Mini Sessions Workflow

You've determined your mini session availability. Now it's time to set up your booking & scheduling tool to allow clients to pick their day and time. GotPhoto does not have an integrated booking tool currently. If you already have one you use, great! All you need to do is export your final mini session data (client name, email, phone number, session date, session time) as a spreadsheet so that it can be imported into GotPhoto as the Names List (more in Section 3).

If you do not currently have a booking tool or need a recommendation, we recommend Session. 

Geared specifically for professional photographers, its easy-to-use features make booking clients and getting paid fast and efficient. If you would like to get started with Session, take a look at their Getting Started Guides. The next few steps will show how to easily export the necessary data out of Session.

Once you are ready to load the mini session data into GotPhoto, you will need to export the data from Session. Navigate to the specific session. Select the Actions dropdown and the Export Session Option.

Choose the CSV Export.

You will receive a final confirmation pop-up that Your export is ready! Click Download Export.

You have successfully downloaded the client data you need to create your job in GotPhoto.

You are ready to move on to step #2, creating your job.

In this section, we will cover the steps to create your job in GotPhoto.

From the main page within your account, navigate to the Photo Jobs tab and click the blue +Create New Job button in the top right of the page.

There are three required fields to complete on the Create New Job page:

1. Job Name (1): This is the name of your photo job. This will also be the public name displayed in the shop, meaning your clients will be able to see this name.
2. Date of Shoot (2): This is the date of the photo shoot, not the date you created the photo job in GotPhoto. This will be important for keeping track of your photo shoots, making them easy to reference and see which ones are upcoming for you to prepare for.
3. Type (3): For Mini Sessions, it is recommended to use Studio → Family as the job type. Setting the type is used for statistical purposes, allowing you to track how well specific job types are performing.

Once the three required fields have been completed, scroll down and click the blue Save Job button. Advanced Settings are not necessary for this job type.

You have created your job and are ready to move on to the next step.

In this section, we will cover how to upload your names list to GotPhoto.

What is a Names List? This is the CSV or XLS spreadsheet you have downloaded from your booking or scheduling tool. In the following example, we will be using the client list we downloaded from Session. You will want to load this data into GotPhoto several days prior to the photo shoot so that you can load the list into the Entagged app (or generate QR cards). The minimum information you want for your Names List:

• Client First Name
• Client Last Name
• Client Email Address
• Client Mobile Number
• Session Day
• Session Time

Depending on the output from your booking tool, you might need to do a Text_To_Columns transformation on the spreadsheet to split the client_name field into the first and last name. 

Note: Do make sure that Client First Name and Last Name are in separate columns in your spreadsheet.

Once you have the spreadsheet in hand, you are ready to load it into GotPhoto. If the columns are named differently, you have the opportunity to map them properly during the upload process. Naviga te to the Photo Jobs tab and and click the name of the job you recently created. This will place you on the Settings page for your job. Make sure of the following:

1. Access Type (1): Set this to Access code for each person. This allows each client to have their own private shop access, viewing only their photographs.
2. Choose a method (2): Set this to QR-Tagging - with list of names. This setting must be set to allow for you to upload your spreadsheet.
   
3. Click Upload File (3) and you will be prompted to select your spreadsheet file.

Select the file from your local machine and click Open. The file will upload and you will be prompted to confirm the column mappings.

Columns to import is the name of the columns in your spreadsheet. Values to import is the preview of the data within the spreadsheet. Field to match to is the data field within GotPhoto. You will want to map the following way:

• client_name → Student firstname
• Last Name →  Student lastname
• client_email  →  Parent email (1)
• client_phone → Parent phone (1)
• Date →  Teacher
• Time →  Group

Once you have mapped the columns, click the blue Confirm Columns button. You will be presented with a Review screen, confirming your mapping. If there is an issue, click the Back button to remap the columns. Otherwise, click the blue Start import button.

The import process will begin which is tracked by a status bar. Depending on the number of rows in your spreadsheet, this could take several minutes. Once the process is complete, the Names List upload is done and you can now upload your list to the Entagged app prior to the photo shoot. 

If you need to return to the Names List page, click the Manage Names button on the Settings page in your job.

In this section we will load the names list data into the Entagged App. The example images used for this section will be from an Android phone, but the app looks very similar on iOS devices.

