Why a printed proof still works
An online gallery is great for viewing; a proof sheet is better for deciding. On one page the client sees the whole shoot at once, compares near-duplicates side by side, and marks choices with a pen. When they write back "14, 22 and 31", the numbers mean the same thing to both of you.
A layout that works
- Four or five columns on A4 or Letter. Thumbnails around 35-45 mm wide are big enough to judge expressions and focus. For a quick overview of a long shoot, six or seven columns.
- Frame numbers and filenames. Numbers for the client, filenames for you. Long names are shortened in the middle so the camera number at the end stays visible.
- Sort by name or by time taken. If two cameras were used, sorting by time taken interleaves them in shooting order.
- A title with the client and date, printed at the top of every page with "Page x of y" at the foot.
- Whole photo or filled frames. For proofing, show the whole photo so the client sees the real crop.
Proofing from RAW
You can drop CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, RAF, ORF and RW2 files straight from the card. Cameras store a JPEG preview inside each RAW file, and that's what the sheet uses, so the colours are the camera's, not your edit. For proofs before editing, that's exactly right.
Sending it
A sheet of 36 photos at the default 300 pixels per inch is usually around one megabyte (five columns on A4), small enough to email; bigger thumbnails make bigger files. If it's too big, set Output to 150 or 200 ppi, or lower the JPEG quality; the preview doesn't change, only the file size. To share on a screen, PNG or JPEG pages are also available.
Client privacy
The photos never leave your computer: this page has no server that receives them. That's one less processor to list in your privacy notice, and one less place for a client's wedding or a family's children to end up.
Big shoots
The free version makes sheets of up to 36 photos. The one-time unlock takes away the limit (hundreds of photos are fine; they're read one at a time, so memory stays low), removes the small credit line, saves your favourite layouts, and gives you a CSV of the selection with every frame number and filename for your records.