Getting Started

What Edit is

Edit is a single platform that replaces the pile of tools most photographers juggle: a gallery host here, a contract signer there, an invoicing app somewhere else, plus email threads to hold it all together. Instead, every client, project, gallery, agreement, estimate, invoice, and final delivery lives in one place, under your own brand.

Your clients get a clean portal at your studio's address where they can proof their photos, sign agreements, pay invoices, and download their final files, without creating an account with a third party or bouncing between links.

The rest of this guide follows the natural order of a job: set up, add a client, shoot, proof, sign, invoice, deliver. You do not have to use every part. Start with what you need today and add the rest when it helps.

1. Set up your studio

Your studio is your workspace. A few minutes of setup makes everything after it look and feel like you.

1. Add your branding. In Settings, upload your logo and set your studio name. This is what your clients see across their portal, emails, galleries, and invoices.
2. Set your studio address. Every studio gets a clean web address (yourstudio.tryedit.co) out of the box, on every plan. On the Agency plan you can also connect your own custom domain so the portal lives on your own website instead.
3. Connect payments. Link Stripe or Square from Settings so clients can pay invoices online by card or bank transfer. Edit connects securely through the processor and never stores your keys or card numbers.
4. Review your profile. Add your contact details and business info so they appear correctly on invoices and agreements.

You can change any of this later. Nothing here is permanent, so do not overthink it on day one.

2. Add your clients

A client is the person or company you are working for. Add them once and reuse them across every project, agreement, and invoice.

1. Create the client. Add their name, email, and any billing details. This becomes their record in your studio.
2. Invite them to their portal. When you are ready, send an invite. They get a private, branded portal at your studio address where they can see their projects, proof galleries, sign, pay, and download.
3. Add extra people if needed. A client can have more than one login. For example, an accounts-payable contact who only handles invoices and payments, plus full-access people like an executive or agent. You control who can see what.

If a relationship ends or a payment stalls, you can suspend a client's portal (which locks most of it while leaving messaging and invoices open) or archive them to keep your list tidy without losing history.

3. Create a project

A project is a single shoot or deliverable for a client: a wedding, a brand session, a set of headshots. It holds the gallery, the deliverables, and the timeline for that work.

1. Start a project. Give it a title, pick the client, and set the shoot date and a delivery deadline if you have one.
2. Watch it move through its stages. Projects move through clear stages, from booked through proofing and post-processing to delivered, so you always know where each one stands. Some stages advance on their own as you work: publishing the gallery moves a project to proofing, and publishing the final files marks it delivered.
3. Group big shoots with folders. Shooting twenty headshots in one day for one company? Group those projects into a folder so your dashboard and calendar show one clean entry instead of twenty.

4. Upload and proof a gallery

The gallery is where your client reviews their photos and tells you which ones they want.

1. Upload your images. Add photos to the project gallery. Set a cover image so it looks polished the moment the client opens it.
2. Mark studio picks. Flag your own recommended shots so clients have a starting point, especially helpful when a gallery is large.
3. Let the client proof. Clients open the gallery in their portal and select or favorite the images they want. Their picks come straight back to you, no spreadsheets or email chains.
4. Share externally if you need to. You can generate a private share link for a gallery when someone needs to see it without a full portal login.

Want to get paid before clients get their photos? The proofing gallery stays open so they can pick their favorites, but you can require an outstanding balance to be paid before the final files download. See Deliver the final files below.

5. Send an agreement

Agreements are your contracts: shoot agreements, model or property releases, image usage licenses, and anything else you need signed.

1. Start from a template. Edit includes ready-made templates, including a dedicated image usage license. Edit the wording to match your business.
2. Send it for signature. The client signs online in their portal. No printing, scanning, or third-party signing tool.
3. Collect multiple signatures. When more than one person needs to sign, add each signer and Edit routes the agreement to everyone and tracks who has signed.
4. Counter-sign and store. You can counter-sign, and every signed agreement is stored with a snapshot so you always have the final version.

