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A commercial photography workflow

Commercial and brand work runs differently from weddings and portraits. You're dealing with marketing teams and agencies, usage rights, scopes that shift, and sometimes clients in other countries. Here's a commercial photography workflow in CoreHue, so the quote, the agreement, the invoices and the delivery look as professional as the work.

How commercial jobs usually flow​

  1. A brand or agency gets in touch about a project.
  2. You scope it and send a proposal with deliverables, usage terms and price.
  3. They accept, sign and pay a deposit.
  4. You shoot, then deliver final files, and sometimes video, for review and retouching.
  5. The balance is invoiced and paid on their terms.

1. Start with a conversation​

Create an inquiry service under Bookings → Services so every project starts as a conversation in your inquiries. On the Details tab, set the price to Starting at or don't show one, since the number depends on scope. See Setting up an inquiry service.

A contact form on your website works well here too, for people who want to send a brief rather than pick a service.

2. Put your rates in items​

Day rate, half day, licensing tiers, retouching per image, travel, studio hire. Add them once to Templates → Items, and every proposal and invoice reads the same way across clients and years. Leave the price blank on anything you quote case by case. See Saving reusable items.

3. Spell out usage in your contract​

Commercial clients are paying for how the images are used, so the contract matters more here than anywhere. Build a contract template that covers:

  • Where the images can be used (web, social, print, broadcast, out-of-home)
  • For how long, and in which territories
  • Whether the usage is exclusive
  • Who owns copyright, and what credit you expect
  • Approval and retouching rounds, and what extra rounds cost

Keep a separate template for each licensing tier so you can send the right one quickly. Writing a photography contract has more on wording.

4. Send a clear proposal​

Put the scope, deliverables and price into a proposal so nobody wonders what's included. Use Client choices for license options (for example, 12 months web only versus 24 months all media) and Add-on rows for extras like more territories or extra retouched images. Attach the contract so approval and signature happen together. See Offering options and add-ons in a proposal.

Sending proposals needs Plus or Pro.

5. Bill the way businesses pay​

Turn on Payment in the proposal and choose Payment schedule: a deposit to confirm, the balance on delivery. Accepting creates the invoice for you. See Adding a contract and payment schedule to a proposal.

Businesses often pay by bank transfer. Set one up as a manual payment method with your account details, and turn on proof of payment if you want a remittance screenshot. For card payments, connect Stripe.

Need a purchase order number or their billing address on the invoice? Add it to the line description or the invoice notes before you send.

6. Invoice international clients in their currency​

On Pro, you can raise invoices in currencies other than your default, so a client in London gets a pound invoice and a client in New York gets a dollar one. Your default currency is set once in your profile. See Invoicing in more than one currency.

7. Deliver final files, and video​

Create a gallery for the project, with chapters for each deliverable set: hero images, social crops, behind the scenes. Then check the download settings match what they've licensed:

  • Original gives full-resolution files, on Plus and Pro. On Free, clients get web sizes only.
  • Turn on a Download PIN if you want to control who can download from a link that will be passed around a team.
  • On Pro, you can upload RAW files if the client is paying for them.

See Choosing your download settings and Uploading RAW files.

If you deliver brand films, cutdowns or behind-the-scenes clips, add them to the same gallery. Plus streams and downloads video in HD, and Pro goes up to 4K, with up to 2 hours for a single video. See Video limits by plan.

8. Collect retouching picks​

Agencies usually need to mark which frames go to retouch. Create a selection request with a brief and a maximum. The ready-made Retouch list starts with a 10-photo limit. They star their picks, add notes about each, and send the list back. See Requesting client selections.

A few tips​

  • Watch what's outstanding. The Payments page shows Received less refunds, This month, less refunds and Outstanding at the top. See Your payments list.
  • Use Reports → Finance at tax time. Every payment, refund and fee is listed. See The finance report.
  • Link the gallery to everyone on the client team. A gallery can link up to 10 contacts, so the brand manager and the agency producer both appear as recipients. See Linking a gallery to your contacts.

Frequently asked questions​

Can I send a quote without a deposit?​

Yes. Leave Payment off in the proposal, and invoice separately when it suits the client's process. See Creating an invoice.

Can two people at the client company sign the contract?​

Each contract goes to one contact. Send it to whoever has authority to sign for the company. If two signatures are genuinely needed, add both people as contacts and send each their own contract.

Can I remove CoreHue branding for corporate clients?​

Yes, on Plus and Pro. Your galleries, emails, documents and invoices then carry only your brand. See Removing CoreHue branding.

Can I invoice in a currency other than my default?​

On Pro, yes. On Free and Plus, invoices use your default currency. See Invoicing in more than one currency.

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