How gallery unlock actually works

"Upload, preview, unlock" sounds simple as a tagline, but if you're evaluating whether to actually move your delivery workflow onto it, the simple version isn't enough. Here's what happens at each step, and the decisions you make along the way.

1. You upload the edited exports

Drag your finished exports in — no FTP client, no folder structure to memorize, no separate tool for uploading versus managing the gallery. This is the same step whether you're delivering a wedding, a concert, or a corporate event.

2. Clients get a free, watermarked preview

The moment processing finishes, your client gets a link to browse the whole gallery, watermarked, before anyone has paid a cent. This is what makes the sale possible in the first place: they're deciding to buy something they've already seen in full, not gambling on a handful of low-res thumbnails.

3. They pay, the gallery unlocks

Once a client pays, the full-resolution gallery unlocks automatically — no manual export step, no emailing a download link yourself. How they pay depends on which pricing mode you picked when you set the gallery up:

• Single client, flat: one client or household pays once and gets every photo and video. No per-photo picker. This is the default, and the right choice for weddings, portraits, and engagements.
• Multiple buyers, tiered: many different people browse the same gallery and each buys only their own photos — a per-photo price plus an optional bundle threshold, so buyers aren't penalized for wanting the whole set. Built for schools, sports teams, and similar events.
• Event bundles: package several related events into one price, so a client who books you for, say, an engagement shoot and the wedding pays once for both. See how bundle pricing works.

What happens to the money

Client payments go straight to your own connected Mollie account — Shotter never touches that money, it only checks whether the payment went through and unlocks the gallery once it has.