Lightroom workflow
Narrative Select to a Client Gallery: Keep Your Ratings Through Proofing
Narrative Select writes your cull to XMP sidecar files. Here is how to get it into Lightroom Classic without losing it, publish proofs, and bring the client's picks back knowing exactly what they replace.
Updated 18 September 2026
This guide is for photographers who cull in Narrative Select, edit in Lightroom Classic, and send proofs to clients.
Two sets of ratings meet in the same catalog: yours from Narrative, and the client's from the gallery.
The first hop is where Narrative's ratings can fail to show in Lightroom. Narrative's help centre documents why that happens, and every Narrative claim here comes from it.
The second hop is ours. The clientgallery.io plugin writes the client's picks into the same rating and label fields your cull uses. On the frames the client picked, it replaces what was there. This page shows exactly which fields change and which never do.
How Narrative hands ratings to Lightroom
Narrative stores its ratings and labels in XMP sidecar files that sit next to your images.
Its help centre says Narrative "only has to read your original files" and does not change them.
If the photos are already in your catalog, Narrative's instruction is to select them, right-click and choose Metadata, then Read Metadata from File.
Narrative documents four ways to get images from Narrative into Lightroom on a Mac: its SHIP button, drag and drop, moving or copying the files, or a direct import in Lightroom.
When Narrative ratings do not appear in Lightroom
Narrative's article on missing ratings, last updated 18 December 2025, names these causes. Check them before you publish anything to a client.
| Cause | What Narrative says happens | Fix Narrative gives |
|---|---|---|
| Case-sensitive drive | Lightroom writes sidecars in lower case (.xmp) and Narrative writes them in upper case (.XMP), so the two do not line up | Check the drive in Disk Utility. If it is case-sensitive, move the files to a drive that is not |
| Import preset in Lightroom Classic | A preset applied at import overrides Narrative's metadata | When importing into Lightroom Classic, set both settings shown in its screenshot to "None" |
| NTFS drive on a Mac | macOS can read NTFS but cannot write to it, so no sidecar is written | Work from a drive macOS can write to |
| Read-only drive | Narrative cannot write any metadata, so it cannot generate XMP files | Work from a drive that is not read-only |
| Lightroom Classic in a language other than English | Colour labels are not recognised (separate article, last updated 22 May 2025) | Edit the Color Label Set with the English colour names and save it as a preset named "Narrative" |
The last row matters for proofing too. Our plugin applies the client's colour labels by name: red, yellow, green, blue and purple. A Lightroom Classic label set that does not use those English names may not show the client's labels either. Narrative's fix covers both.
If the shoot is already rated in Lightroom
Narrative documents a one-way flow into Lightroom, and it warns about the other direction.
Its syncing article says that when you read Narrative's metadata back into Lightroom, any edits or ratings you previously did in Lightroom will be overwritten.
Its advice is to run Metadata, then Save Metadata to File, in Lightroom before you cull in Narrative. That writes your Lightroom ratings to the sidecars first, so Narrative starts from them.
Keep that pattern in mind for the client stage. The pick import behaves the same way on the frames it touches: it writes, it does not merge.
What the client's picks write over your cull
In the gallery the client gives a frame one of two pick levels, a like or a love, and can add a colour label when labels are switched on for that gallery.
In Lightroom Classic, Library, Plug-in Extras, Import ClientGallery Picks… writes those choices into the open catalog. On every matched frame, the new value replaces the old one. Nothing is averaged or kept alongside.
| Your Narrative cull on the frame | What the client did | What the catalog holds after the import |
|---|---|---|
| 2 stars | Loved it | 5 stars and the Pick flag |
| 5 stars | Liked it | 3 stars. Your 5 is gone |
| Red label | Applied a green label | Green label |
| 4 stars | Nothing | 4 stars. Untouched frames are never visited |
| Any rating, any develop settings | Anything | Develop settings never change. Only rating, Pick flag, colour label and, if you opt in, caption are written |
A few more rules follow from how the import is written.
- A like never sets the Pick flag. Only a love does.
- The import never sets Rejected and never clears a rating, flag or label. If the client later un-picks a frame and you run it again, the earlier values stay.
- Client comments can go into the IPTC caption, but that option is off by default and it overwrites existing captions.
- Photos with only a colour label and no pick are pulled in too.
- Everything matched is added to a collection named after the gallery, inside a collection set called ClientGallery. A re-run reuses that collection and adds to it.
- Writing ratings does not queue photos for republish. Metadata changes alone do not trigger a re-upload.
The broader mechanics are in the guide to getting client picks back into Lightroom.
How picks find the right files
The import finds catalog photos by filename, and it is a contains match.
Every catalog photo whose filename contains the picked name gets written. That includes the same filename sitting in two places in the catalog, and a longer name that contains the picked one.
Which name the gallery holds depends on how the proofs got there.
- Published through the plugin. Each proof is stored under the catalog photo's own filename, the RAW name with its extension, even though the client sees a JPEG. Picks come back to the file you published from.
- Uploaded in the browser. Each proof keeps the name of the file you dropped in. A JPEG exported with a different name or extension only matches a catalog photo if the names line up.
For a Narrative shoot that lives in Lightroom Classic, publishing through the plugin is the simpler route. The names match by construction.
Only the catalog that is open is searched. If nothing matches, the plugin says so and asks you to import the shoot first, then run it again.
The workflow, step by step
- If the shoot is already in Lightroom with ratings, run Save Metadata to File there first, as Narrative advises.
