Delivery
How to Send Sneak Peek Photos to Clients
A sneak peek is a small first set sent before the full gallery is ready. The cleanest way to send one is a gallery that starts small and grows behind the same link, with a message from you each time it changes.
Updated 17 September 2026
A sneak peek is a handful of finished photos sent soon after a shoot.
The full set follows later, once the editing is done.
The peek gives the client something to look at and share while they wait.
It also creates a delivery problem: the client now has something from you, and the full set has to reach them without confusion.
This guide covers that problem only, with two workflows that work on clientgallery.io and a plain list of what the product does not do for a peek.
One thing up front. clientgallery.io has no dedicated sneak-peek mode, no hidden photos, no draft state and no scheduled release. The workflows below are built from ordinary galleries, and you tell the client yourself when something changes.
What a sneak peek delivery has to do
The peek has a short list of jobs.
- Reach the client quickly, on whatever device they read your message on.
- Open without an account or an app.
- Make it clear that more photos are coming, and roughly when.
- Leave the client with one place to look when the full set arrives.
- Avoid asking the client to choose photos before they have seen the whole shoot.
The fourth point is where a peek delivery can go wrong.
A client who receives one link for the peek and a second link for the full set will, sooner or later, open the wrong one.
Workflow 1: start the gallery small and grow it
This is the workflow to use when you want the client to keep one link from start to finish.
- Create the client gallery with only the peek photos in it. The gallery lives on your studio subdomain, and the client page carries no platform branding.
- Switch picks off for now. Picks and downloads are separate switches on each gallery. Leaving picks off stops the client from starting a selection on a handful of photos.
- Decide on downloads. Leave them on if the client should be able to save the peek photos, or switch them off if the peek is for looking only. Switching downloads off hides the download buttons, but a determined viewer can still save an image the browser shows.
- Write the welcome note for the peek stage. It appears under the gallery title. Say that this is a first look and that the full set will be added to this same page.
- Set a password if the shoot calls for one. It covers the whole gallery, including the photos you add later.
- Send the link yourself. clientgallery.io does not email the client for you. Use your own inbox or a text message.
- Add the full set to the same gallery when it is ready. You can upload more photos to a gallery you have already shared. The link does not change.
- Update the welcome note, switch picks on if this is a proofing round, and tell the client. Adding photos sends no notification to the client, so the message from you is the only signal they get.
The client never holds two links. The address you sent for the peek is the address of the full gallery.
Where the new photos land
New photos are added to the end of the gallery.
So the peek photos stay at the top, and the full set follows below them.
For many shoots that order is fine: the client sees the favourites first, then everything else.
If you want more structure, use sections. The client page is one scrolling page. Photos that are not in any section appear first, under a Highlights heading, and each section follows with its own heading. A jump bar at the top shows each section and how many photos it holds.
A simple pattern: leave the peek photos outside any section, and put the full set into sections such as ceremony, portraits and party. The peek then reads as the highlights of the gallery rather than as leftovers from an earlier stage.
Sections do not add room. Every photo, peek included, counts toward the gallery's ceiling of 1,000 photos.
Workflow 2: a separate small gallery for the peek
Some studios prefer the peek to stand on its own.
In that case, create a second gallery that holds only the peek photos, share its link, and deliver the full set in its own gallery later.
This has real advantages.
- The full gallery can be built in any order, without the peek photos sitting at the top.
- The peek gallery can have downloads on while the full gallery has downloads off, or the other way round.
- The client can forward the peek link widely without also forwarding the full set later.
It also has a cost.
- The client now holds two links, and you have to say clearly which one is current.
- On a free account, which holds one gallery, a second gallery is not available. The paid plan has no gallery count and no per-gallery fee.
Hosted galleries do not expire, so the peek gallery stays up after the full set arrives unless you revoke or delete it. Revoking takes the page dark. Deleting is permanent.
Which workflow to pick
| Question | Grow one gallery | Separate peek gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Links the client holds | 1 | 2 |
| Galleries used | 1 | 2 (paid plan) |
| Where the peek photos sit | At the top of the full gallery | On their own page |
| Download setting | One setting for peek and full set | Set separately on each gallery |
| Client told when the full set is in | By you | By you |
| Best for | Clients who lose links, and simple portrait sessions | Peeks meant to be forwarded widely, or full galleries you want in a strict order |
If you are unsure, grow one gallery. One link is the simpler promise to keep.
