Photographer Setup GuideStart here

Connect your camera to Instant Photo Share for real-time photo delivery. Learn the basic workflow, or dive into the advanced Check-In system for high-volume headshot events.

Overview

Instant Photo Share offers two primary ways to deliver photos, depending on the scale and style of your shoot:

1. Basic Gallery Delivery

The standard workflow. Shoot tethered into Capture One, run our specific export recipe, and the Auto Upload Utility instantly pushes the photos to a single, beautifully branded gallery for everyone to view.

Perfect for Events & Parties
2. Advanced Check-In System

The high-volume workflow. By utilizing Capture One's clipboard naming, this system automatically matches incoming photos to specific participants who have checked in, creating individualized galleries on the fly.

Perfect for Corporate Headshots

Workflow 1: Basic Delivery (Start Here)

This is the foundational workflow. Before attempting the advanced Check-In system, ensure you are comfortable with this automated pipeline.

Option A: Capture One Workflow

For tethered shooting using Capture One, we rely on Sessions and Export Recipes.

1
Create a New Session: Go to File → New Session. Give it a name that matches your event. Note: Catalogs do not automatically create the required Output folder structure.
2
Set Up the Export Recipe: Click the Export tab. Uncheck all existing recipes to avoid accidental duplicates.
3
Click the “+” icon to create a new recipe and name it Instant Photo Share.
4
Configure the recipe to exactly match this checklist:
Capture One Export Configuration
  • Export Location:
    Set Folder to Session Default (Output) and type Live_Delivery into the Subfolder field. Set Existing Files to Overwrite.
  • Format & Size:
    Select JPEG. Set Quality to 85 (optimized for fast cloud syncing while maintaining high fidelity).
  • Color Profile:
    Select sRGB (ensures perfect color rendering on modern mobile displays).
  • Resolution:
    Set to 72 px/in (the standard for digital delivery).
  • Scale:
    Set to Long Edge and 2500 px (delivers crisp resolution without massive file sizes).

Screenshot needed

Capture One — Export tab with the 'Instant Photo Share' recipe selected, showing the Live_Delivery subfolder and the Format & Size settings.

Option B: Adobe Lightroom Classic Workflow

If you prefer Lightroom Classic, you can create a dedicated Export Preset to send optimized images directly to the upload folder.

1
Create your Delivery Folder: First, create a folder on your computer (e.g., on your Desktop) and name it Live_Delivery.
2
Open Export Dialog: In Lightroom, select an image and go to File → Export.
3
Configure the Export settings to match this checklist:
Lightroom Export Configuration
  • Export Location:
    Set Export To: Specific folder and click Choose to select the Live_Deliveryfolder you created. Check “Put in Subfolder” and leave it blank. Set Existing Files to Overwrite WITHOUT WARNING.
  • File Settings:
    Image Format: JPEG. Quality: 85. Color Space: sRGB.
  • Image Sizing:
    Check “Resize to Fit” and select Long Edge. Enter 2500 pixels. Set Resolution to 72 pixels per inch.
4
Save the Preset: Click the Add button on the left panel of the Export window. Name the preset Instant Photo Share and click Create.
5
Now, as you shoot, you can select your finished photos and quickly export them using this preset.

Screenshot needed

Lightroom Classic — Export Dialog showing the Specific folder location and Image Sizing set to Long Edge 2500px.

The Auto Upload Utility

The Upload Utility runs in your browser, acting as a bridge between your Capture One session and the cloud. It scans for new images every 25 seconds.

1
From your Instant Photo Share dashboard, click Upload on your gallery card.
2
When the browser prompts you, grant access to the following folder on your hard drive:
[Your Session Location] / Output / Live_Delivery /
3
Keep this browser tab open and active while you shoot.

If the internet momentarily drops, don't panic! The utility has an automatic retry mechanism. It will attempt to push failed files up to 3 times on subsequent scan cycles.

Never select the Capture folder! The utility will attempt to upload massive RAW files which will appear incorrectly exposed and often sideways in the gallery.

Workflow 2: Advanced Check-In System

Once you are comfortable with Basic Delivery, you can activate the Check-In system. This relies on strict file naming conventions in Capture One to match incoming photos to a live queue of participants.

Phase 1: Disable Interference

Because this workflow relies heavily on your Mac's clipboard, you must stop other Apple devices from silently overwriting it.

1
Open your Mac's System Settings → General → AirDrop & Handoff.
2
Turn Handoff completely OFF.

Screenshot needed

macOS System Settings — AirDrop & Handoff with Handoff toggle in the OFF position.

Phase 2: Configure Automated Naming

1
In Capture One, click the Tether tab.
2
Expand Next Capture Naming and click the “…” button.
3
Delete all default tokens in the format bar.
4
Drag in exactly two tokens to create this precise formula:
[Clipboard Contents]_[4 Digit Counter]
5
Click OK.
6
Expand Next Capture Adjustments and ensure Other is set to Defaults.

The order and contents of this formula are critical. Instant Photo Share relies on the exact prefix copied from the dashboard to route the photo correctly.

Phase 3: The Shoot Cycle

With your naming format set, you are ready to shoot using the live Check-In dashboard.

  1. 1
    Double-click the participant in the Queue.This copies their unique routing prefix directly to your clipboard. You will hear an audible confirmation chime.
  2. 2
    Shoot their session.Because of the formula you set up, Capture One names every shot perfectly for them.
  3. 3
    Export via the Instant Photo Share recipe.The JPEGs drop into your Live_Deliveryfolder, the Upload Utility grabs them, and the images are instantly routed to the participant's private link.

Troubleshooting

Images aren't appearing in the gallery

1) Confirm the Upload Utility tab is open. 2) Confirm you selected Output / Live_Delivery / as the folder. 3) Confirm you are exporting JPEGs via the correct recipe. 4) If using the Check-In workflow, ensure the file name matches the participant's prefix.

Photos are appearing sideways or look terrible

You connected the Upload Utility to the 'Capture' folder instead of 'Output / Live_Delivery /'. The utility is uploading uncompressed RAW files. Re-select the correct folder.

The clipboard changes by itself mid-shoot (Check-In Workflow)

Another Apple device is overwriting your clipboard via Universal Clipboard/Handoff. Disable Handoff in System Settings → General → AirDrop & Handoff.

Getting duplicate export files

More than one Export Recipe is checked. Go to the Export tab and ensure ONLY the 'Instant Photo Share' recipe is checked. Scroll the list carefully.

I forgot to double-click before shooting (Check-In Workflow)

The participant's images were named with the previous person's prefix. Locate the correct prefix in the dashboard, manually rename those specific files in Capture One, and re-export them.

The Output / Live_Delivery / folder doesn't exist

This is completely normal. Capture One creates this subfolder automatically the very first time you hit Export. Run a single test export and the folder will appear.

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