Migration
How to Download All Photos From SmugMug
SmugMug has an official download for a whole gallery, not for a whole account. So the job is one gallery at a time, in the right order, finished before the account closes.
Updated 17 September 2026
The short answer: open each gallery in SmugMug's Site Organizer, click Select All, then click the download icon.
SmugMug packages the gallery and emails you a link to the ZIP files.
Repeat that for every gallery you want to keep.
SmugMug's help centre documents this per-gallery route. It documents no single action that downloads a whole account.
This guide walks through the owner steps as SmugMug publishes them, how the files arrive, and what to finish before you cancel.
The last part covers moving the set to a flat-price gallery. clientgallery.io has no SmugMug importer, and this page says so plainly: the move is a download followed by an upload.
What SmugMug officially offers
Every row below comes from SmugMug's own help centre. The articles and their update dates are listed under Sources.
| Question | What SmugMug states |
|---|---|
| Download a whole gallery | Yes. Site Organizer, Select All, then the download icon. |
| Download a whole account in one action | Not documented. The built-in ZIP works per gallery. Whole-library downloads are covered only by third-party tools that SmugMug says it did not develop. |
| Smallest gallery with a download button | 3 photos or videos |
| How a large gallery arrives | Split into several ZIP files |
| How the download is delivered | A link sent by email |
| Link expiry, owner request from Site Organizer | Does not expire |
| Link expiry, logged-out visitor request | 2 weeks |
| Visitor download size | Chosen by the owner in the Download Size setting. The default is Original. |
| Files after the account closes | Removed permanently 30 days after closure |
SmugMug does not publish a size cap per ZIP file, in gigabytes or in photos. So this page does not state one.
Step by step: download one gallery as the owner
- Log in as the account owner. SmugMug states that a logged-in owner can always download their own photos, and always receives the original size.
- Open My Site, then Site Organizer. Pick the gallery you want.
- Click Select All. That selects every image in the gallery.
- Click the download icon. SmugMug starts packaging the gallery.
- Wait for the email. It carries the link to the ZIP files.
- Download every ZIP in the set. A gallery with many photos arrives as several files, and each one matters.
- Mark the gallery as done in your own list before you open the next one.
Request the download from Site Organizer, not from the public gallery page. SmugMug says an owner request from Site Organizer gets a link that does not expire. A request made as a logged-out guest expires after two weeks.
The download button needs at least three photos or videos in the gallery. For a gallery with one or two files, save them one at a time.
Why there is no one-click whole-account download
SmugMug's help article on outside tools says the built-in feature creates a ZIP file of any gallery you own.
For whole-library downloads, the same article points to third-party utilities, and states that they were not developed by SmugMug.
We do not name or recommend any of them. If you consider one, read SmugMug's article first and judge the tool yourself.
The per-gallery route is slower but predictable. It runs on SmugMug's own feature, and each finished gallery is a checkpoint you can verify.
Plan the job before you click anything
A long SmugMug history can hold hundreds of galleries. Doing them in a random order is how one gets missed.
- List every gallery. Walk Site Organizer and write down each gallery name and its photo count.
- Sort by what you still hold. A job whose finished files already sit on your own drives may not need a download at all.
- Start with work that exists nowhere else. Old jobs whose local drive failed or was cleared go first.
- Pick a naming rule for the local copy. Year, client and gallery name reads well years later.
- Download to a drive with room to spare. Unzip and check before you delete any ZIP.
A simple tracking sheet is enough.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Gallery | The name as it appears in Site Organizer |
| Count on SmugMug | Photos and videos in the gallery |
| ZIP files received | How many files the email linked to |
| Count on disk | Files after unzipping |
| Checked | Yes only when the two counts match |
| Re-published | Yes when the gallery is live on the new host |
Finish before the account closes
Order matters more than speed here.
SmugMug states that a cancelled account closes at the end of the subscription term, monthly or annual.
Its cancellation article says only that site images have a short time to recover after that.
A separate article gives the number: files are removed permanently 30 days after closure.
Treat those 30 days as an emergency margin, not as a plan. Download and verify everything while the account is still active, then cancel.
If you store RAW files with SmugMug Source, handle them first. SmugMug states that closing Source removes the RAW and .xmp files, while linked JPEGs stay.
SmugMug lists ARW, CR2, CR3, DNG, NEF, RAF, PSD, PSB, TIF and TIFF among the file types Source holds. Make sure you hold your own copy of those files before you close anything.
Check the download before you trust it
- Unzip every file in a gallery's set, not only the first one.
- Compare the file count on disk with the count in Site Organizer.
- Open a sample of photos from the start, middle and end of each gallery.
- Check that videos play, if the gallery had any.
- Copy the verified set to a second drive before you delete the ZIP files.
A download is not a backup until a second copy exists. The habit of keeping a working copy and an archive copy is covered in where to keep original files after client delivery.
Moving the set to clientgallery.io
clientgallery.io has one importer, and it reads Pixieset only. There is no SmugMug importer.
You download your galleries from SmugMug, as above, and upload them. There are two ways in.
- The web uploader. Create a gallery and drop in the JPG or PNG files. They are compressed in the browser into proof JPEGs of about 0.6 MB each before they are hosted.
