Migration
How to Tell Clients You Changed Gallery Platform
Changing gallery platform is your project, not your client's. Send the right four lines to the few clients who still use their link, say nothing to the rest, and answer the stragglers the day they write.
Updated 30 September 2026
A platform switch only becomes a support problem when the message is wrong.
Tell everyone, and you spend your name in a hundred inboxes on a change most clients will never notice. Tell nobody, and the one client who is halfway through choosing album photos finds a dead page.
This guide sorts clients by where they are in their job, then gives a message for each case. Every template is written to be pasted, with the parts to change in square brackets.
One fact shapes all of it. An old gallery link lives on the old platform, and it does not redirect to the new one. The reasons are in does switching gallery platform break old client links. The short version is that no new platform can forward an address it does not own.
Move first, message second
Do not write to a single client until the new gallery exists and you have opened it yourself.
A message that says "your gallery has moved" and points at an empty page is worse than no message.
If you are leaving Pixieset, the import on clientgallery.io runs from one bookmark clicked on your Pixieset dashboard. It reads the whole account through the same dashboard requests Pixieset's own web app makes. It only reads: nothing on Pixieset is changed, and your Pixieset password never reaches clientgallery.io.
Re-running the bookmark skips what already came across, so you can move live clients first and the archive later without duplicates. A collection that is still processing on Pixieset is left for the next run.
Before you promise a client anything, know exactly what the import carries.
| Item | Comes across | What that means for your message |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery title | Yes | The client recognises the gallery by name. |
| Collection password | Yes | "Same password" is true, once you have checked it on each gallery. |
| Photo order | Yes | The story runs in the order you arranged. |
| Sets | Yes, as sections, when a collection has more than one set | Ceremony and reception stay grouped inside one gallery. |
| Event date and set descriptions | As paragraphs in the welcome note | Read the welcome note once and tidy it before sending the link. |
| Photo size | Pixieset's largest web size | Not the original file. Print files come from your own drives. |
| Client favourites and selections made on Pixieset | No | A client mid-selection needs their own message, below. |
| Changes made on Pixieset after the import | No | The import is a copy taken at that moment, not a sync. |
The import is not a backup. It brings photos at Pixieset's largest web size, so your masters stay on your own drives, and nothing on this page changes that.
Sort clients into four groups
The right message depends on where the client is in the job, not on how long ago you shot it.
| Group | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-selection: choosing album or retouch picks right now | Let them finish where they are, or send template 1 | Their picks live on the old platform and do not come across. |
| Delivered recently, may not have downloaded | Send template 2 | They are still using the link. |
| Older client who opened their gallery recently | Send template 3 | A recent open is the one reliable sign a link is still in use. |
| Older client, gallery untouched | Re-host quietly, send nothing | Answer with template 4 on the day they write in. |
New clients booked after the switch need no explanation at all. Their first gallery is simply on the new platform.
Send every message yourself, from the email address or phone number the client already knows. A familiar sender is what gets a link opened.
Template 1: a client in the middle of choosing
This is the case that causes real trouble, so decide before you write.
The simplest option is not to move this client yet. Keep the old platform running until their selection is sent, then import the gallery. The import copies the gallery as it stands, so importing after they finish means nothing is lost.
If you have to move them now, be honest that their picks do not travel, and make the restart as small as possible.
Subject: [Gallery name], a new link for your selection
Hi [Name], I have moved my galleries to a new home, and yours is here: [new link]. The password is the same as before.
One thing to know: the favourites you marked on the old page did not come across. If you send me the file numbers you had chosen, I will mark them for you. Or pick again here, whichever is quicker for you.
Your deadline has not changed: [date]. Reply if anything looks wrong.
Offering to mark their earlier choices yourself turns a chore for them into five minutes for you. Send this message while the old page is still online, so the client can still look up what they had chosen.
Template 2: a recent delivery
Lead with the link. The explanation is the part the client skips.
Subject: your gallery has a new address
Hi [Name], your gallery has moved. Here is the new link: [new link]. Same photos, same password.
The old link will stop working once I close my old account, so please use this one from now on. If you have not downloaded your photos yet, now is a good moment.
Say "once I close my old account" rather than naming a date, unless you know the date for certain. How long an old page survives after you cancel is decided by the old platform, not by you.
Before sending, open the new gallery on your phone and check that downloads are switched the way you intend. That is the view most clients will use.
Template 3: an older client who still opens their link
This client has last year's link sitting in their inbox and still uses it. Give them the new one, and a reason to save it.
Subject: a new link for your [year] photos
Hi [Name], a quick note. I have moved my client galleries, and yours now lives here: [new link]. The password has not changed.
The old link in your inbox will stop working soon, so it may be worth bookmarking this one. If you ever want the full-resolution files for printing, reply and I will send a fresh download.
The last sentence matters. The import brings web-size photos, not your originals. A client who wants print files gets them from you, as a full-resolution ZIP you upload to the gallery. That download stays live for 3 days per handoff, and you can upload it again any time.
