Answer
Lightroom Plugin Not Showing in the Export Dialog: Five Checks
If ClientGallery is missing from Lightroom Classic's Export dialog, work through five checks in order: the app, the plugin folder, one restart, the top Export To menu, and the name it appears under.
Updated 18 September 2026
This page is about one plugin: the ClientGallery plugin for Lightroom Classic.
It is not a general guide to every Lightroom plugin. Each check below comes from the plugin's own code or from our own install steps, and the page says which.
The short answer is this. The plugin appears under the name ClientGallery, in the Export To menu at the very top of the Export window. It shows up only in Lightroom Classic, only after the plugin folder has been added in the Plug-in Manager, and only after one full restart.
If all five checks pass and the entry is still missing, the last section says what to do instead.
The five checks, in order
Run them top to bottom. The early ones rule out the most ground.
| Check | What to look for | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The app | You are in Lightroom Classic, not the cloud-based Lightroom app | Open Lightroom Classic. In the cloud app, upload from the browser instead |
| 2. The plugin folder | You unzipped the download, added the resulting folder ending in .lrplugin, and left it where you added it from | Unzip, move the folder somewhere permanent, then add it with File, Plug-in Manager, Add |
| 3. The restart | You quit Lightroom Classic completely and reopened it after adding the plugin | Quit fully, reopen, then open the Export window again |
| 4. The menu | You are looking in the Export To menu at the very top of the Export window, not the one lower down that lists places on your disk | Look higher, in the top menu of the window |
| 5. The name | You are looking for ClientGallery, written as one word | Pick ClientGallery from the top menu |
Check 1: Lightroom Classic, not the cloud app
The plugin is built for Lightroom Classic. It is not a plugin for the cloud-based Lightroom app, and it will never appear there.
If you edit in the cloud app, nothing is broken. You upload finished JPEGs through the web uploader instead, and your client's picks stay in the gallery rather than coming back into a catalog.
The trade-off is explained in Lightroom cloud vs Classic for client galleries.
Check 2: the plugin folder, added and left in place
The download is a ZIP file. Lightroom Classic is not pointed at the ZIP; it is pointed at the folder inside it.
Our install steps are:
- Unzip the download. You get a folder whose name ends in .lrplugin.
- Move that folder somewhere permanent, such as your Documents folder, not Downloads.
- In Lightroom Classic, open File, Plug-in Manager, click Add, and select that folder.
- Confirm that ClientGallery is now in the Plug-in Manager's list.
The permanent location matters. Lightroom points at the folder where you added it from, so if the folder later moves or gets cleaned out of Downloads, the plugin breaks.
If you think that happened, download the plugin again, unzip it, put the folder in its permanent place, and add it again.
Every step, with what you should see after each one, is in how to install a Lightroom Classic plugin.
Check 3: one full restart
Our install steps call for one full restart of Lightroom Classic after the plugin is added.
Closing the Export window is not enough, and neither is closing a catalog. Quit the application completely, reopen it, select a photo, and open the Export window again.
You only do this once per computer. After that, the plugin is there every time you open the Export window.
Check 4: the right Export To menu
This check can fail even when the install itself is fine.
As our setup page describes it, the Export window has two menus labelled Export To. The one you want sits at the very top of the window, next to its title, and lists destinations. Hard Drive is the usual default there.
The second one sits lower, in the panel that sets where exported files are saved, and only lists places on your disk. The plugin will never appear in that second menu.
If you are reading a list of places on your disk, you are in the wrong menu. Look higher.
Check 5: look for ClientGallery
The plugin registers itself under the name ClientGallery, as one word. That is the name used for the Export destination, for the Publish Services entry, and in the Plug-in Manager's list.
If you scan the menu for the website address instead, it is easy to read past it.
The same plugin also adds a Library menu command named Import ClientGallery Picks, found under Library, Plug-in Extras. That command is for bringing your client's picks back in, not for publishing.
It shows up, but the export stops
Sometimes the plugin is in the menu and the problem is the next step. These are the messages the plugin itself shows, and what each one means.
| What the plugin says | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Asks you to paste your studio key first | The Studio key field is empty | Copy the key from clientgallery.io/studio, at the bottom of the page, paste it and press Check |
| That key was not recognised | A typo, or a key that was regenerated on the dashboard, which retires the old one | Copy the current key again and press Check |
| Asks you to give the gallery a name first | The Gallery name field is empty | Type a gallery name. Exporting to a name you already used adds to that gallery |
| Says a free account holds one gallery | A free account tried to create a second gallery | Export into your existing gallery by using its name, or move to the paid plan at 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year |
| Says the gallery holds 1000 photos | The fair-use ceiling of 1,000 photos per gallery | Start a second gallery for the rest |
| Account storage is full | The account's proof storage ceiling: 5 GB on a free account, 250 GB of proofs on a paid one | Delete galleries or photos you no longer need |
Pressing Check after pasting the key is worth the second it takes. It asks the server whether the key is real, so a wrong key shows up before a long export rather than partway through. A good key answers with the name of your studio.
