Sharing gives selected recipients access to the client gallery and its eligible downloads.
Preview before sharing
- Open the gallery.
- Select Preview, then choose View as a client under Sneak peek or Full gallery.
- Review the cover, album order and cover crops, image order, watermark appearance, and download controls.
- Return to the editor to fix anything that is incomplete.
Preview mode does not use a client’s real download allowance, grant access, or record client activity.
The preview uses the same photo rules as the real client page. A full gallery can include ready photos in Gallery Photos, ready photos inside albums, and the main cover. A sneak peek shows only its chosen photos and sneak-peek cover.
Share with recipients
- Select Share at the top of the gallery. The Settings tab opens at Share with clients.
- Check that the right client is set in Gallery details. Vignette emails that client.
- To invite anyone else, type their email under Other people and press Enter.
- Under What do you want to share?, choose Sneak peek or Full gallery.
- Under Who can open it?, choose Only people I email or People I email + a password.
- Select Share sneak peek or Share full gallery. Vignette sends the email right away.
If you add someone while the gallery is already shared, select Save changes first. The person shows as Pending until you email them.
Choosing a password adds a Set a password field. Share the password with your client separately.
Each recipient receives their own access. Revoking one person does not remove another person’s access.
People with access lists everyone, their status, and their private link. Invited means the email went out. Viewed shows the date they opened it. Pending means they have been added but not emailed yet.
Saving access and sending email are separate choices. You can update recipients without emailing everyone. Use the send or resend action when you want the client to receive a message.
Preview and customize the email
Open Preview email before the first send or a resend. You can edit the subject and add a short personal message.
Sneak peeks and full galleries keep separate saved email wording. Select Save changes before leaving the preview. Previewing never sends the email or creates access.
Learn how email previews and saved messages work.
Set a download limit
Turn on the download limit when you want each recipient to download only a certain number of photos.
Turn on Downloads, type the number in Photos per client, and press Enter.
Limits count photos, not button clicks:
- Downloading one image counts as one photo.
- Download all counts the number of photos delivered in the ZIP.
- Each recipient has an independent allowance.
Changing the gallery limit updates active recipients while preserving the number they have already downloaded.
When a limit is on, clients see how many photos they have left instead of Download All.
Resend or revoke access
Select Email again to resend the invitation when a client cannot find it. Ask the client to check spam or promotions folders as well.
Select Email again beside the person. Viewed and the date show that they already opened the gallery.
Revoke a recipient when they should no longer use their link. Re-sharing after revocation gives that recipient fresh access based on the gallery’s current settings.
Select Revoke beside the person. Access ends right away, and Vignette shows a short confirmation. There is no extra warning, so check the name first.
A revoked person leaves People with access, so they no longer show Email again or Revoke. If you revoke everyone, the card shows No one has access. When that happens during a sneak peek, the button goes back to Share sneak peek, so the full gallery is never shared by accident.
What clients can do
Depending on gallery settings, clients can:
- Browse eligible photos and albums
- Mark favorites
- Download individual images
- Select and download a group of photos
- Download the complete gallery
Clients see select, download, and favorite buttons on each photo.
After they favorite a photo, the bar at the bottom adds Favorites to download just those photos and Show Favorites to view them.
Clients can also switch to their saved favorites. A favorites download contains only the photos they currently marked. An album download contains the complete shared album, even when the client is looking at favorites.
See what your clients favorited
Open the gallery's Client favorites tab. All Likes shows every favorited photo. Select a person's name to see only their picks. Use Download all to save the favorites.
Learn more about client favorites and proofing.
Watermarked display images do not replace the original download files.
On phones and tablets, album cards jump directly to each section. Clients can reveal photo actions without relying on hover, swipe horizontally through the fullscreen viewer, and swipe or scroll vertically to close it.
Understand prepared downloads
Selected-photo and complete-gallery downloads are prepared in the background. The client sees Preparing… while Vignette builds the ZIP, then the browser download begins when it is ready.
Leaving the gallery stops only that page’s progress check; preparation continues. Returning and trying again can reuse the ready archive. If an original is unavailable, Vignette reports it and does not count that photo against the client’s allowance.
Understand live gallery links
After a gallery is released, its private recipient links show the current eligible photos. Adding, removing, reordering, or moving released photos can update those same links without another email.
Email is a notice, not the publish button. Use Email clients again when you want to announce an update. Use preview to check the live result before you send that notice.
The release can move from a sneak peek to the full gallery, but it cannot move backward from full to sneak peek.
What Vignette does behind the scenes
Each recipient has a separate access record and download count. Vignette checks that record when the person opens the gallery or starts a download. The password, when used, adds another check; it does not replace the private invitation link.
Large selected, album, favorites, and full-gallery downloads are prepared in the background. The final download uses a short-lived file address, so an old copied download address does not stay open forever.
Before sending: Make sure the recipient email is correct. An invitation grants access to the client gallery.