What is Pixieset, How Does it Work & Who is it For

If you’re a photographer looking for the best tools that can help you power up your business, streamline your workflow and ensure that clients have a wonderful experience with you - you’re in the right place.

In this article we’ll tell you about Pixieset, what it is, who is it for, how it works and why you’ll love using it for your photography business.

The best part? You can get started with Pixieset via a free plan and use all of the tools described below. Just create a free account - it only takes a minute and it doesn’t require a credit card.

What is Pixieset?

Pixieset is an all-in-one platform for photographers that helps you power up your creative business end to end, from photo delivery and print sales, to website needs, contracts, invoices, questionnaires and payment collection. It’s the ONLY tool you’ll ever need to run your photography business effortlessly and with style. The beauty of Pixieset, is that it’s so intuitive, everyone can use it. From beginner photographers, to seasoned experts who’ve tried a number of tools and want a simple solution that saves them time, and keeps everything organized in one place.

If you’re new to Pixieset, or haven’t had the chance to try all the features available inside the dashboard (though you should, because each of these products is available via a FREE plan, no credit card required), here’s what’s included:

Client Gallery - a simple, intuitive and elegant tool that helps you deliver photos to clients (jpegs, pngs and gifs). Your customers can preview their images, highlight their favorite ones, download them and order prints through the Store. You can also upload or embed videos inside your photo galleries, and allow clients to download them.

Store - integrates directly with your client galleries and allows you to sell print products and digital downloads straight from inside your photo collection. Any client can access their gallery, select a few images and place an order to have them printed. They can also download them as digital files. Depending on your preferred print lab, you can have Store orders fulfilled automatically, or manually.

Website - our builder makes building a website a breeze. Start with a beautiful pre-made theme, add your content, customize the layout structure - and you're done. No code, no hosting required. You can launch your website within a few hours, and host it on a Pixieset domain.

Studio Manager - a business app designed to help photographers book clients online, manage contracts, pricing quotes and invoices with ease, send questionnaires and collect payments faster. Read more about it here.

Mobile Gallery - create customized photo apps that your clients can download to their mobile phone and quickly preview their collection. Each app is personalized to a specific client and includes their photos, your branding, your contact details and social media profiles.

Now that you're familiar with how Pixieset products work, let’s explore the main reasons why you’ll love using Pixieset for your photography business.

Why use Pixieset for your photography business?

Here are 4 reasons why you need to try Pixieset for your photography business: 

#1. Simplicity and ease of use, for both you and your clients

The entire Pixieset dashboard is designed in a very simple and intuitive way. Even if it’s your first time logging into the platform, you’ll find your way around features and settings in no time. It was important for us to transfer this user-friendly experience to your photography clients too - so receiving photos, ordering prints, paying for an invoice or signing a contract is seamless and pleasant.

“I would highly recommend Pixieset for photo delivery to all photographers. I have tried many other popular delivery methods which some are great, but its not Pixieset great. I have never received a question from clients on how they can use their gallery. It is all set up so simply and easy to understand. There is a walkthrough on the client’s end on how to use the platform which again, saves everyone time. Also, if you are a fan of prints, you will love Pixieset’s options. Great quality, fast turn around and a seamless workflow. Now go sign up or you’ll miss out ya nerds!” — Alex Richardson, Love Tribe Weddings.

#2. Consistent brand experience across all touch points with your client

Don’t you just love when everything is on brand, and looks elegant across all your communication channels - from your website and photo gallery, to your print store, your contracts and invoices? This helps build trust and familiarity towards your brand, as well as ensures a lovely experience for your clients, every step of the process. Not to mention that it makes you look professional, regardless whether this is your first client gig ever, or you’ve been photographing for years.

“It is nice for clients to have the same look and feel when I send them invoices as they do when they receive their galleries or even look at my website." — Danieka Erasmus, Picturist Photography.

#3. All your tools are in one place

Time is a limited resource, and we all crave for more quality time spent with our loved ones, outdoors, photographing and creating. Pixieset tools are designed to help you streamline your daily workflow, have all your tools and documents in one place, easily accessible - so ultimately, you spend less time on admin work, and more time on the things you love.

“Using Pixieset has been amazing for my business. I’ve been using Pixieset for 4 years now. I started with the client galleries. When they launched their website templates, I switched over immediately. It feels very organised and streamlined to have everything in one place. I love how user-friendly the website is, and how I can make changes so easily. Clients have often commented on how easy it is to navigate and to find the information they need quickly and clearly.” — Chloe May.

#4. Affordability (including free plans)

If you’re only starting out your photography journey — great news! Each Pixieset product is available via a free plan. All you have to do is sign up (no credit card required) and use the products you like, for free. Upgrade when you’re ready.

