Monthly image batches from several completed agency events

A busy agency may finish several events in a month. Each has its own client, its own approvals and its own rules. Finance, account teams and clients then ask for monthly reports, and it is natural to pull the photographs into one batch. That is where mistakes creep in.

This page belongs to our guide on agency and recurring event-photography commissions. It covers how to consolidate without losing track of which image belongs where.

Why does consolidation cause problems?

The photographs are the same, but the context is not. A monthly batch can quietly mix clients, include an unapproved selection or place a restricted event in a general folder. Once a file is shared in a report, it is hard to take back.

The cause is usually not carelessness. It is that files from different events look alike, and speed encourages shortcuts. A simple system removes most of the risk.

Give each event a fixed identity

Every event needs an identity that stays with its files from the first day. At minimum:

1. An event code that is unique across the programme.
2. The event name and date.
3. The client the event belongs to.
4. The approval status of the selection.

Put the event code in the file name and the folder name. Our guide to file names, folders and corrected photo versions suggests patterns that stay readable over time. When files arrive from the photographer already named, your team does not have to rename them later.

Build from approved selections only

The monthly batch should be assembled from selections that have been approved, not from raw delivery folders. If an event is still waiting for client approval, mark it pending and leave it out.

Our page on image approval across marketing, agencies and leadership explains how approvals can pass through several hands. A post-event delivery and approval calendar helps show which events are ready for the next batch.

A worked example

For example, an agency finishes five events in one month for three clients. Client A has two product launches, client B has a staff dinner and client C has a conference and a closed leadership session.

The agency builds three client reports, not one. Client A's report contains the two launches. Client B's contains the dinner. Client C's report contains the conference only, because the closed session was marked restricted and is delivered separately to its named recipient. Each file carries its event code, and the register shows approval dates for every selection.

Keep confidential work out of shared packs

A shared pack is any batch that more than one person or group can open. Before sending, check each event against your restricted list. Our page on a recurring master brief with one confidential exception shows how to mark a restricted event so it is not included by default.

If your agency uses a shared company archive, think about who has access. Our guide to finding event photographs again in a company archive covers structure and search, and a photo archive plan helps set up the folders.

Checking before you send

A short check before each batch avoids most errors:

• Does each folder contain only one client's work?
• Does every image come from an approved selection?
• Do the captions match the event shown?
• Are restricted events excluded?
• Is the batch labelled with the month and the events it contains?

Two people checking is better than one, especially for combined industry reports.

Corrections and withdrawals

Sometimes a file must be replaced or removed after it has been sent. Keep a image-use and approval register with the version sent, the date, and who authorised any change. When a correction occurs, label it clearly as a new version and tell the recipients.

What we confirm with you

We confirm in writing how files are named on delivery, how each event's selection is approved, and how corrections are labelled. If your monthly process has other steps, share them and we will say how our delivery fits.