Downloads
Everything here lives under Settings → Downloads.
Downloads are already on
Every new gallery allows downloads, and every new gallery already has a download PIN. Both are on from the moment you create it. You do not switch them on. You decide whether to leave them that way.
This matters more than it sounds. If you share a gallery without sending the PIN, your client cannot download anything. They reach the download page, get asked for a four-digit code nobody gave them, and email you.
So before you send a gallery, do one of two things: include the PIN in the message, or turn the PIN off. The email composer has an Include in email checkbox for the PIN, which is the easy answer. See Sharing and publishing.
Allow downloads
The top switch. Turn it off and no download appears anywhere in the gallery, on a single photo or the whole set. Everything below it is hidden.
The sizes
Downloads are two switches, not a list of four.
Original is the file exactly as you uploaded it, at full resolution.
Optimized is a resized copy, and you pick one of three:
| Option | Best for |
|---|---|
| Web Size (2048px) | Web and sharing |
| Standard (1024px) | Web |
| Small (640px) | Previews |
So a client is offered at most two sizes: Original and one optimized size. At least one of the two has to stay on, and CoreHue tells you if you try to switch off both.
New galleries start with Original and Web Size (2048px).
Switch Original off if you sell prints and would rather clients did not get print-resolution files for nothing.
The download PIN
A four-digit PIN visitors enter before downloading. CoreHue makes it when the gallery is created, so the field is filled in and you cannot type in it. The wand issues a new one, and the copy button puts it on your clipboard.
Switch the PIN off and downloads are open to anyone with the link. Switch it back on and the code you already shared still works, because switching it off does not throw the PIN away.
This is separate from a gallery password. A password controls who can see the gallery. The PIN controls who can take the files. You can have one, both or neither.
Your client enters it once and is not asked again for 24 hours of using the gallery, so it is less irritating than it sounds. They cannot look it up for themselves though. That is why the PIN belongs in the message you send with the link.
Worth using when a gallery link might be forwarded and you would rather viewing was open but downloading was not.
Per-chapter downloads
Once a gallery has more than one chapter, Enable downloads for lists them with a switch each. Turn one off and it is left out of the download page, so a client can take the ceremony and not the getting-ready frames. At least one chapter has to stay downloadable.
How the client downloads one photo
They open the photo and use the download icon. On a computer the icon also sits on the thumbnail under the pointer. On a phone it does not, so they have to open the photo first.
The first time, a Download photo panel asks for their email, and for the PIN as well if you have one on. Single photos ask for the same things as the whole gallery.
If a size choice exists, a Choose download size panel appears next, with a Remember my selection box that skips it next time. If you offer only one size, the file downloads immediately.
On an iPhone or iPad the photo opens in a new tab with instructions to touch and hold it and choose Save to Photos. That explanation shows once per visit.
How the client downloads the gallery
The Download gallery icon in the gallery's action bar opens a separate page in a new tab. From there:
- They enter their email, plus the PIN if you set one, and click Continue.
- They tick the chapters they want, with Select all at the top, and pick a size if you offer two.
- They click the button, which counts the photos they picked, and CoreHue packages the files.
- Your photos are ready appears with the photo count and total size, and a Download your photos button.
Nothing is emailed, so tell them to keep that tab open rather than waiting on an inbox.
A large gallery arrives in several parts. A small one gets a single Download your photos button. A large one gets a list of parts instead, and every part has to be clicked. Nothing starts on its own either way.
This is the most common download problem there is: a client clicks the first part, a file lands, they close the tab, and they are missing half their photos without knowing it. If you are delivering a big gallery, tell them to expect several parts and to download all of them.
The prepared download stays live for 48 hours. After that the page says the link has expired, with Request again on the same screen. That is normal rather than an error, and they do not need to ask you for anything.
Coming back to an existing download
If your client has prepared a download before and it is still live, the page asks whether they want it again. Download existing files opens what was already built, and Choose new photos starts a fresh selection. Reusing saves them the wait.
Seeing who downloaded
Activity → Downloads has two views:
- Gallery for whole-gallery downloads: which chapters, the email, the size, the number of files and when.
- Single Photo for individual photos: the thumbnail, the filename, the email and the size.
A whole-gallery download appears here once the client actually starts collecting the files, not when they prepare them. A download with no email attached shows as Anonymous. See Activity.
If a download fails
The usual causes are a prepared link that has run out, a selection left half-finished for too long, or a very large gallery. In each case the page says what happened and offers to start it again.
If someone repeatedly cannot download, a smaller size is much easier on a poor connection, but only if you have offered one. A gallery set to Original only has no smaller option to fall back on.
Send your client the instructions
Downloading your photos is written for them. It covers the sizes, the PIN, downloads that arrive in several parts, and saving to an iPhone.