6. Estimate, invoice, and get paid

Quote first, then bill. Send an estimate for approval, and once it is accepted it turns into a draft invoice you can send and collect on, all built for photography with deposits, line items, and online payment.

1. Send an estimate, if you quote first. Build a quote with line items and send it from the Estimates tab. The client can accept, decline, or request a change right in their portal, and you can talk it through in a conversation on the estimate itself.
2. Let it become an invoice. When a client accepts an estimate, it turns into a draft invoice automatically, with nothing to re-type, ready for you to review and send.
3. Build the invoice. Add line items with quantities and prices. Apply per-line discounts, taxes, a PO number, and payment terms (for example, NET 15).
4. Take a deposit or retainer. Split an invoice into a deposit now and a balance later, and send reminders as the balance comes due.
5. Send it and get paid online. The client receives a clean invoice and pays by card or bank transfer (ACH) through your connected Stripe or Square account. Bank payments clear in a few days and update to paid automatically once they settle.
6. Stay on top of what is owed. Edit tracks sent, viewed, and paid, sends pre-due nudges and past-due reminders, and can apply late fees. You can also record a payment you took offline.

7. Deliver the final files

Once the work is approved and paid, deliverables are how your client gets their finished files.

1. Group files into packages. Organize the final images into named packages (for example, "Full gallery" and "Social crops").
2. Publish to the client. When you publish, the client is notified and can download from their portal. Edit builds a ZIP so they can grab everything at once.
3. Require payment first, if you want. You can lock delivery behind an outstanding balance so files only unlock once the invoice is settled.

8. Your calendar

The calendar pulls your whole schedule together so nothing sneaks up on you.

• Everything in one view. Shoots, delivery deadlines, and invoice due dates all appear on the month grid automatically, drawn from your projects and invoices.
• Add your own notes. Click any day to add a custom note like a client call or a personal deadline, alongside the automatic items.
• Move month to month instantly. Navigation is live, so changing months does not reload the whole page.
• Subscribe from anywhere. Subscribe to your Edit calendar from Apple, Google, or Outlook so your shoots and deadlines show up next to the rest of your life.

9. What your clients see

Your clients get a private portal at your studio's address, branded as you. From one place they can:

• View their projects and proof galleries, selecting the images they want.
• Read and sign agreements.
• Review estimates and accept, decline, or request a change.
• View and pay invoices online.
• Download their final deliverables.
• Message your studio with questions.

They never see another client's data, and the portal carries your studio's logo and name on every plan. On the Agency plan you can go further with your own custom domain and by hiding Edit's branding entirely (white-label), so it lives fully on your own turf.

10. Add your team

If you work with a second shooter, an editor, or an assistant, you can invite them to your studio. Team members are part of the Studio and Agency plans (up to 5 seats on Studio, up to 10 on Agency). Roles control what each person can do, so you can give someone access to galleries and projects without handing over billing or account settings.

11. Plans, billing, and storage

Edit has three plans: Solo for a one-person studio, Studio for a growing team, and Agency for established studios. Every plan includes the core of the platform (clients, projects, galleries, proofing, agreements, invoices, payments, deliverables, and your calendar). Higher plans add more storage and team seats, and Agency adds a custom domain and white-label branding. You start with a free trial on the full Agency plan, so you can try every feature before you choose, and you manage your subscription, plan, and payment method yourself from your billing settings at any time.

Storage is for delivering and managing your photography work to your clients. As you fill up, you can move to a plan with more room. If a subscription lapses, your work is preserved while you resolve it rather than disappearing on you.

12. Getting help

Stuck on something? A few options:

• Browse the full list of features to see what the platform can do.
• Check the FAQ and search for your topic.
• Use the Support form inside your studio Settings to reach us directly, or email hi@tryedit.co.

Edit is built for photographers, and it is still growing. If something you need is missing, tell us. That feedback shapes what gets built next.