Note: This guide will not cover the basic pairing steps or phone app installation. Please check out this helpful how-to guide put together by Foolography. If you need an in-depth guide on the Entagged Name List, check out our help article.

Open the Entagged App. Click the Menu button in the bottom left to pull up the main menu. Click Name List.

If this is your first time using Name List, you will be prompted to enter your GotPhoto credentials to connect the Entagged App to your GotPhoto account.

You are now on the main Project page. Click the folder icon to add a new project (your mini session).

Select the option to Add From Account.

You will see a list of your photo jobs currently in GotPhoto. Select the job you would like to import.

On the final page before import, you are presented with several options. The primary option to pay attention to is Grouping 1. If you have imported the session time into the Group field, set Grouping 1 to Group. (If this is only a single day mini session shoot, do not bother importing the date information that is in the Teacher field. If this is a multi-date photo shoot, set Grouping 1 to Group and Grouping 2 to Teacher.)

Additionally, you can set the Synchronization to automatic if you plan on updating or adding new data regularly. For mini sessions, manual sync is recommended. 

Click Done to complete the import of your session data from your GotPhoto account.

You will now see your imported job on the Projects page.

Clicking into the job, you will see that the client names are sorted first by session times. If you click a session time, this will bring up the client's name.

Now that you have your session loaded into the Entagged app, you are ready for the Photo Shoot.

You are at the photo shoot and ready to begin the session. Remember to plug your Entagged device into your camera and connect the device and the app. Follow this detailed how-to guide. 

Remember: If you have a blue light in the app and a blue light on the device, you are connected.

When you are ready to photograph your first client, navigate to their name in the app. Tap their name. It will turn yellow for a moment while it is loading the data into the camera, turn blue to signify it has successfully loaded the data, and then turn gray with a yellow check mark.

The data is loaded and all images taken of the client (until you press another name and load new data) will have that specific client data imbedded into the image metadata. This metadata will allow GotPhoto to properly sort and tag the images (covered in Section 6). You are now ready to photograph your client.

Photograph the client, taking as many images as desired. Once done, and you are ready for the next client, repeat the process of selecting their name in the app. Repeat the app and photography process until you have photographed all of your clients.

Once you have wrapped up the photo shoot and returned to your studio, you are ready to move on to the next step of uploading your images to GotPhoto. 

While you can upload the images directly into GotPhoto using the web uploader or Easy Upload, we recommend utilizing Lightroom and the GotPhoto Lightroom Plugin. If you need any assistance installing the plugin, please reference this Help Center article.  

Note: For the sake of this guide, we will assume you have working knowledge of Lightroom.

Import your session images into Lightroom.

Once imported, complete your standard culling, cropping and editing process. If you would like to outsource your image editing work to GotPhoto, please read this article about our editing services. Additional information on our editing service is covered in Section 9.

Once you are ready to export the images from Lightroom, select the images you want to upload to GotPhoto and click Export (1).

Reminder: The first time you use the GotPhoto Plugin, you will need to enter your GotPhoto login credentials.

Change Export To: to GotPhoto Upload V3 (2). Select the photo job you wish to the load the images into (3). Add an Album name (Session or Upload work well. This name can always be changed later in GotPhoto). The File Naming, File Settings, Image Sizing, and Output Sharpening sections are optional adjustments. Click Export (4) and Lightroom will begin the process of uploading the images directly to GotPhoto.

Once Lightroom has finished exporting, go to the job within GotPhoto, and click on Photo Management. You will see the Album you created. Click on the Album Name.

The galleries will activate automatically in the album. This process can take a moment.  You will then see your client's photographs already sorted and tagged properly to their correct data (1). The import process automatically activates and sorts your images when using the Entagged tagging method.

If you make a scanning mistake and a client's images are assigned to the wrong access code, you can easily move the image to the correct access code by clicking and dragging on the 4-way arrow (2).

Do a quick quality check to make sure the images are assigned to their correct access codes. If everything looks correct, you are ready to move on to the final steps before setting the job to selling.

Next, we need to set a price profile & communication profile. These are set on the Settings tab of the photo job.

Price Profile

To deliver digital downloads or offer prints for sale, you will need to create a price profile.

