ReviewApproval
Client Proofing and Selection
Give the client a small, decidable set of proofs and record exactly what they picked.
Tools
Frame.io, SmugMug, Dropbox Replay, Adobe Lightroom
Outcomes
Clients choose from a curated set • Selection stored as a list, not a comment thread • Approval tied to a version and a date • Unselected files never get retouched
Documentation
Instruction-ready detail below
What breaks
A client is sent 900 proofs and replies with 40 file names, half of which are not even in the set. Six weeks later nobody can tell whether they approved version one or version three, so the retouch happens twice.
What the workflow does
- Send a curated gallery, not the whole card, with previews sized to load quickly.
- Keep a low-resolution preview of everything so the client can still see context.
- Record favorites as a list with the version number and the date they arrived.
- Expire the link after the delivery window instead of leaving it open.
- Hold the unselected files out of the retouch queue.
What a human still approves
The photographer chooses what goes in the gallery and reads the selection before work starts. A written yes on a named version is what counts as approval, not a reaction on a draft.