- Check the drive: not case-sensitive, not NTFS on a Mac, not read-only.
- Cull in Narrative Select.
- Bring the images into Lightroom Classic with import presets set to None. For photos already in the catalog, use Read Metadata from File.
- Confirm the stars and labels show. If labels are missing, check the language setting and the Color Label Set.
- Keep a copy of your cull that the client cannot change. Our suggestion, not Narrative's: add your culled frames to a collection of their own before publishing, so you still know what you chose once the picks overwrite the stars.
- Publish the proofs to a gallery through the ClientGallery plugin.
- The client likes and loves frames, adds labels if you allowed them, and sends the picks.
- Run Import ClientGallery Picks… with your studio key and the gallery link.
- Edit from the collection the import created.
Without the plugin
Once the client has sent picks, the studio view of the gallery has an Export picks (.txt) button.
It downloads a plain text file with one filename per line, loves first, then likes. Nothing in the file marks which line is a love. It carries no colour labels and no comments.
That list is the route for studios that do not finish in Lightroom Classic. If you do, the plugin writes the ratings for you.
Who should skip this
If your client never chooses frames and you only deliver finished work, you do not need picks in the catalog at all. A plain delivery gallery does the job.
If you edit in the cloud Lightroom app, the plugin does not apply. It works in Lightroom Classic only.
If your cull must survive untouched, the overwrite rule is the thing to plan around. Keep the cull in its own collection, as in step 6.
The plugin is a free download. A free account holds one gallery, and the pick import is not limited by plan. Unlimited galleries are one plan at 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year.
Sources
Every Narrative behaviour on this page comes from Narrative's own help centre, read on 18 September 2026. Each article is cited with its own last-updated date. No Narrative price is stated.
- Narrative states the case-sensitive drive, import preset, NTFS and read-only causes, and the Disk Utility check, in "Why are my ratings, tags or AI Presets not appearing inside of Lightroom/my editing software?" (article updated 18 December 2025), fetched 18 September 2026, https://intercom.help/narrativeapp/en/articles/9333891-why-are-my-ratings-tags-or-ai-presets-not-appearing-inside-of-lightroom-my-editing-software
- Narrative states Read Metadata from File, Save Metadata to File, and that earlier Lightroom ratings are overwritten, in "Syncing metadata between Lightroom Classic and Narrative" (article updated 25 August 2025), fetched 18 September 2026, https://intercom.help/narrativeapp/en/articles/7337388-syncing-metadata-between-lightroom-classic-and-narrative
- Narrative states what XMP sidecars hold and that it only reads original files, in "What are .XMP (sidecar) files and why does Narrative use them?" (article updated 22 May 2025), fetched 18 September 2026, https://intercom.help/narrativeapp/en/articles/7337368-what-are-xmp-sidecar-files-and-why-does-narrative-use-them
- Narrative states the non-English colour label issue and the Color Label Set fix in "Color Labels are Not Showing in Lightroom Classic" (article updated 22 May 2025), fetched 18 September 2026, https://intercom.help/narrativeapp/en/articles/7337395-color-labels-are-not-showing-in-lightroom-classic
- Narrative states the four ways into Lightroom on a Mac in "Getting your images from Narrative into Lightroom (Mac)" (article updated 25 August 2025), fetched 18 September 2026, https://intercom.help/narrativeapp/en/articles/7337386-getting-your-images-from-narrative-into-lightroom-mac
- clientgallery.io product facts (likes 3 stars, loves 5 stars and the Pick flag, labels by name, replace not merge on matched frames, untouched frames and develop settings left alone, caption option off by default, contains match on filenames, open catalog only, filename stored per upload route, the .txt export, free plugin, one free gallery, 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year), checked in code 18 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/lightroom
Frequently asked
Why are my Narrative Select ratings not showing in Lightroom Classic?
Narrative's help centre names four causes: a case-sensitive drive, where Lightroom expects .xmp and Narrative writes .XMP; an import preset that overrides the metadata; an NTFS drive on a Mac, which macOS cannot write to; and a read-only drive. For photos already in the catalog, use Metadata, then Read Metadata from File.
Will client picks overwrite my Narrative star ratings?
On the frames the client picked, yes. A like becomes 3 stars, a love becomes 5 stars and a Pick flag, and a client colour label replaces yours. Nothing is merged. Frames the client did not touch keep your Narrative rating, and develop settings are never changed.
How do I keep my original Narrative cull after the client picks?
Before publishing, add your culled frames to a collection of their own in Lightroom Classic. The pick import changes ratings and labels, not which collections a photo already belongs to, so that collection still shows what you chose.
Does the pick import match filenames exactly?
No. It is a contains match: every catalog photo whose filename contains the picked name gets the client's rating. Proofs published through the plugin carry the catalog photo's own filename, so picks land on the file you published from.
Why are the client's colour labels missing in Lightroom?
Labels only travel when they are switched on for that gallery. The plugin also applies labels by their English names. Narrative's help centre documents that Lightroom Classic in another language may not recognise those names, and gives a Color Label Set fix.
Do I need a paid plan to bring picks back?
No. The plugin is a free download, a free account holds one gallery, and the pick import is not limited by plan. Unlimited galleries cost 10 $ a month or 100 $ a year.
Your client galleries, under your name
Unlimited galleries, your branding, one-click Pixieset import, and a Lightroom plugin, all on a flat 10 $/month with everything included. Your first gallery is free.
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