If you’re a seasoned photographer, who needs an extensive solution that allows you to build an online presence, get clients onboarded, collect payments, sign contracts, deliver photo galleries - then there’s no better deal available out there than the Suite plan on Pixieset. For as little as $28/month you get access to all the premium features available inside the platform and can fully power up your photography brand. 

“I use Pixieset for delivering photos to clients. I also use this for my website! I won’t ever stop recommending it. You get an insane amount of value for so cheap. I pay around $30/mo for all the things (website, gallery delivery, in-gallery store, etc).” — Emily Fuller, Emily Fuller Photography.

Who is Pixieset for?

Pixieset is for everyone. It’s for any photographer who wants an elegant, easy and professional way to - deliver photos (jpegs, pngs, gifs), build a website, book clients and collect payments. Whether you’re only getting started, or have been in the industry for years - Pixieset can help you manage your business in an organized, effortless way.

Join 700,000+ photographers from all around the world, who use Pixieset products to grow their business. Sign up for free via pixieset.com and discover all the tools for yourself.

How does Pixieset work? 

All Pixieset products are available via a free plan. Create an account (no credit card required) to start exploring each tool and its features. Inside your dashboard you’ll find Client Gallery, Store, Website, Studio Manager and Mobile Gallery App.

Here are the main features and functionality available inside each product:

Pixieset Client Gallery

• Unlimited amount of galleries - create as many photo collections as you want. Your storage limit depends on your plan. The free plan starts at 3GB of storage.
• Gallery personalization options - add your branding, connect your custom domain, customize the cover, font, colors and collection layout.
• Photo proofing - your clients can create a Favorite List inside their gallery and leave comments under photos, which you can then re-touch, order prints, design an album with.
• Privacy settings - password-protected collections, exclusive client access (their guests will see only specific sets of images).
• Download control - turn on or off the image download option per collection, as well as allow clients to download only a specific amount of photos from the gallery, with the possibility to purchase extra images.
• Lightroom integration - upload images directly from Lightroom Classic into your Pixieset account, re-publish new edits and sync gallery structures for easier collection management.
• Sharing photos with clients and vendors - you have multiple easy ways to share your work with others. You can share a gallery with others via email, by sending a direct link or by having them scan a QR code. You also have the possibility to share only a selection of images from a gallery, allowing the recipient to view and download them.
• Support for multiple media formats - upload and deliver jpegs, pngs, gifs and videos to your clients. You can also add gifs and embed videos into your gallery covers.
• Gift cards & coupons - offer clients and their loved ones gift cards with a certain $ amount, so they can easily check out digital images and prints from their gallery. You can also enable coupons (% discount, $ amount off, free shipping) to motivate extra sales. To use these features, you need to have Store enabled for your gallery.
• Watermark - our built-in tool will help you brand and protect the images within your photo collections. Once a user pays, they’ll be able to download the high-resolution images without the watermark.
• Multi-language options - you can have your photo galleries displayed in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Chinese (simplified), Portuguese or Swedish.
• Email address collection - anyone who wants to view a photo collection will be prompted to enter their email address. All the addresses are stored inside your Pixieset dashboard, you can view and export them at any time.
• Gallery assist - to guide your clients through their photo gallery and explain each of the features available for that specific gallery (i.e. Downloads, Favorites, Store, Social Sharing).
• Mobile Gallery App - create customized photo apps that your client can download to their mobile phone for an easy and fast preview of their photo collection.
• SEO options - you're in control of whether your client galleries show up online or not.
• Google Analytics integration - keep track of the traffic that accesses your client galleries, find out where those users come from, what device they use to view your collection, etc.
• Scheduled emails & templates - your clients can receive an invite to preview their gallery even when you’re not at the computer. If you work with customers from different timezones, or prefer to share collections on specific dates and at certain times of the day - schedule your collection sharing emails. You can also create email templates, to save time when messaging your clients in the future.

