How do I send my wedding photo picks to my photographer?

Send either a folder of the selected files with original filenames intact, or a plain text list of those filenames, zipped and shared as a single link. Ask which they prefer first, and include any must-have photos or exclusions in the same message.

Should I rename the photos I selected?

No. The original filename is how your photographer finds that frame in their catalogue. Renaming or renumbering severs that link and means someone has to match your picks back by eye.

Can I just send a list of filenames instead of the files?

Often yes, and many photographers prefer it because they can filter their catalogue by filename. Send it as a plain text file with one filename per line, not as a screenshot or a document that might truncate.

Why should I zip the folder before sharing it?

Because messaging apps and cloud photo services frequently re-encode images at lower resolution, and those copies cannot be printed. A zip archive is opaque to whatever moves it, so the files arrive unchanged.

What should I say alongside the picks?

Anything the filenames cannot: must-have photos, people who must appear, people to exclude, any function that looked thin in the delivery, and your target photo count so they can flag immediately if you have selected too few.

How to send your photo picks to your photographer

The last step, and the one most likely to create a redo. It takes ten minutes if you get two things right.

Last updated 4 September 2026 · by Harshit Luthra

Send either a folder containing the selected files with their original filenames intact, or a plain text list of those filenames. Ask your photographer which they prefer before you start — it takes one message and it is the difference between a clean handover and doing the selection twice.

The one rule that matters either way: do not rename the files. DSC_04812.jpg is meaningless to you and is exactly how your photographer finds that frame in their catalogue.

The two formats, and when each is right

A folder of the selected files

The safest default. It is unambiguous, it survives being forwarded to an album designer who does not have your photographer's catalogue, and there is nothing to misread. The cost is size — a few hundred full-resolution frames is several gigabytes.

A list of filenames

Faster and smaller, and preferred by photographers who work in a catalogue they can filter by filename. A plain text file with one filename per line is all it needs to be. Do not send it as a screenshot, and do not send it inside a document that reflows or truncates.

If you are not sure, send the folder. It works in both cases.

Do not rename anything

This is the single most common way this step goes wrong. Renaming files to ceremony-1.jpg or letting a tool renumber them on export severs the link to the photographer's originals, and someone then has to match your picks back by eye. For a few hundred photos that is hours of work, and it is work you created.

The same applies to re-exporting, resizing or running the files through a photo app that strips metadata. Send the files as they were delivered.

Do not send compressed copies

Sharing through a phone's photo app, a messaging app, or a cloud photo service will often re-encode your images at a lower resolution. Those files cannot be printed, and if the photographer only receives those, the album stalls while everyone works out what happened.

Zip the folder first. A zip archive is opaque to the service moving it, so nothing gets touched.

What to say in the message

The filenames carry the selection. Everything else has to be written down:

Must-haves. Any photo that has to be in the album regardless of how the design comes together — usually a grandparent, or the one frame of a person who has since died.
People who must appear. Naming them is more useful than naming photos, because the designer can then check coverage.
Exclusions. Anyone you do not want in the album. This is easier to say now than to fix later.
Thin functions. If a function looked under-covered in the delivery, say so — they may have more frames they did not deliver.
Your target count and album size, so they can tell you immediately if you have selected too few or too many.

How long the photographer needs

Album design turnaround varies by studio and by season, and it is worth asking for a date rather than assuming one. What you can control is that the clock does not start until your picks land, which is the part that usually takes months.

If you used Shaadi Pic

Your keepers are already sitting in a /selected subfolder inside the wedding folder, with filenames untouched, because that is what the tool writes. Zip that folder, share the link, and add your notes. There is nothing to export and nothing to rename.

The free tool for the picking part

Shaadi Pic opens the wedding folder straight from your drive — nothing is uploaded, there is no account and there is no charge. Left arrow skips, right arrow keeps, Z undoes. Your keepers are copied into a /selected subfolder with filenames unchanged, ready to zip and send back.

Open your folder and start picking →
Free · runs locally · no sign-up · needs a laptop running Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc or Opera

Frequently asked questions

How do I send my wedding photo picks to my photographer?: Send either a folder of the selected files with original filenames intact, or a plain text list of those filenames, zipped and shared as a single link. Ask which they prefer first, and include any must-have photos or exclusions in the same message.
Should I rename the photos I selected?: No. The original filename is how your photographer finds that frame in their catalogue. Renaming or renumbering severs that link and means someone has to match your picks back by eye.
Can I just send a list of filenames instead of the files?: Often yes, and many photographers prefer it because they can filter their catalogue by filename. Send it as a plain text file with one filename per line, not as a screenshot or a document that might truncate.
Why should I zip the folder before sharing it?: Because messaging apps and cloud photo services frequently re-encode images at lower resolution, and those copies cannot be printed. A zip archive is opaque to whatever moves it, so the files arrive unchanged.
What should I say alongside the picks?: Anything the filenames cannot: must-have photos, people who must appear, people to exclude, any function that looked thin in the delivery, and your target photo count so they can flag immediately if you have selected too few.