Migration
How to Migrate From Zenfolio Without Losing a Gallery
A manual plan in seven steps: audit, download every gallery before you cancel, verify the files, re-publish proofs, sort out your website, swap links, and cancel last.
Updated September 2026
Leaving Zenfolio is a manual job, and this guide says so up front. clientgallery.io has a one-click importer for Pixieset accounts only. There is no Zenfolio importer. Zenfolio's own help centre states that there is no way to download the images in every gallery of an account in one action; bulk downloads are done gallery by gallery.
That makes the order of the work more important than its speed. Zenfolio states that once an account closes, access is disabled and content is permanently deleted. So the downloads come first and the cancellation comes last. Between the two, you re-publish the galleries that still matter and send clients their new links.
One more thing before you start. Zenfolio is also a website builder: its plans list a customizable website, a branded store and a custom domain alongside client galleries. clientgallery.io is not a portfolio website builder. If your website lives on Zenfolio, you need a separate plan for it, and for some studios the right answer is to stay. That case is covered below.
What Zenfolio does when an account closes
Read this before touching the cancel button. Every line below is Zenfolio's own published policy, with the source listed at the end of the page.
| Question | What Zenfolio states |
|---|---|
| Can I download a whole gallery at once? | Yes. All images in a gallery can be downloaded in one action, bundled into a zip file. |
| Can I download every gallery at once? | No. Bulk downloads must be completed gallery by gallery. |
| Is my content kept while the account is open? | Yes, it remains accessible as long as the account remains open. |
| What happens after the account closes? | Access is disabled, the account is placed in a non-recoverable state, and content is permanently deleted. |
| What do the Terms say? | On termination or expiration, Zenfolio deletes your photographer content. No grace period is stated. |
| When should I cancel? | At least 2 business days before renewal. |
| Is a cancelled subscription refunded? | Subscription sales are non-refundable, with exceptional cases reviewed individually. |
Zenfolio also says plainly that it is not meant to be the only place your content is stored, and recommends a backup outside Zenfolio. That advice is the whole plan in one sentence.
The migration, in seven steps
- Audit what you have. Open the Photos area of your Zenfolio account and list every gallery. Mark three groups: active (recent deliveries, open orders, links sent in the last few months), archive you want to keep online, and archive you only need on your own drives. Note which galleries have a password, since you will set those again by hand. Note every page of your Zenfolio website that links to a gallery. Check how much storage the account uses: that figure is the minimum free disk space you need for the downloads, twice over if you keep two copies.
- Download every gallery, one at a time. Zenfolio documents two versions of its Photos page. On the newer one, open Photos, choose the gallery, click the Actions button without selecting any image, and choose "Download Original Files". On the older one, open Photos, choose the gallery, click the information icon in the Details column and choose "Download all photos", or the option that includes linked raw files if you stored RAW files there. Each gallery arrives as a zip file. Name each zip after its gallery as it lands, so a hundred downloads do not turn into a hundred files called the same thing. Work through the active group first, then the archive.
- Verify the downloads before you rely on them. Unzip each one. Compare the file count with the photo count Zenfolio shows for that gallery. Open a handful of files from the start, middle and end. Then copy the whole set to a second drive. The guide to keeping originals after delivery covers naming and the two-copy rule. This archive is your safety net, not clientgallery.io.
- Re-publish the galleries that still matter. Only the active group and the archive you want online need to go up again. If the Lightroom Classic catalog for those shoots still exists, the two-way plugin is the fast path: it publishes proofs straight from the catalog and later pulls client picks back in, so you never touch the zip files for those galleries. The Lightroom Classic publishing guide walks through it. Without a catalog, upload the downloaded files in the browser. Either way, what clientgallery.io hosts are proof JPEGs, compressed for fast viewing, not your originals. Set the password on each gallery that had one, then open the gallery as a client would before sending anything.
- Decide what happens to your website. If your portfolio site is a Zenfolio website, it does not move here, because there is nothing here to move it to. Choose a website platform, rebuild the pages, and point the client-login or gallery links at your new galleries on your studio's subdomain. If your website already lives elsewhere, this step is just replacing links.
- Swap links with clients. Active clients get a short message: new link, same password if there is one, downloads work in one click. Update your contract, welcome email templates and any automated messages. Archive clients get the new link when they ask. The answer on whether switching breaks old links explains why old Zenfolio links cannot be redirected once the account is gone.
- Cancel last. Only when every gallery you care about is downloaded, verified and copied twice, open orders are closed, and your website no longer points at Zenfolio. Cancel at least 2 business days before renewal, and since subscriptions are non-refundable, time it to the end of the period you have already paid for.
What does not come over
Downloading carries your photos. It does not carry the business that runs inside Zenfolio.
| What | Comes over? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Photos | By hand | Downloaded per gallery from Zenfolio, re-published as proofs here. Keep the originals on your own drives. |
| Gallery titles and passwords | By hand | Set again on each gallery. Your audit list is the record. |
| Store, price lists and orders | No | clientgallery.io has no print store and takes no commission. Orders and their history stay in Zenfolio; save what you need before cancelling. |
| Portfolio website pages | No | clientgallery.io is not a website builder. Rebuild the site on a website platform. |
| Client history and contacts | No | Nothing is imported. Clients here have no account or login; they open a link, with a password if you set one. |
| RAW files and video | No | clientgallery.io hosts JPEGs, not RAW files or master video. That is what keeps the price flat. |
| Gallery expiry settings | Nothing to move | Hosted galleries here never expire while the account exists. |
For studios that sell: Zenfolio's help centre states a commerce fee of 7% per order on vendor-fulfilled, digital download and self-fulfilled orders, regardless of plan, on top of payment processing. If store sales are a real revenue line, that fee is the price of a working store, and moving to a delivery-only platform removes the store along with the fee.