Publishing the peek from Lightroom Classic
The Lightroom Classic plugin is a publish service, and it suits the grow-one-gallery workflow.
Publish the peek photos first. When the rest are edited, add them to the same published collection and press Publish again. Lightroom tracks which photos are new and pushes those.
If you re-edit a peek photo, it lands in the Modified queue and replaces itself in the gallery on the next Publish, with no new link. The details are in the guide to updating a gallery after re-editing.
The plugin publishes on Export or Publish only. Nothing goes to the gallery on its own.
If you want selects reaching a gallery while the shoot is still running, that is a different setup with its own limits, covered in the live shoot upload guide.
What to tell the client, and when
Because the gallery sends nothing to the client, your messages carry the whole sequence.
| Stage | What the client sees | What your message should say |
|---|---|---|
| Peek sent | A few photos, picks off, your welcome note | This is a first look. The full gallery comes on this same link by the date in your contract. |
| Waiting | The same page, unchanged | Nothing, unless the date moves. If it moves, say so before the old date passes. |
| Full set added | Peek at the top, full set below, updated note | The full gallery is in, same link as before. If picks are on, say what to choose and press Send my picks when done. |
Ready-to-paste wording for the delivery message is in the photo delivery email templates.
On timing, the peek is part of a staged promise: a first look, then the full gallery by a stated date. How to choose dates you can keep is covered in the turnaround time guide.
To check whether the client opened the gallery at all, look at the opened indicator on its tile in the studio. The filters All, Seen by client and Not opened yet sort your galleries by it.
What clientgallery.io does not do for a peek
Be clear about these before you promise a client anything.
- There is no sneak-peek mode or setting.
- You cannot upload photos and keep them hidden until a reveal date.
- There is no draft or unpublished state, and no scheduled publishing.
- The client is not notified when you add photos. You tell them.
A studio that wants the full set uploaded in advance and released automatically on a set day should use a platform that documents that feature.
The same goes for a studio that earns its margin through a print store inside the gallery. clientgallery.io has no print store and takes no commission, so a store-led studio is better served by Pixieset or Pic-Time.
The numbers
| 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), peek included | 1,000 |
| Proofs per paid account (fair use) | 250 GB |
| Links changed when you add photos | 0 |
| Automatic client notifications when photos are added | 0 |
| Gallery expiry | None |
Sources
This page states no external figure, quotes no competitor and gives no statistic about how many photos photographers send in a peek or how soon. Pixieset and Pic-Time are named only as examples of platforms with a built-in print store; no figure about them is stated. Every clientgallery.io behaviour below was checked against the product on 17 September 2026.
- clientgallery.io product behaviour (photos can be added to a shared gallery, the link does not change, new photos are added to the end, no hidden photos, drafts, sneak-peek mode or client notification when photos are added, unfiled photos shown first under Highlights, picks and downloads as separate switches, the opened indicator and its filters, the Lightroom Classic plugin publishing on Export or Publish only, galleries that do not expire, the plan price, the free account limits and the fair-use ceilings), checked 17 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
- clientgallery.io Lightroom Classic plugin page (publish service with New and Modified tracking), read 17 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/lightroom
Frequently asked
How do I send sneak peek photos to a client?
Create the client gallery with only the peek photos, switch picks off, and send the link yourself with a line saying the full set will be added to the same link. When the full set is ready, upload it to that gallery and message the client again.
Can I add more photos to a gallery after I have shared it?
Yes. You can upload more photos to a gallery that is already shared, and the link stays the same. New photos are added to the end of the gallery.
Will my client be notified when I add the full set?
No. clientgallery.io does not notify the client when photos are added. Send your own message by email or text when the full set is in.
Can I upload the full set now and hide it until the reveal?
No. There are no hidden photos, no draft state and no scheduled publishing. Upload the rest when you want the client to see it, or keep the full set in a separate gallery you share later.
Should the sneak peek be its own gallery?
It can be, on the paid plan, which has no gallery count. A separate peek gallery lets you set downloads differently and order the full gallery freely, but the client then holds two links. If clients tend to lose links, grow one gallery instead.
Should picks be on during the sneak peek?
Usually not. Picks and downloads are separate switches, so you can leave picks off while only the peek is up and switch them on once the full set is in. That keeps the client from sending a selection before seeing the whole shoot.
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