How to succeed in photography
Grow your photo business with PhotoShelter's websites & tools
Use a PHOTOSHELTER WEBSITE THEME, DESIGN YOUR OWN, or INTEGRATE OUR TOOLS with your existing website.
8 critical ways we support
your business
Website
No coding required. Start with an instant template and customize it to satisfy your discerning eye. Whether you need a portfolio, client proofing galleries, or a searchable online image archive, one complete site can do it all and you can use your own domain.
Shopping cart
Sell prints, products and downloads directly from your website with an integrated shopping cart and multiple payment methods. Get paid at the point of sale by using your own Stripe, PayPal or merchant account.
Live telephone support
PhotoShelter is the only major service to offer free telephone support. Our team of experts are here to answer your questions and help you succeed.
Fulfill prints automatically
Collect payment online and have prints shipped to your customers direct from our four fully integrated labs. You may also self-fulfill your prints and handle printing & shipping on your own.
Get more business
Get found on Google and climb the rankings with easy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and integrated social media tools that help you build a following.
Keep clients happy
Deliver photos direct to clients via FTP and direct download links — no more need for CD/DVDs or other services. They get their photos faster and the experience stays within your brand. Create private galleries for clients to access too.
Security & protection
Fight photo theft with watermarks, copy & paste prevention, and a TinEye partnership to help you police image usage. Multiple servers in multiple locations ensure no photo is ever lost.
Streamlined workflow
PhotoShelter's the biggest timesaver you'll ever find. Upload images direct, via FTP, or from your favorite editing programs into your searchable online archive. We'll take RAW, JPG, TIFF, PSD and more, and can resize on the fly for your needs.
☑ Website
You need a site that looks professional and has the tools prove it
- No coding required. Start with an instant template and customize dozens of elements like photo layout, homepage style, and on-page text to make the site work for your photos.
- Your branding, not ours. Upload a logo or use your name for a fully branded visitor experience.
- All-in-one website. Separate areas for your portfolio, searchable photo archive, private galleries, and client proofing.
- Use your own domain name. We'll host all of your images and website pages - no other hosting required.
- Changes are simple. Add new content and make design changes anytime!
- Custom design option. For a more advanced design, fully modify the CSS and HTML .
- Power your current site. Integrate our tools with the design of an existing site, including WordPress blogs, and Graph Paper Press themes.
- iPad & iPhone compatible. PhotoShelter sites are not Flash based.
"PhotoShelter gives me the best of both worlds. I get all the backend tools I need to share and sell my work, and the flexibility I want to customize my site to have its own look and feel."
☑ Attract Clients
Get found on Google
Google uses over 200+ factors when deciding what search results to show. PhotoShelter makes ranking in Google results idiot-proof by grading your website and recommending the key steps you can take to rank well in Google.
- Full control of your website's key SEO factors
- Track your progress with our exclusive SEO Grader
- Easy integration with Google Analytics
- We submit your sitemap to Google automatically
Build a following & attract new visitors with social media
- Integrate with Facebook and Twitter
- Build a following
- Go viral with embeddable slideshows
- Upload photos from your site, direct to social media sites
- Easy sharing tools help your website visitors promote you too
PhotoShelter is quite intuitive to use, which makes my life much easier. The price is reasonable, it's really a best in class service clearly built with only the needs of photographers in mind."
☑ Sell Your Photography
Generate more income from your images with so many ways to sell. Unlike other services, you get paid at the point of sale. No more waiting for your money.
- Integrated shopping cart for a seamless purchasing process
- Get paid at the point of sale with a PayPal, Stripe, or a merchant account — no waiting for checks!
- Automated print and product sales (AdoramaPix, EZPrints,BWC, and Spectrum Photographic), or self-fulfill orders however you like
- Print Vendor Network lets you link up with 180+ worldwide print vendors who can fulfill your basic or custom orders, too. Or invite your favorite lab! See the list of Print Vendors.
- fotoQuote pricing calculator supports rights-managed stock licensing (a $100 value built-in), or control your own royalty-free pricing.
- Sell personal use downloads to generate more revenue with digital files
- Unlimited pricing profiles so you can price images differently across your website
- Sell photo packages to bundle photos and products to market to your customers
- Drive sales with coupon codes and promotional discounts
- "Instant sale" feature supports one-off negotiated deals, clients pay and download immediately.
- 16 currencies supported, so you may sell to the world by accepting up to
- Apply taxes by region, including VAT. Learn more about international sales.
- Live telephone support to help make sure you close the deal.
"We've sold more prints online this year than in any other previous year, and most of those print buyers were unknown to us before they clicked on that 'Add to Cart' button."
☑ Manage Clients
Manage your clients with PhotoShelter — make their lives easy and keep them coming back for more. The everyday tools you need for client image access and delivery are all integrated to make PhotoShelter your complete solution.
Control which photos each client can see
Create galleries or collections that can be seen by everyone, only you, or those with permission via a password or login. Grant additional download capabilities to your high-resolution files.
Secure download & delivery
One central hub helps you deliver photos to your clients fast - no need to upload photos to other services. Choose FTP, password-protected high res downloads, or an innovative "quick send" feature with a one-time use link.. The same gallery can have multiple download permissions for different clients.