Pixieset Studio Manager

• Booking & Scheduling - present all your photography services via an elegant Booking site, where clients can check out details, pick a date and book a session with you based on your availability. You can require them to sign a contract, fill out a quick form and pay a full or partial session fee during the booking process. You can also integrate your Zoom or Google Meet accounts to book video calls through your booking site.
• Calendar - sync your Google Calendar with Pixieset to view your entire schedule in one place, avoid overlapping with personal appointments and double-booking.
• Invoices - create and send invoices to clients, enable payment schedules (also used for deposits), add a discount or tax, and allow clients to pay online or offline.
• Contracts with eSignature - create and send professional photography contracts to clients, that they can sign online, from any device. Add a second signer, use smart fields to let clients fill out their information, and add expiry dates.
• Questionnaires - create questionnaires to collect important client information prior to a session. As well as gather feedback and testimonials after delivering your services.
• Quotes - present your offerings and pricing to prospective clients, and invite them to select the services and options they are most interested in. Once a price quote is accepted, an invoice draft is automatically generated for that client.
• Contact forms - create custom forms and embed them into your website to automatically capture leads. When someone fills out the form, they will be added to your contacts list inside Studio Manager. You can also share your forms via a direct link, add them to your social media bios, email signatures, etc.
• Templates - pre-made templates for contracts and questionnaires are included inside Studio Manager. You can also create your own templates for contracts, invoices and questionnaires, save them and reuse later.
• Online and Offline payment methods - Stripe, Bank Transfer (ACH), manual payment. Our team is also working on bringing Paypal as an option.
• Document customization options - personalize documents with your branding. Add your logo and brand colors to any contract, invoice and questionnaire. Upload a personalized header image for a more elegant feel.
• Automatic Reminders - have clients get automatic follow up email when their session is approaching, when they forget to sign a contract, pay an invoice, accept a quote or fill out a questionnaire. No more client chasing, Studio Manager does the work for you.
• Automated Emails - save time on follow-ups, enable the reminder option for contracts, invoices or questionnaires, so clients get notified to sign, pay or fill out the document.
• Scheduling options - optimize your workflow by pre-scheduling emails that need to be sent out to a client with an invoice, contract or questionnaire.
• Notifications - get notified when a price quote is accepted, an invoice is paid, a contract is signed, a questionnaire is filled out, etc.

Pixieset Website

• Elegant ready-made themes and site starters - to help you build and launch your website fast. You can switch between themes with one simple click and try out different styling directions.
• Blog - share client stories and useful information, recommend vendors and strengthen your SEO through articles published on your blog.
• Customization options - add your branding, choose between a variety of font options, personalize the colors per your preference, tweak the page layouts, enable site-wide animations, and so much more.
• Website Domain - by default your website will be hosted on a free pixieset website domain, yet you also have the possibility to connect your website to your own custom domain.
• Client Gallery integration - show your photo collections hosted on Client Gallery, directly on your website.
• Support for multiple media formats - use jpegs, pngs, gifs and videos inside your website pages to create a more engaging browsing experience.
• Flex Editor - our drag-and-drop builder that offers you more control over your website design. Create new layouts from scratch or start with one of the ready-made blocks. Move images, text, videos, shapes, and buttons around. Resize and customize them to your liking. With Flex Editor, you can easily design beautiful sections for your website and tailor them for desktop, tablet, and mobile. It's fun, easy, and you don't need to know code to create a unique website.
• Privacy options and password protected pages - hide your website from search engine results, restrict certain pages with passwords, hide pages from your menu, and even protect your entire website with a single password.
• SEO options - your website comes with a dedicated SEO Manager which allows you to quickly review your website’s SEO Status, advanced SEO settings, page titles, page descriptions, etc. Your site will also automatically produce your sitemap XML file and make it available for search engines.
• SSL certificate - all Pixieset websites are secure and come with HTTPS (SSL) enabled by default.
• Analytics & Tracking - connect your Google Analytics account to your website, and add a Facebook Pixel for better targeted ad campaigns.
• Cookie banner - display a cookie banner on your site to notify visitors of your use of cookies
• Custom code - you can embed widgets and third party content into your Pixieset website through the Custom Embed Code block. You can also add code snippets into your header and footer if you want them applied across your entire website.

Pixieset Store

• Integration with Client Gallery - your clients can order prints and image downloads directly from their photo gallery.
• Elegant storefront - a dedicated storefront designed to showcase and sell your products. See example.
• Premium quality products - prints, all types of framed photos, wall art, greeting cards, bamboo panels, etc.
• Digital downloads - sell instant digital downloads for your photos. These can be jpegs, gifs or png files.
• Personalized product previews - allow clients to preview how their photos will look on specific printed products.
• Gift cards & coupons - offer clients and their loved ones gift cards with a certain $ amount, so they can easily check out digital images and prints from their gallery. You can also enable coupons (% discount, $ amount off, free shipping) to motivate extra sales.
• Automatic Fulfillment - when your clients purchase prints, their order is automatically sent to one of our partnering labs that will print, package and ship the order directly to your client. If you have a preferred lab locally, you can choose to offer printed products that are manually fulfilled.
• Online and offline payment methods - you can choose to accept payments through Stripe (credit card), PayPal, offline payments, or a combination of these.
• Commission fees - all paid plan users have a 0% commission on any purchases, while those on a free plan will have a 15% commission on purchases.

Still reading? 

You know what they say - better try it once, then read a long article about it. Sign up for a free account and start exploring all the amazing features offered by Pixieset for your photography business.