This guide will not cover the basics of configuring price profiles. If you are not familiar with creating price profiles, please reference these articles first before proceeding.

If you are including free digital downloads to each client as part of your session or booking fee, a simple price profile with the Download All Photos product is all that is needed. Set the Selling Price (1) to $0.

Select your price profile and click Save Settings at the bottom of the Settings page.

Price Profile Upselling Options

We are proponents of upselling at GotPhoto. One way to do this is to only include a certain number of digital downloads with the session fee, so that you have the opportunity to upsell them on additional downloads and products. 

To do this easily, create several packages that include an increasing number of digital downloads. In this example, 10 downloads (1) are what we have included with our session fee. (If you are unfamiliar creating packages in GotPhoto, please check out this How-To Guide before proceeding). We have created additional 20 download and 30 download packages. Set a price for each package, taking into account what upsell revenue you would like to generate for each package.

Once you have created this upsell price profile and attached it to your job, the next step will be to add a coupon to the job. Job coupons are automatically applied to the client's gallery so there will be no confusion about having to remember to enter a coupon code.

Set an expiration date, and set the monetary value of the coupon to match the price you set the package of included downloads at. This allows the client to receive their included digital downloads, but they are presented with additional download packages which creates opportunity for additional sales. And when presented with a gallery of amazing images, clients will often not want walk away with just the 10 included images.

Additionally, consider adding prints and wall décor from your lab partner as an upsell opportunity. Give your clients the option to purchase high quality prints from a professional lab which compliments the quality of your work. Color Inc. Pro Photo Lab has recently added deep matte prints to their product offering with GotPhoto.

Communication Profile

A communication profile allows you to automate emails and SMS messages to your clients, notifying them that their gallery is ready to be viewed and their digital downloads are available.

This guide will not cover the basics of configuring or creating communication profiles. If you are not familiar with creating communication profiles, please reference these help articles first before proceeding.

Reminder: If you are new to GotPhoto, you will need to configure your SMS settings so that SMS messages will be properly sent.

For mini sessions, you primarily need a communication profile to let your clients know their gallery is available for viewing and that they can access their digital downloads. It does not need to be complicated as you already have an invested client who is anxiously waiting to see their images.

A simple communication profile can quickly be put together like in this example:

This communication profile has 3 total messages - an email and SMS that is delivered when the job is set to selling and an additional email follow up 3 days later. All three messages have a direct link to the client's gallery to create an easy login experience for them. 

Note: An efficient way to create a new price profile is to copy one of the pre-included price profiles and modify it. Duplicate the Generic GotPhoto with 3 Day Coupon (Onboarding) communication profile. Once duplicated, delete the emails and SMS messages you do not need. From there, you can easily edit the subject lines and message bodies without having to worry about the HTML format or gallery login links.

Once you have attached your price profile and clicked Saving Settings, you are ready to set the job to selling.

You are ready to set your job to selling. We recommend reviewing your album and images one last time to confirm they are sorted and tagged correctly. Review the Settings page of your job to confirm you have attached a price and communication profile. Additionally, make sure a coupon and archive date is configured if it is required for the job.

Once you are satisfied the job is in order, switch the job to Selling. This toggle is located in the top right of the Settings Page.

Click confirm on the pop-up.

Congratulations! You have set your job to selling. Now you can kick back and relax. The emails and SMS messages will be queued automatically to be sent out on your behalf. Clients can now log in to their private galleries to view their amazing images, download their photos, and place additional orders.

What if I want to use the standard QR card capture workflow for mini sessions?

If you have the client data and do not want to capture and tag with the Entagged device, GotPhoto's tried and true QR card capture method is the perfect solution for you. The video below covers this capture method for mini sessions:

What if I want to outsource my editing to GotPhoto?

We 100% have you covered. Through our editing service, we offer:

• Culling
• Exposure compensation
• White balance
• Saturation
• Contrast
• Trimming
• Straightening
• Sharpening  

It just takes a few clicks and for you to provide basic details to get started. All pictures are processed within 3 to 5 business days and loaded directly back into your account. 

Check out our Photo Editing help article to get started!

Note: Currently, the Editing tab only appears when the Job Type is School and Preschool. To take advantage of our editing service, switch your job type to one of the types in this category to enable.