Customer access tiers

Every shoot has an access tier that decides how the customer gets their photos. You set it per shoot, not per customer — the same customer can have one shoot on each tier depending on how that job was billed.

The three tiers

Watermarked

• Customers see watermarked previews of every image.
• They pay through the gallery to unlock the full-resolution originals.
• Uploads are processed by the watermarking service before previews go live.

On a watermarked shoot you choose how customers buy — one of two ways:

• Packages (default) — customers buy a set you define (for example “10 edited images” or a whole-gallery package). Attach one or more packages to the shoot; in this mode the shoot needs at least one package before customers have anything to buy.
• Individual photo pricing — turn on Individual photo pricing (à la carte) when you create or edit the shoot, then type a price on each photo in the shoot’s media panel. Customers pick exactly the photos they want and pay the total — the same way public galleries sell single images. A photo with no price set simply isn’t for sale. With this on, a shoot doesn’t need any package.

You choose the mode per shoot. Packages that cover a set number of photos can sit alongside individual photo pricing, but a whole-gallery package (one price for every photo) can’t: the shoot setup greys it out while individual photo pricing is on, and the other way round. Either way, customers only get the originals after payment clears.

The same photos can sell two ways — use two shoots

The pricing mode is per shoot, not per workspace. If you want to sell the same images under different terms — say a whole-gallery deal for one client and per-photo pricing for another — just create a second shoot with the same photos, set its pricing mode, and add the other customer to it. Each shoot is its own gallery with its own pricing and its own customer list, so one set of images can be delivered and priced however each job needs.

Use this for the standard “preview-then-buy” flow — proofing galleries, package selection, or per-photo sales.

Flat fee

• Customers see watermarked previews of every image, exactly like a watermarked shoot.
• Instead of picking photos or a package, they pay one price to unlock the entire shoot — every photo’s full-resolution original at once.
• You set that single price when you create or edit the shoot. Packages and per-photo pricing don’t apply — the flat fee is the price.

In the gallery the customer sees a “Buy everything — $X” button; once they pay, the whole shoot switches to full access. If several customers are on the same flat-fee shoot, each one buys their own unlock — unless you turn on Group purchasing (shared photos) for the shoot, in which case one payment unlocks it for everyone assigned (see Group purchasing).

Use this when you sell a shoot as a single all-in package — “the whole gallery for $250” — rather than proofing-and-selecting.

Prepaid

• Watermarking is skipped entirely.
• The customer receives the full-resolution files directly, no payment step in the gallery.
• No package needed — there’s nothing to purchase, so prepaid shoots don’t use packages.

Use this when the customer has already paid you — a booked package, a retainer client, or any job settled outside the gallery.

How to choose

Question	Tier
Should the customer pay through the gallery before downloading?	Watermarked or Flat fee
Do you want them to pick photos or a package?	Watermarked
Do you want one price for the whole shoot?	Flat fee
Have they already paid you for this shoot?	Prepaid
Is this a proofing/selection gallery?	Watermarked
Is this final delivery of a paid package?	Prepaid

Good to know

• Where you set it: the shoot’s create/edit form has an Access & pricing selector with three choices — Watermarked — pay to unlock (the default), Flat fee — unlock the whole shoot, and Pre-paid / Contract (no watermark). Picking Flat fee reveals a required Whole-shoot price; picking Pre-paid reveals the optional Amount paid and Date collected fields. Flat fee and Pre-paid are offered only to people who can set prices in your workspace.
• The tier reflects the billing arrangement for that shoot, so one customer can have watermarked, flat-fee, and prepaid shoots.
• On watermarked and flat-fee shoots, originals are never delivered until payment clears — both show watermarked previews first.
• On prepaid shoots there’s no preview step — double-check the customer and contents before sharing, since the full files are immediately available.
• Switching a prepaid shoot to Watermarked or Flat fee re-processes the photos already on it with your watermark. Until each one is done, customers see it as processing rather than a preview, and it can’t be downloaded yet.
• All downloads (any tier) use secure, time-limited links — there’s no public bucket browsing.
• HEIC/HEIF photos are converted to JPEG on every tier — prepaid customers get an openable JPEG too, not the raw iPhone file.

Related

• Packages — how customers buy on a watermarked shoot (or switch the shoot to individual photo pricing, or a whole-shoot flat fee, instead).
• Watermarking — configure the mark used on watermarked and flat-fee shoots.
• Payment setup — connect the account that collects watermarked- and flat-fee-shoot payments.