Take an album from design to approved production files

An album moves through a working design, an explicitly published proof, approval of a particular revision, and frozen production files. Payment and printing are separate steps.

Design from the photographs people chose

Open Design an album from a gallery. Start from a favorite selection, choose a supported album size and arrange the spreads. A new album can use up to 240 photographs: one cover image and automatically packed interior layouts within 60 spreads. Use the layouts, replace photographs, adjust frame position and crop, rotate an image, reorder spreads, and edit captions or backgrounds. Undo and redo apply to your current editing session.

The editor saves after a short pause and offers Save now. Watch the saved revision before closing the page. If a save fails, your current edits stay on screen with a retry action. Repeating an identical save after a lost response recovers that revision. A different stale edit is rejected so it cannot overwrite a newer version. If another editor changes the design, preserve your local work and reload before continuing.

The proof preview and production renderer use the same crop geometry. Low-resolution warnings help you see when a photograph may be too small. Production blocks images below the supported minimum at their printed size. Originals remain private behind the album’s scoped image routes.

Publish the version you want reviewed

Publishing creates a proof link for that revision. Draft saves do not send proof email. Set an optional proof password, recipient email, review deadline and maximum number of published rounds in the studio controls. Publishing a new revision counts as one round; publishing the same revision again does not. Changing proof settings revokes existing password sessions.

A couple can comment on a spread or select a photograph to attach feedback to that image, then reply within its discussion. Photograph notes are validated against the exact published spread. When explicitly enabled, they can design from the gallery’s visible photographs. They cannot overwrite a newer unpublished photographer draft. Editing a design clears its previous approval. A deadline closes client editing, notes and approval; the studio can extend the deadline in proof settings.

Suppose a couple asks to swap the photograph on the second spread. Make the change, resolve the open discussion, save, and publish the new proof. Approval requires the exact current published revision with no unresolved top-level discussions. Replies belong to their original revision and do not create extra unresolved threads. A stale approval attempt is rejected. Every referenced photograph must also remain visible, with its original and preview available. An unavailable frame is labeled on the proof and blocks approval until the studio restores or replaces it. The server rechecks these conditions during approval. Resolution checks remain a separate production requirement.

When email is configured, publication queues a proof notice and a configured deadline queues a reminder twenty-four hours beforehand. The client can request a resume link sent only to the studio’s saved recipient address. These messages use a durable queue and a fixed retry body. Email activation and real delivery checks remain part of setup; a private proof link never grants access to other galleries or studio finances.

Work through the review together

The whole story review desk puts every spread within reach, with badges showing open notes. Go to open feedback moves to the next spread that needs attention. The desk counts notes from the published revision; older discussions retain their original revision labels and stay in the review history. A private draft that has never been published is labeled accordingly.

Clients can save notes throughout the album, then explicitly choose Send notes to photographer. This submits the exact set of open notes for that published revision and queues one studio notification. It requests changes; it never approves a print order or the album design. If notes or the proof changed while the form was open, refresh and review the latest notes before submitting. An unchanged retry after a lost response returns the same submission instead of creating another email. Up to five new feedback notifications can be submitted per album per hour; draft notes stay saved independently.

The proof displays when the review was submitted and whether its studio email is queued, sent, superseded, or needs attention. Queued does not mean delivered: notes are already visible in the studio even when email setup is incomplete. Only new open notes enable an updated feedback submission. The email includes a bounded summary and a link to the private studio review desk. A superseded proof or approved album cancels a still-pending older feedback notice.

Photographers can reply and Mark resolved beside a note's photograph. Reopening or resolving a note checks both the album revision and its current resolution state. A concurrent teammate's change is never silently overwritten. The integration endpoint POST /api/v1/galleries/{id}/album-review uses the same service, requires a full private workspace member or assets:write, and supports stable request identities. Workspace membership and album ownership are checked again on a replay.

An approved album's review is closed. To make further changes, save a new draft and publish a new proof; previous approved production files remain intact. If a photographer is working on a newer unpublished draft, the client sees that explanation and can continue discussing the published version. The approval action stays unavailable until the next proof is shared. When open notes block approval, the proof links that limitation to the review desk instead of leaving an unexplained disabled button.

The studio album page now starts with publishing controls, the review desk, and the design. Proof access, production readiness, and included package allowances stay together in their own sections beneath the editor. Approved albums expand their production readiness section so the next step is visible.

Freeze files before ordering

After approval, prepare production files. The worker records the approved revision, source checksums and individual output files. It creates 300-DPI sRGB JPEG spreads and a cover proof. Download individual files or the frozen production ZIP from the studio album page. ZIP export supports up to 1.9 GB of source files; use individual files for larger albums.

If rendering or storage confirmation fails, retry the approved revision. Output intents preserve the same private file identity, and a storage check can recover an accepted upload without rendering or writing a duplicate. A later draft never silently changes a frozen production job.

Production exports are not certification of every lab product. A cover proof is not automatically a printable cover for every material, cameo or wrap configuration. Exact trim, bleed, cover construction and lab mappings still require certified templates and a rehearsal before physical activation. The storefront supports explicitly certified material, photo-cover and cameo mappings. A paginated album presentation PDF is not a production format; use the retained JPEG spreads and ZIP for physical output.

Included package allowances and customer cover choices live alongside the album proof. An allowance is recipient-specific and uses verified gallery email. Prepaid invoice credit and a studio merchandise discount follow different tax calculations; the customer reviews the frozen delivery address and explicitly authorizes a fully covered order. Photo covers require a certified template and freeze the chosen crop separately from the approved interior spreads. See the gallery orders guide for funding checks, tax recovery and refund and return workflow.