need to switch on favorites and explain what to do.

For proof-to-purchase, the proof set is color-corrected but not retouched, exported at web size, with a watermark on screen, and with downloads off. A proof should look good enough to sell and clearly not be the finished product; a watermark does that without anyone having to say it. Should you watermark wedding photos covers the watermark’s placement.

Keep the proof set tight. Proofing 1,200 frames is a chore the couple postpones. Cull to what you would deliver, which for a full day is 600 to 900, and culling workflow for weddings is where that number comes from.

Keep filenames identical between proofs and finals: Smith-0412 in the proof set is Smith-0412 in the final set. Every selection is a filename, and if the finals are renamed the selections are worthless.

Favorites as selections

The couple does not need a proofing interface. They need a heart. Tell them to favorite the photos they want and what the favorites mean this time. Where the platform allows named lists, ask for one list per purpose: Album, Retouch, Parents’ prints. If it only has one favorites list, run one purpose at a time, or ask the couple to email you the second list’s numbers.

On your side, you want to see the favorites by person (the couple and each parent see different things) and by photo (which frames got hearted by everyone), and to get the filenames out as text. Paste those filenames into Lightroom’s filter bar, or import a CSV into the album design software, and you are working on exactly the selected frames with no transcription.

In FOCL Galleries a viewer hearts a photo, names lists, and is asked for an email on the first favorite so their picks follow them across devices. You see favorites by person or by photo, copy the filenames, and export a CSV. The help center covers your side under favorites for you and the couple’s side under favorites for the couple.

Downloads off, and why

While a set is being proofed, downloads are off. For proof-to-purchase, that is the whole model. For album and retouch selection from the delivered gallery, downloads can stay on, since the couple has paid for the files; the proofing is about the choice, not the access.

The middle case is a proof gallery of un-retouched finals where the package includes downloads after retouching. Turn downloads off, and say in the email that the download switch comes on when the retouched set is in. A couple who downloads the un-retouched files on day 1 has no reason to make the selections on day 10.

Timelines

The rule of thumb for each step, from a full-day wedding:

Step	When	Rule of thumb
Proof set published	3 to 6 weeks after the wedding	Same as your normal delivery window
Couple’s selections due	2 to 3 weeks after publishing	Put the date in the email and on the gallery
Reminder	1 week before the deadline, and the day after it	2 short emails, no more
Retouching or album design	2 to 4 weeks after selections arrive	Say this up front so the deadline feels fair
Finals published, proofs hidden	The same day	Never leave both visible

Couples miss deadlines. Decide now what happens: an automatic extension of 2 weeks once, and after that you choose for them from the favorites they did make. Write that into the contract so it is not a negotiation later.

Hiding proofs when finals go up

The day the finals are published, the proofs disappear. Two ways:

Separate galleries. The proof gallery is unpublished or set to expire, and the final gallery goes out with a fresh link. Cleanest for proof-to-purchase.
One gallery, proofs hidden. The proofs were a section of the couple’s gallery; hide the photos in it, and the finals take their place. Favorites stay attached to the filenames. Cleanest for album and retouch selection.

Do not leave both visible with a note. The couple will share the un-retouched version, and the parents will order prints from it.

If you hide rather than delete, you can restore a proof when the couple asks 6 months later for a frame that did not make the final cut. The help center covers hiding photos in FOCL Galleries.

What to say to the couple

The proofing email is short and has 5 parts. Adapt this:

What this gallery is: “These are your proofs, color-corrected but not yet retouched.”
What to do: “Heart the ones you want retouched. Make a list called Album for the album picks.”
How many: “Your package includes 30 retouched images and an album of about 100.”
When: “Selections by Friday 14 November. I will send one reminder.”
What happens next: “Retouching takes about 3 weeks from your selections. Downloads switch on when the finals are up, and these proofs will be replaced.”

Then one line for parents, if they are choosing prints: “Parents can heart too, so ask them to enter their own email so I can tell your picks apart.”

The album picks are where the proofing pays off, because the design starts from a list the couple made instead of a guess you made. Album design from client favorites takes it from there.