Collaborate with your clients
Use lightboxes to help clients select and proof their desired images. Assign "trusted" clients download access to your galleries. Determine sizing for image delivery (including low res "comps") and we'll resize it for you along the way!
Monitor client activity
Built-in stats keep you aware of client image downloads so you can follow up directly. Plus, it's easy to integrate Google Analytics to learn how people interact with your site so you can make better business decisions.
Instant online billing and invoice payment
With PhotoShelter's integrated payment options, its easy to negotiate a fee and collect payment instantly online, or generate an invoice to be paid by your client later. Unlike other services, the transaction occurs with you directly so there's no waiting for a check.
Print labs to fulfill your orders automatically
PhotoShelter sites are ready to integrate with print labs so you don't have to handle any prints, unless you prefer to self-fulfill your own prints.
"My clients love it! Brides love easily sharing their favorite photos to Facebook. The bride's family loves being able to order prints right online."
"PhotoShelter enables me to keep my images categorized, keyworded, captioned, and fully searchable...[which] allows me to get as much keyword-rich text as I need on the page to have my work found by Google."
“When I'm done editing I can easily upload my images and create an invite-only gallery. PhotoShelter lets me connect with clients efficiently and satisfy their needs, even when there's a real sense of urgency.”
“With the great e-commerce capabilities, people can stay at home and use their credit cards to purchase exactly what they’re looking for. The system accommodates all the needs of the photographer and the client.”
☑ Protect your work
Several layers of defense to protect your work.
Disable right-click and save functionality
With our Image Theft Guard, you cannot right-click and save images on PhotoShelter websites or drag and drop them to your desktop. You can enable or disable the theft guard to meet your needs. Try to save this image.
Watermarks
Create and upload your own watermark to protect images, or use our standard watermarks. You determine the watermark positioning too - you're in control.
Police image usage with TinEye
PhotoShelter is integrated with the TinEye reverse image search engine. So, all of your images are fingerprinted so TinEye can locate them in use online. Its a great way to ensure clients are keeping their promises, and to discover unauthorized usage too.
Bulletproof backup
Your images are securely backed up and protected. PhotoShelter is a secure, redundant cloud-based archive to store your photos. We keep multiple copies of your images on multiple servers in multiple geographic locations. When you have your best work backed up on PhotoShelter, you need not worry about losing a hard drive or getting to your searchable image archive, no matter where you may be.
"I have over 50,000 images keyworded and captioned and available for licensing on PhotoShelter. With PhotoShelter, my files are safe and I sleep a lot better at night."
☑ Streamlined Workflow
Time is money. PhotoShelter helps you earn more of both.
Upload images in your format
Upload files straight to PhotoShelter for storage, client distribution, sales, or simply to display on your website. Work fast and start interacting with clients - even before editing or resizing if needed.
Keep your keywords
When you upload photos, you can keep your keywords and other key metadata to avoid duplicating work, and make sure you get the most of our industry leading SEO tools.
Programs integrated with PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter can integrate with the following programs: Adobe Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, and Apple Aperture. Uploading direct from these programs helps build PhotoShelter into your workflow.
With your photos online with PhotoShelter you can manage them anywhere at anytime
- Organize them into galleries
- Set viewing and download permissions
- Set pricing
- Resize images for clients
- Post to blogs and social networks
Perform bulk actions from the cloud
- Pricing
- Defining keywords
- Managing security
- Watermarking
Promote your photos easily
Sell photos with no additional actions
Now that your photos are online your sales can be automated with no additional work to get from payment to client delivery. You can collect payment and even fulfill prints without doing any extra work to manage a sale. Just get them online, set the prices, and start selling!
"PhotoShelter is without question the backbone to my workflow. The system is so efficient that with the click of button, I can instantly FTP my photos to my clients without any hassle. My clients couldn't be happier with the service."
☑ Professional Support
Focus on photography, not being a webmaster
A real, human client services team.
Our friendly client services team works right here in our NYC office taking your calls and answering your emails. They’re all trained product experts with photography backgrounds, and they can help you get the most from PhotoShelter.
Free phone and email support
We can answer any question by phone or email. At a time when most companies have cut back live phone support, we’re still growing our support team so we can help you when you need it. Contact us at 212-206-0808 or email support@photoshelter.com.
Live Webinars
Join any of our monthly webinars with live, realtime Q&A. Our experts will walk you through the key PhotoShelter features so you can use every bit of PhotoShelter to grow your photo business. Webinars cover website setup and customization, online sales, and image delivery.
Video Tutorials
Our video tutorials break down everything you’d like know and do with your PhotoShelter account. Watch videos while you’re setting up your site and sampling the many PhotoShelter features.
Extensive Online Help
Our comprehensive written tutorials are well-organized and based on what you’d like to do with the tools. Search and have your questions answered immediately online.
Certified Consultants
Our team of global Certified Consultants can work with you to get your account set up, custom design your site, or help create a PhotoShelter workflow that works for you! They’re all PhotoShelter members who have mastered our tools.
Member Forums
You’ll find a thriving, positive community inside our member forums. Many forum regulars are longtime PhotoShelter users and they’re happy to answer your questions and point out tricks and tweaks they’ve learned along the way.
"I love PhotoShelter's amazing customer service. Everyone there is so nice an accessible and answers all my questions so quickly. The service gives me exactly what I need to help expand my business."
