Give the designer one package: the selected full-size files from the original delivery, a short brief stating the purpose and format, a caption and credit for each image, and the restrictions that apply. Add a deadline and a named person who can answer questions. Never send images stripped of their context through chat.
Designers often start from a poor position. They receive a few photographs in a chat thread, a vague request and a deadline. Questions follow: which image is final, which crop is allowed, who is the person in the picture, and may this one go on the cover? A tidy handover answers those before they are asked. For the underlying approval record, see tracking image approvals without losing the original delivery.
What should the package contain?
Think of four parts.
| Part | Content | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Files | Full-size copies of the selected images from the original delivery | Print and large formats need the size |
| Brief | Purpose, audience, format, deadline, who approves | Prevents guessing |
| Captions and credits | Text to go with each image | Saves search later |
| Restrictions | Limits on use, crops, channels and time | Avoids mistakes |
Keep it in one place, such as a shared folder with a short note at the top. A single link that stays live is better than five emails.
Why not send images through chat?
Chat tools often compress images and strip detail, and files lose their original names. The result can be a photograph that looks fine on a phone and soft in a printed banner. Our guide on why a shared photograph may look smaller or softer explains what happens.
Send files from the original delivery, using a method that keeps their size. Our guide on choosing suitable delivery formats and access methods can help you pick one that your designer can use.
What does the brief need to say?
Be specific. "A banner for the lobby" tells the designer little. A better brief states the size, the shape and the reading distance, the audience, the tone and the approval route.
Include any crop needs. A wide stage photograph may not suit a tall poster, and cropping can remove people or text. Our guide to portrait, landscape and alternative crops from an event explains how to ask for a crop and what to check. If you have specific needs, ask the photography team early about alternative crops.
How should captions and credits travel?
Attach text to each file. A simple table works: file name, caption, credit, restriction. Our guide on accurate captions, credits and event context gives the wording. If the captions are left out, the designer may invent them, and the design may name a person incorrectly or credit nobody.
For website and annual report work in particular, see photographs for company websites and annual reports.
How do restrictions get passed on?
State them in plain words and attach them to the image, not just the email. Examples: "Do not crop faces", "Use only in the printed brochure", "Not for social media until after 10 March", "Do not place text over the child's face". Restrictions that live only in your memory do not exist for the designer.
If the designer is external, ask what happens to the files afterwards. Our guide on planning a secure handover to external communications partners covers access and end dates.
A hypothetical example
A communications officer is preparing a one-page recap. She sends the designer a folder with eight full-size files from the original gallery, a one-page note that says "A4 portrait, printed and PDF, 25 March, approved by the head of communications", a table of captions and credits, and a line saying that two images must not be cropped.
The designer asks one question, about the lead image's credit, and the answer is already in the table. The first draft returns without a rework.
What to keep afterwards
Save the package, the designer's final files and the approval. If the design is reused, you know what was agreed. The corporate photography deliverables planner can hold the specification beside the package.
When the designer asks for more
Designers often come back with questions: another crop, a higher resolution, or a different photograph. Treat each request as a small change to the handover. Check the approvals log first, then provide the new file from the original delivery and record it.
If a request needs something the delivery does not contain, such as a wider frame, ask the photography team whether it exists in the set. It is better to ask early than to let the designer stretch or edit an image beyond what was approved.
Checklist
- Choose the approved images and list them by file name.
- Send full-size files from the original delivery, not chat copies.
- Write a short brief: purpose, audience, format, deadline.
- Add a caption and credit for every image.
- State restrictions in the approver's own words.
- Name who approves the design and who answers questions.
- Record what was sent, to whom and when.
If designers work on your event photographs, tell us what formats and uses they need, and we will help you plan the delivery and labelling so a clean designer handover is simple to prepare afterwards.
Plan delivery for our designerCommon questions
Should the designer get the whole gallery?
Usually no. Send the selection needed for the task, and the contact for questions. A full gallery encourages the designer to choose images you have not approved, and it spreads access further than necessary. If the designer needs more choice, share a larger approved set.
Why does a designer need full-size originals?
Chat apps and messaging tools often compress images, which can leave them too small or soft for print. Send files from the original delivery through a method that preserves the size. Our guide on why shared photographs look smaller explains the reason.
What should the brief to the designer include?
The purpose, the audience, the format and size, the deadline, the approved image list with captions, and any restrictions such as no cropping of faces or no use of specific images on certain channels. Also say who approves the design and who the designer should ask.
Who owns the designer's finished work?
That depends on your agreement with the designer, and it is separate from the photography terms. Check the terms for both, and ask your legal contact if you plan to reuse the finished design widely. Do not assume the photographs' permissions extend to every new use.
Plan delivery for our designer
If designers work on your event photographs, tell us what formats and uses they need, and we will help you plan the delivery and labelling so a clean designer handover is simple to prepare afterwards.
What happens next: You send your event details on WhatsApp. Our team reads the brief, asks what is missing, then confirms in writing whether the date, venue and coverage can be booked, with a quotation. Opening WhatsApp does not send anything, and a message is not a booking until both sides confirm.
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