Client photo selection and the Lightroom list

Tick “selection gallery” when you create the gallery, or later in Settings (Ustawienia), under “Galeria do wyboru zdjęć” (photo selection gallery). For proofing material, it’s worth turning off downloads and turning on the watermark straight away — more in Downloads and watermark.

In the How many photos the package includes field (Ile zdjęć obejmuje pakiet), enter the number from your contract. An empty field means no limit.

• –Soft limit (default). The client sees “23 of 20 selected” and can keep going. You see “+3 over package” and add the extra to your quote. This is often the moment the client decides to buy more on their own.
• –Hard limit. Not a single photo can be selected beyond the package. For contracts with a fixed number of frames, e.g. an album of exactly 20 photos.

With a soft limit, once the package is exceeded, the client sees a message about extra charges. The default text says each additional frame will be billed as an extra and that you’ll confirm the price before editing. You can replace it with your own text or turn it off if you don’t charge for extra frames.

1. 11. Opens the gallery and clicks the heart on the first photo.
2. 22. Enters their email address (and, optionally, their name). That way you know whose selection it is, and the client can finish on another device.
3. 33. Marks more frames. They can add a note to each one, e.g. “no retouching”, “black and white”, “for the album”.
4. 44. The Selected only button shows just the selection — handy for a final check.
5. 55. Clicks Send selection and confirms. You get an email.

The selection saves as they go — the client can stop and come back a week later. If they open the gallery on another device and enter the same address, we’ll email them a link that brings over their saved picks.

Several people can select from one gallery, each under their own address. You see them separately in the Client selections (Wybory klientów) tab.

Once sent, the selection is locked. The client sees a message that it’s with you now, and a request to get in touch if anything changes. To unlock it, click Allow changes (Pozwól zmienić wybór) next to that selection. Picks and notes stay — the client only adjusts what they want to.

Every sent selection has a Copy for Lightroom (Kopiuj do Lightrooma) button. It copies the file names without extensions, separated by commas:

DSC_0412, DSC_0415, DSC_0433, DSC_0501

No extensions, because your Lightroom catalogue usually holds the RAWs. DSC_0412.jpg wouldn’t find DSC_0412.NEF, but plain DSC_0412 finds both.

1. 11. In Lightroom Classic, open the Library module and the folder with the shoot.
2. 22. Show the Library Filter bar (the \ key) and choose Text.
3. 33. Set it to Filename and Contains.
4. 44. Paste the list. Lightroom shows only the selected frames — select them all and give them a flag or colour label, so you don’t lose the selection once the filter is off.

Library→Text filter→Filename→Contains→paste

Two traps. “Contains” matches fragments, so IMG_12 also finds IMG_120 and IMG_1234 — with short numbers, check the result before exporting. And if your file names contain spaces (e.g. “Anna and Peter 012”), Lightroom treats each word separately and shows too much. Names straight from the camera, or numbering without spaces, work most reliably.

Download CSV with notes (Pobierz CSV z uwagami) saves a file listing the selected photos with the client’s comments — it opens in Excel or Numbers. Show thumbnails (Pokaż miniatury) expands a preview of the selected frames along with the notes. The file name tells you where to look, and the thumbnail shows you which frame it is at a glance.