Switching client gallery platforms: a checklist before you move

Photographers change gallery platforms for ordinary reasons: pricing that no longer fits, a client view they want to improve, a plan built for a different volume of work. Sometimes the old platform makes the decision for you.

The move itself is manageable if the order is right. Rushed, it tends to produce dead links, confused clients and a weekend of duplicate uploads. This checklist keeps client work running while you switch.

1. Sort every active gallery by stage

Don't move everything at once. Go through your current account and put each active gallery into one of these groups:

• clients who are still choosing,
• galleries waiting for finals,
• delivered galleries still inside their download window.

Moving a gallery in the middle of a client's selection means a new link and a restarted conversation. The client may have to rebuild their favourites. Let those galleries finish where they are, or move them last and warn the client first.

2. Write down the old platform's dates

Take the dates from the vendor's own notice or your account page: the renewal date, the day client access ends, and the day data is deleted. Not from a forum thread or a colleague's memory. Put them in your calendar so the timeline is yours, not the billing cycle's.

3. Rebuild from your own archive

Your source is your archive of masters and finals, not the old gallery. Downloading web-sized previews back from an outgoing host is a poor way to rebuild a library. If that archive lives only on the gallery host today, fix that first. The earlier post on why a client gallery host is not an archive explains the reasoning.

4. Compare plans by what you actually upload

Plans are easy to compare badly. Before you pay, check:

• what the storage unit is,
• whether video counts toward the limit, and how,
• how long a gallery stays online for the price,
• what happens when that period ends.

If the unit or the limits are unclear, ask the vendor in writing. An email answer is worth more than a comparison table.

5. Budget time for re-uploading

Unless the new platform imports your galleries, you will upload again. Plan the hours for it. For proofing, screen-sized JPEGs are usually enough and upload faster. Finals are a separate step after editing. The guide on fitting more photos into a 1 GB gallery covers export settings.

6. Run one real gallery end to end

Before moving the rest, take one gallery all the way through on the new platform: upload, set up the client view, open the link in a private browser window on a phone and on a computer, make a test selection. You will learn more in that hour than from any feature list.

7. Send active clients one clear message

For any client whose gallery has to move, send one short message: the new link, how to open it, and whether they need to do anything again. Nothing more. They want their photos, not an explanation of your software.

8. Keep the old account until the last gallery closes

Leave the old account running until the last active gallery there has finished. Keep an eye on the renewal date so you don't pay for a period you no longer need.

If you are moving to PixiProof

PixiProof does not import galleries from other platforms automatically, so you re-upload your files. Your first gallery up to 1 GB is free, no card required, so you can run step 6 on a real session.

After that you can pay per gallery: you choose the storage size (1 GB to 100 GB) and the period (1, 3 or 12 months) and pay once, when the gallery is published. The published grid runs from $4 (1 GB, 1 month) to $50 (100 GB, 12 months). If you run many galleries at once, Studio gives the account a shared pool of 100 GB ($17 per month) or 300 GB ($22 per month); annual billing is ten times the monthly price. Photos and video sit in the same gallery, and you can move a gallery to a larger storage tier before you publish it. Details are on the pricing page.

FAQ

Should I delete my old galleries right after moving?

No. Keep them until clients have downloaded what they need and the period you paid for has run out.

What about clients who are halfway through choosing?

If their gallery on the old platform stays open long enough, let them finish there. If it has to move, write to them personally with the new link before the old one stops working.

How do I estimate the storage a new gallery needs?

Export the files you plan to upload into a local folder and check the total size. Add any video, then pick the tier that fits with some room to spare.

Next step: open your current account today and write down, for every active gallery, which of the three stages it is in.