- The Lightroom Classic plugin. If the job still lives in your catalog, publishing from Lightroom is often cleaner than re-uploading SmugMug's copy. The plugin publishes proofs when you press Export or Publish, and pulls the client's picks back into the catalog later. The setup is in publish a client gallery from Lightroom Classic.
One point needs saying clearly. clientgallery.io hosts proof JPEGs sized for fast viewing. It does not store RAW files or master video.
So the files you downloaded from SmugMug stay on your own drives as your archive. The gallery is the client's copy, not your backup.
For a finished delivery, a paid account can attach a full-resolution ZIP to a gallery. It stays live for 3 days per handoff and can be uploaded again at any time.
A large SmugMug gallery may need splitting. A gallery holds up to 1,000 photos, and sections inside a gallery do not add room, so a bigger job becomes a second gallery.
Sections are for organising. The client sees one scrolling page with a jump bar that shows how many photos each section holds.
| clientgallery.io item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Paid plan | $10 a month, or $100 a year (8.33 a month) |
| Free account | 1 gallery, 5 GB |
| Photos per gallery (fair use) | 1,000 |
| Proofs per paid account (fair use) | 250 GB |
| Typical proof size | About 0.6 MB |
| Full-resolution ZIP | Paid only, 3 days per handoff, 100 GB of standing ZIPs per account |
| Gallery expiry | None while the account exists |
| Importer for SmugMug | None |
Old SmugMug links live on SmugMug, so they depend on that account staying open. Send clients their new links before you cancel. The sequencing is covered in does switching gallery platform break old client links.
If you are still choosing between SmugMug and Zenfolio rather than leaving both, see SmugMug vs Zenfolio.
Who should stay on SmugMug
Downloading everything is sensible either way. Leaving is not right for everyone.
- You want a public portfolio website. clientgallery.io is a delivery and proofing tool, not a website builder.
- You sell prints or downloads through the platform. clientgallery.io has no print store and no checkout. You can paste your own payment link, but releasing downloads after payment is a switch you flip yourself.
- You want the gallery host to be your archive. SmugMug hosts full-resolution JPEGs and offers RAW storage through Source. clientgallery.io hosts proofs and keeps no RAW files.
The move fits a studio whose work is shoot, upload, send a link, collect picks and deliver, and whose masters already live on its own drives.
Sources
Every SmugMug statement on this page comes from SmugMug's plans page and the help-centre articles below, each read on 17 September 2026. Help-centre articles are cited with their own update date. SmugMug publishes no ZIP size cap, so none is stated. Every clientgallery.io figure is a product fact checked on 17 September 2026.
- SmugMug Plans (full-resolution JPEG storage, Source RAW add-on), page carries no update date, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmug.com/plans
- SmugMug Help: Download several images in a gallery, article updated 11 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212879427348-Download-several-images-in-a-gallery
- SmugMug Help: Download photos from my SmugMug site, article updated 7 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212774666004-Download-photos-from-my-SmugMug-site
- SmugMug Help: Third-party uploaders, downloaders, migration tools and utilities, article updated 9 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212852213908-Third-party-uploaders-downloaders-migration-tools-and-utilities
- SmugMug Help: Cancel your subscription, article updated 29 August 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212207203604-Cancel-your-subscription
- SmugMug Help: Restore deleted photo or video, article updated 25 August 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18212481465236-Restore-deleted-photo-or-video
- SmugMug Help: Manage my RAW files with SmugMug Source, article updated 1 September 2026, fetched 17 September 2026, https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/18277477678356-Manage-my-RAW-files-with-SmugMug-Source
- clientgallery.io product behaviour (plan price, free account limits, fair-use ceilings, proof size, full-resolution ZIP window, no gallery expiry, Pixieset-only importer, web uploader and Lightroom Classic plugin), checked 17 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
How do I download all my photos from SmugMug at once?
SmugMug documents a whole-gallery download, not a whole-account one. As the owner, open Site Organizer, choose a gallery, click Select All, then the download icon. SmugMug emails a link to the ZIP files. Repeat for each gallery.
Does the SmugMug download link expire?
SmugMug says a download the account owner requests from Site Organizer gets a link that does not expire. A download requested as a logged-out guest from the public gallery expires after two weeks.
Why did my SmugMug gallery arrive as several ZIP files?
SmugMug splits a gallery with many photos into several ZIP files to speed up downloading. Download and unzip every file in the set. SmugMug does not publish a size limit per ZIP.
What happens to my photos if I cancel SmugMug?
SmugMug states that the account closes at the end of the monthly or annual term, and that files are removed permanently 30 days after closure. Download and check everything before you cancel.
Can clientgallery.io import my SmugMug galleries?
No. The only importer reads Pixieset. From SmugMug you download each gallery and upload it with the web uploader, or re-publish the job from your Lightroom Classic catalog with the plugin.
Will clientgallery.io keep my SmugMug originals?
No. It hosts proof JPEGs of about 0.6 MB each, sized for fast viewing, and stores no RAW files or master video. Keep the files you downloaded on your own drives. A paid account can attach a full-resolution ZIP to a gallery for 3 days per handoff.
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