Template 4: the client who finds a dead link
Some day, a client from three years ago will write that their link does not work. That is expected, not a failure, and the reply takes one minute.
Hi [Name], thanks for letting me know. My galleries moved to a new home, and yours is right here: [new link]. The password is [password]. If you need the full-resolution files, say the word and I will send them today.
Answering on the same day is the whole trick. The client remembers that you replied fast, not that the address changed.
If you re-hosted that gallery quietly, the link is ready to paste. If you did not, the answer is the files from your own drives. The general routine for a lost link is in my client lost their gallery link.
A text message version, and what not to say
Some clients only read texts. Keep it to two lines.
Hi [Name], it is [your name]. Your photo gallery has a new link: [new link]. Same password as before.
Leave these out of every message:
- The name of either platform. The client hired you, not a gallery company.
- Why you switched. Price and features are your business, not theirs.
- A promise that the new link will last forever. Promise what is true instead.
- Urgency you do not have. "Soon" is honest when you have not set a date.
Why a new link is not a broken promise
Some photographers feel that changing the link breaks a promise. It does not, if you look at what was actually promised.
You promised the client their photos, delivered well. You did not sell them a web address.
The promise is kept as long as a client who asks can get their photos back quickly. A new link sent the same day does that. So does a fresh full-resolution download from your own masters.
Once the galleries are here, the address stays put. Hosted galleries on clientgallery.io do not expire for as long as the account exists. The time-boxed part is only the full-resolution ZIP, live for 3 days per handoff, which is why the templates offer to resend it rather than promise it is always there.
Be honest with yourself about the reverse case too. If you ever leave this platform, these links will stop working in exactly the same way. The durable copies are on the client's devices and on your drives.
The order of the whole switch
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Download your own files from the old platform, or confirm your masters are safe on your drives. |
| 2 | Run the import. Move live clients first; the archive can follow in later runs. |
| 3 | Open each live gallery. Check the password, the welcome note and the download setting. |
| 4 | Send templates 1 to 3 to the groups that need them. |
| 5 | Watch the opened indicator on each gallery tile. Follow up only with live jobs that have not opened. |
| 6 | Keep the old account running until the mid-selection clients have finished, then close it. |
On clientgallery.io, the studio gallery list can be filtered to show galleries seen by the client and galleries not opened yet. That tells you who received the new link without asking anyone.
A free account holds one gallery of up to 1,000 photos, which is enough to test the import on one client. Moving a whole account needs the paid plan, at $10 a month or $110 a year. For a slower, batch-by-batch version of steps 2 and 3, see how to migrate Pixieset galleries in batches. For the first message a brand-new client receives, see how to onboard a client to your photo gallery.
Sources
This page cites no external figure, price or policy, so there is no outside source to list. It makes no claim about how long any other platform keeps a page online after cancellation.
Every clientgallery.io product fact on it was checked in the product code on 30 September 2026: the whole-account Pixieset import run from one dashboard bookmark, read-only, with no Pixieset password sent; re-runs skipping collections already imported, and collections still processing on Pixieset left for the next run; the fields it carries (title, collection password, photo order, sets as sections only when there is more than one set, event date and set descriptions as welcome-note paragraphs) at Pixieset's largest web size, never the original file; client favourites not being carried; the full-resolution ZIP live 3 days per handoff and re-uploadable; hosted galleries not expiring while the account exists; the opened indicator and its filters; and the free and paid plan limits.
The message templates are editorial recommendations for you to adapt.
Frequently asked
Do I need to tell every past client that I changed gallery platform?
No. Message clients who are mid-selection, clients with a recent delivery, and older clients who opened their gallery recently. Re-host the rest quietly and send the new link on the day one of them asks.
Will my old gallery links redirect to the new platform?
No. An old link lives on the old platform's domain, and only the owner of that domain could redirect it. No new platform can forward an address it does not own, so the new link has to be sent.
Do my clients' favourites come across when I import from Pixieset?
No. The import carries the gallery title, the collection password, photo order, and sets as sections when there is more than one. Selections a client made on Pixieset stay there, so let a client who is mid-selection finish before you import their gallery.
Will clients get the same photo quality after the import?
The import brings Pixieset's largest web size, not the original files, so it is not a backup. For prints, upload a full-resolution ZIP from your own masters to the gallery. That download is live for 3 days per handoff and can be uploaded again any time.
Does the password stay the same?
The collection password comes across with the import. Open each live gallery and check it before you write 'same password' in a message, because a gallery that relied on a different kind of code on the old platform may arrive without one.
When should I cancel my old gallery platform?
After the new galleries are live and checked, the messages are sent, and every client who was mid-selection has finished. Until then the old links are still doing work for you.
Should I mention the platform names in the message?
No. The client hired you, not a gallery company. Give the new link, confirm the password, and offer print files on request. The reasons for the switch are your business.
Your client galleries, under your name
Branded galleries, client selections and a Lightroom Classic workflow. Start with your first gallery, then compare the current plan. Full-resolution delivery is a separate handoff with its own limits and conditions.
Import your galleries first, message clients second