Once checked, the key is remembered. The Import ClientGallery Picks command reads the same saved key, so you paste it once.
The panels that disappear on purpose
When you switch the top menu to ClientGallery, several of the usual Export panels go away. That is by design, not a sign of a broken install.
The plugin sets its own output: JPEG, sRGB, resized for fast viewing, with output sharpening off and location metadata removed. So it hides the panels for export location, file naming, file settings, image sizing, output sharpening and video.
In their place you get the plugin's own section: Studio key, Gallery name, a Client sees choice of Light or Dark, and an optional Password.
Each proof is uploaded under the catalog photo's own file name. That is what lets the client's picks find their way back to the right frames later.
Export dialog or Publish Services
The same plugin serves two places in Lightroom Classic. The Export dialog sends a selection once. The Publish Services entry keeps a gallery as a collection in the Library's left panel and pushes only new and edited photos each time you press Publish.
Our setup steps have you paste and check the studio key in the Publish Service's own setup window as well. If a publish stops and asks for the key, that setup window is where it goes.
The full walk-through is in publishing a gallery from Lightroom Classic.
Version and cost
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Current plugin version | 3.2.0 |
| Works in | Lightroom Classic only, not the cloud-based Lightroom app |
| Plugin SDK version it declares as its minimum | 6.0 (an SDK number, not a Lightroom Classic release number) |
| Price of the plugin | Free to download, with no login needed to get it |
| Free account | 1 gallery, 5 GB |
| Paid plan | 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year, unlimited galleries under fair use |
The plugin appears in the Export dialog the same way on a free account and a paid one. The plan only changes how many galleries you can create through it.
If all five checks pass and it is still missing
Download the plugin again from the plugin page, and repeat the install from the start: unzip, move the folder to its permanent place, add it, restart once.
If it still does not appear, you do not have to stop working. The web uploader at clientgallery.io/studio creates the same kind of gallery from JPEGs you export yourself, and your client picks the same way.
What you lose without the plugin is the round trip into the catalog. Every completed gallery also offers an Export picks (.txt) button, a plain list of the chosen file names, as a fallback.
Sources
Adobe's Lightroom Classic help pages returned an error when fetched on 18 September 2026, so this page quotes no Adobe text and states no Lightroom rule as Adobe's. The install steps are our own, as published on our plugin page.
- clientgallery.io product facts, checked in code 18 September 2026: the plugin name ClientGallery, the Import ClientGallery Picks command, plugin version 3.2.0, the declared SDK minimum of 6.0, the hidden Export panels and forced output settings, the Studio key, Gallery name, Client sees and Password fields, the plugin's error messages, the 1,000 photos per gallery ceiling, 250 GB of proofs per paid account, 5 GB and 1 gallery on a free account, and the shared saved key. https://clientgallery.io/lightroom
- clientgallery.io plugin page (install steps: unzip, move the folder somewhere permanent, File, Plug-in Manager, Add, restart once, the two Export To menus, Classic only, Export picks (.txt), key regeneration), checked 18 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/lightroom
- clientgallery.io pricing (10 $ a month or 100 $ a year), checked 18 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
Why is the ClientGallery plugin not in my Export dialog?
Work through five checks in order. You must be in Lightroom Classic, not the cloud app. The unzipped plugin folder must be added in the Plug-in Manager and left in a permanent place. Lightroom Classic must be restarted once after adding it. You must look in the Export To menu at the very top of the Export window. And the entry is named ClientGallery.
What name does the plugin show in Lightroom Classic?
ClientGallery, written as one word. That is the name of the Export destination and of the Publish Services entry. The command for bringing picks back is named Import ClientGallery Picks and sits under Library, Plug-in Extras.
Do I have to restart Lightroom Classic after installing the plugin?
Our install steps call for one full quit and reopen after the plugin is added. Closing the Export window or the catalog is not enough. You only do it once per computer.
Does the plugin work in the cloud-based Lightroom app?
No. It is a Lightroom Classic plugin. In the cloud-based app, export your JPEGs and upload them through the web uploader at clientgallery.io/studio. Picks then stay in the gallery instead of coming back into a catalog.
Why did most of the Export panels disappear when I chose ClientGallery?
The plugin sets its own output, a resized sRGB JPEG with location metadata removed, so it hides the file naming, file settings, image sizing, output sharpening, export location and video panels. In their place you see Studio key, Gallery name, Client sees and Password.
Do I need a paid account for the plugin to appear?
No. The plugin is free to download and appears the same way on any account. A free account holds one gallery and 5 GB, and exporting again to the same gallery name adds to it. Unlimited galleries are 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year.
The plugin is there but says my key was not recognised. What now?
Copy the current studio key from the bottom of clientgallery.io/studio, paste it into the Studio key field and press Check. If the key was regenerated on the dashboard, the old one no longer works on any computer.
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