5 Best Software for Each Stage of Your Photography Workflow

To run a successful photography business, you’ll need to do more than just capture beautiful pictures. From client management to photo sharing, each task requires specific photography software that contributes to that overall success.

In this blog, we’ll discuss various photography software to help professional photographers create outstanding work and foster client satisfaction. We’ll analyze the five best photography apps to support each photography process based on their key features and pricing options.

Here’s the list of photo software we’re going to cover.

First on our best photography software list is Tave, a CRM designed for professional photographers.

Their smart online scheduling feature enables clients to easily book a consultation or photo session independently. Once booked, clients are automatically added to your lead list, streamlining your follow-up process. Tave also simplifies the post-consultation steps, enabling automated follow-up emails to help secure photo bookings, as well as sending invoices and contracts for confirmed clients.

Photo culling can be one of the most time-consuming tasks in a photographer's workflow. Sifting through and organizing hundreds of images often takes hours and a lot of concentration. Aftershoot aims to accelerate this process.

Their ‘AI-Assisted Culling’ feature can easily identify and filter out duplicates, blurry images, and photos with closed eyes, allowing you to quickly select the winning shots. Additionally, Aftershoot’s AI editing mode can automatically crop, straighten, and adjust white balance and exposure, enabling you to perform quick initial photo edits and enhance image quality before sharing the photos with your clients for review.

With your photos culled and basic edits completed, they're ready for client approval. While many photographers still rely on manual methods like using Google Drive or Dropbox for client photo sharing, picdrop is a dedicated photo-sharing platform that streamlines the process.

Simply upload your images to picdrop's online photo storage, generate a shareable link, and send it to your client. Clients can then effortlessly select their favorite photos, add annotations for detailed edits, and leave specific requests directly within this photo-sharing platform. 

Furthermore, picdrop integrates seamlessly with popular photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom (LR) and Capture One (C1), as well as your local files. This means you can easily filter and locate the client-selected images within your existing workflow (eliminating the inefficient back-and-forth of emails), create manual lists of approved photos, and tackle other common pain points associated with client photo sharing.

Your client has chosen their favorite photos, and now it’s time to bring them to life with final edits. We recommend Capture One (C1), a popular photo editing software trusted by professional photographers worldwide. 

Capture One has many excellent features, but their two stand-out features are their advanced color grading and layer-based editing. The color editor provides three levels of precise color control, making it ideal for smoothing skin tones, adjusting brightness, and tweaking color balance.

Moreover, Capture One’s smart masking feature ensures your edits are both precise and seamless, reducing harsh edges and the need for excessive feathering. When combined with the layer-based editing capabilities, you gain the flexibility to fine-tune exposure, contrast, and colors on separate layers, allowing you to maintain complete control over your final image.

Note: if you use C1 as your main photo editing tool, consider using it in the photo culling stage for a leaner photography workflow.

Now, if you use picdrop to get client approval, why not use this photography software again to share the final products? Leverage picdrop’s Presentation Mode to showcase curated images in a beautiful, high-quality viewing experience.

With picdrop, you have plenty of customization options that cover the look and security of your photo gallery. For instance, you can allow (or disallow) photo download, add a welcome message for a personal touch, configure the photo arrangement (using the sorting and grouping capabilities), decide on the image spacing, and even change the background color of the gallery to ensure an immersive photo viewing experience.

Many professional photographers are still stuck in the traditional way of sharing photos with their clients. They upload their photos to a cloud storage solution, ask the clients to manually jot down the file names, and then they sift through selected photos one by one for final photo editing. This is obviously not the most effective way to run a photography business.

picdrop simplifies the photo sharing and delivery process. Simply upload the photos to picdrop’s online photo storage, share the link with your clients, and let them choose and annotate their favorite shots directly on the platform. Once done, you can filter your client’s photo selections directly in Lightroom, Capture One, or on your local drive for their final edits. No more handpicking and time-consuming back-and-forth email communications.

Try picdrop today. Start with our forever-free plan and upgrade as you grow.