What the re-published galleries look like
Each gallery sits on your studio's own subdomain, with no platform branding on any client-facing page. Clients download the whole gallery in one click or any single image. Sub-galleries let you organise a big job into sections, and the client sees one scrolling page with a jump-to bar at the top. Face Search is included. Fair use is 1,000 photos per gallery and 250 GB of proofs per paid account, so split a very large Zenfolio gallery into two before uploading.
Full-resolution delivery is a paid feature and works differently from Zenfolio: you upload a full-resolution ZIP per gallery, it stays live for 3 days per handoff and can be re-uploaded any time, with 100 GB of standing ZIPs per account. The plan is 10 $/month or 100 $/year, and the first gallery is free.
Who should stay on Zenfolio
A migration guide that never tells you to stay is a sales page. Stay if one of these is you.
- Your website and galleries are one product for you. Zenfolio bundles a customizable website, custom domain and galleries. clientgallery.io replaces only the gallery part, so leaving means paying for a website somewhere else and rebuilding it.
- You sell prints and products through galleries. Zenfolio has a branded store. clientgallery.io has none.
- You deliver video or keep RAW files online. Zenfolio offers video storage and RAW file storage. clientgallery.io hosts JPEGs only.
- You have hundreds of galleries and no archive of your own. Then the download step alone is a long project. Do it anyway, because Zenfolio itself says not to use it as your only copy, but there is no reason to rush the rest.
How long the move takes
No hours figure is given here, because none has been measured. The time depends on the number of galleries, their size and your connection. The download step scales with your gallery count, since each gallery is its own action. The re-publishing step scales only with the galleries you choose to put back online, which is usually far fewer. The migration time answer breaks down which parts are machine time and which are yours. The Zenfolio alternative page compares the two platforms.
Sources
Every Zenfolio policy and figure above comes from one of these first-party pages. Help centre articles were read through Zenfolio's help centre API on its own host and are cited with each article's own update date. No Zenfolio price is quoted on this page.
- Zenfolio help centre: Downloading Back Original Uploaded Photos and Videos, article updated 30 April 2024, read 15 September 2026, https://support.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/7432727166867-Downloading-Back-Original-Uploaded-Photos-and-Videos
- Zenfolio help centre: Cancelling or Deleting your Zenfolio Account, article updated 11 July 2025, read 15 September 2026, https://support.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/7432726227859-Cancelling-or-Deleting-your-Zenfolio-Account
- Zenfolio help centre: How the Service Fees are Calculated, article updated 10 July 2026, read 15 September 2026, https://support.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/7432680665619-How-the-Service-Fees-are-Calculated
- Zenfolio help centre: Raw File Storage, article updated 19 March 2024, read 15 September 2026, https://support.zenfolio.com/hc/en-us/articles/7432716203411-Raw-File-Storage
- Zenfolio Terms of Service, last updated 19 February 2026, fetched 15 September 2026, https://zenfolio.com/terms-of-service/
- Zenfolio plans and pricing (feature list only; no price is quoted on this page), fetched 15 September 2026, https://zenfolio.com/plans-pricing/
- clientgallery.io pricing, 15 September 2026, https://clientgallery.io/
Frequently asked
Can I download all my photos from Zenfolio at once?
Not across the whole account. Zenfolio's help centre states there is no way to download the images in every gallery in one action. You can download all images in a single gallery in one action, as a zip file, so the job is one download per gallery.
Does clientgallery.io import galleries from Zenfolio?
No. The one-click importer works with Pixieset accounts only. Moving from Zenfolio means downloading each gallery yourself and re-publishing the ones you still need, either by uploading in the browser or by publishing from your Lightroom Classic catalog with the plugin.
What happens to my photos if I cancel Zenfolio?
Zenfolio states that content stays accessible while the account is open, and that once the account closes, access is disabled and content is permanently deleted. Its Terms say photographer content is deleted on termination or expiration. Download and verify everything before you cancel.
When should I cancel my Zenfolio subscription?
Last, after every gallery is downloaded and copied to a second drive, orders are closed and your website no longer links to Zenfolio. Zenfolio asks for cancellation at least 2 business days before renewal, and subscriptions are non-refundable, so time it to the end of a paid period.
My portfolio website is on Zenfolio. Can clientgallery.io replace it?
No. clientgallery.io is a client gallery and proofing platform, not a portfolio website builder. You would need a separate website platform and link it to your galleries, or stay on Zenfolio if the bundle of website, store and galleries is what you want.
Are the Zenfolio downloads full resolution?
Zenfolio's download option is labelled as original files, and there is a variant that includes linked raw files. Keep those as your archive. What you re-publish on clientgallery.io are proof JPEGs compressed for fast viewing; full-resolution delivery is a separate paid ZIP handoff.
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.
Create your studio