Organize photos
Turn a photo into a free reference image, move photos between sections, change their order, and — on business accounts — split an order into groups.
In the workspace your photos sit in sections. Which section a photo is in decides what happens to it: photos in Photos to edit are edited and cost 1 credit each; photos in Reference images are only looked at and are free. Business accounts can also create their own groups, each with its own instructions.
The sections you see
- Photos to edit — every photo you upload lands here first. The section header says Editing · 1 credit each.
- Reference images — appears as soon as the project has two photos, always at the bottom. Its header says Won’t be edited · no charge, and its name is fixed (it has a lock icon). Each photo in it carries a thin Won’t be edited band. You can leave a note for the whole section in Note for this group (optional).
- Your own groups — business accounts only; see Groups on business accounts.
Any section can be collapsed with the arrow next to its name.
Make a photo a reference image
There is no “reference” switch when you upload. A photo becomes a reference image only by moving it into Reference images.
Open the photo's menu
Hover the photo: a dark bar with the file name and ⋯ appears at the bottom of it. Click ⋯. (On a phone or tablet, ⋯ is always visible.)
Choose Reference images
The menu lists every section with what it means for the price — Editing · 1 credit each or Won’t be edited · no charge. The section the photo is in now has a check mark. Click Reference images.
Check the summary
A message confirms Moved 1 photo to Reference images — not charged. In the Order summary, Editing photos goes down by one, a Reference photos line appears with free, and the Total drops by a credit.
You can also drag the photo onto the Reference images section. To undo, move it back to Photos to edit the same way; the message then reads Back to editing — 1 credit each.
| Photo | File name | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|
3571 | DSC_0412.ARW6000 × 4000 · 24.1 MB · ARW | Note for this photo | ⋯ |
3572 | DSC_0413.ARW4000 × 6000 · 23.8 MB · ARW | Keep the original crop | ⋯ |
3574 | IMG_2032.jpg4032 × 3024 · 5.8 MB · JPG | Note for this photo | ⋯ |
3575 | IMG_2034.jpg4032 × 3024 · 6.0 MB · JPG | Note for this photo | ⋯ |
3576 | IMG_2035.jpg4032 × 3024 · 6.2 MB · JPG | Use this light for the whole set | ⋯ |
Rules for reference images
- Keep at least one photo to edit. A move that would leave Photos to edit empty is blocked; in the menu that option is greyed out with Keep at least one editing photo.
- Not sure whether a photo is only a reference? Put it with the photos to edit. If we don’t need to edit it, we move it back to Reference images and refund its credit. If a photo that needs editing is left in Reference images, we have to check with you about the extra credit first, which can delay your order.
- A reference image that we end up editing or using in the result (its background, sky, a face) counts as a photo to edit: +1 credit, and only after you agree. See Review and pay for how pricing works.
Change the order of photos
The order of photos in a section is the order the editor sees them in, and the order you page through in the photo viewer.
- Drag a photo to a new place in the same section. On a phone, press and hold the photo, then drag.
- Or open the photo’s ⋯ menu and choose Move to start, Move earlier, Move later or Move to end. Options that do not apply are greyed out, for example Already first.
Cards and Table
The switch above the photos changes the view. Cards shows the photos themselves; Table shows one row per photo with Photo, File name (with pixel size, file size and format, for example 6000 × 4000 · 24.1 MB · ARW) and Note. The Note box in the table is the photo’s whole-photo note — the same note as Note for this photo in the photo viewer — so you can write short notes for many photos quickly. The workspace always opens in Cards.
Groups on business accounts
On a business account you can split one order into several groups, each with its own instructions — for example one group per outfit, room or product line. Personal accounts do not have groups: they always see Photos to edit and Reference images only.
- Create a group: click New group above the photos, or choose New group… in a photo’s ⋯ menu (that photo then moves into the new group). Enter a Group name (required, up to 60 characters) and click Create group. The page scrolls to the new group and puts the cursor in its instructions box.
- Write group instructions: each group has a box below its name — Instructions for this group, e.g. what to do with every photo here — up to 1,000 characters, saved as you type. Once you have your own groups, the first group gets one too.
- Rename a group: click its name and type. The first group can be renamed as well; left empty it shows Editing group.
- Move photos into it: drag them onto the group, or use ⋯ on a photo and pick the group.
- Reorder groups: drag the handle to the left of a group’s name, or use the group’s ⋯ menu: Move group up / Move group down. The first group always stays first and Reference images always stays last.
- Delete a group: group ⋯ → Delete group. Its photos move to the first group — no photo is deleted.
On business accounts the Order summary shows Total as Agreed rate instead of a number of credits.
What happens next
Once your photos are where they belong, write your instructions — for the whole project, a group, or a single photo.