DropYourFiles

Blog · October 29, 2026

How to download photos from your photographer.

“I tapped download and nothing happened.” The gallery link had opened inside Instagram.

Open the gallery link in your phone’s browser or on a computer, find the download button, usually at the top right, and pick the full-size or high-resolution option. The photos usually come as a zip file, sometimes sent to your email. If the gallery asks for a PIN, your photographer has it. If there’s no download button at all, downloads aren’t switched on, and your photographer can turn them on.

By Vitaly Kibenko

Step by step.

  1. Open it in a browser

    Safari or Chrome, not the browser inside Instagram or Facebook. Pic-Time warns that the in-app browsers on an iPhone don’t allow zip downloads.

  2. Find the download button

    On most galleries it’s an arrow at the top right, or under a menu on a phone. For a single photo, open it or hover over it and use the arrow on the photo.

  3. Pick a size

    High resolution, or Original, is the file to print. Web size is smaller, for sharing and posting. Your photographer decides which sizes are offered.

  4. Enter what it asks for

    Some galleries ask for your email. Pixieset asks for a four-digit download PIN by default, and your photographer can send it with the link.

  5. Open the zip

    On an iPhone, find it in the Files app and tap it, and a folder of photos appears. On a Windows PC, right-click it and choose Extract All. On a Mac, double-click it.

  6. Put them in Photos

    In the Files app, open the folder, tap Select, choose the photos, tap Share, then Save Images.

A photo gallery with its download window open, titled What would you like to download?, with a Size menu set to Original, then Your favorites, Everything, Photos and files, Videos and one folder at a time, each with how many files it holds.
One gallery’s download window: your favorites, everything, or a folder at a time, at the size you pick. A sample gallery with invented names.

Gallery by gallery.

  • Pixieset

    The Download icon at the top right, then your email and the download PIN. A big gallery can come as several zip files. Download links last seven days, and you can make a new one from the gallery.

  • Pic-Time

    The download icon in the bar along the top, then a size. Pic-Time doesn’t use download PINs. Large downloads are prepared and emailed to you. On a phone, the menu at the top right has Download gallery.

  • ShootProof

    Download All at the top right, then a PIN if your photographer set one, and the zip files arrive by email link. A link lasts seven days.

  • SmugMug

    The download arrow, a check of your email address, and the zip comes by email. That link lasts two weeks, and you can ask for a fresh one. Some photographers add a download password.

  • Zenfolio

    The download icon at the top right, then your email. The zip waits on a download page for 30 days. On a phone, Download Photos sits at the foot of the screen.

  • Galleries with an Approve button

    Some galleries, DropYourFiles among them, open the downloads when you approve. Press Approve, and the download button appears on the page you’re already on.

When the download button isn’t there.

Each of these galleries lets the photographer decide whether downloads are on, which sizes are offered and how many photos you can take. A missing button nearly always means one of those, or that the gallery has passed its expiry date. Zenfolio’s advice to clients is to reach out to the photographer, and it’s the right advice for every gallery. Lost the PIN? They can send it again.

Pixieset, Pic-Time and Zenfolio galleries can be set to expire, and Pic-Time emails a warning seven days, four days and one day before. Once your photos arrive, keep a copy somewhere of your own.

Questions.

How do I download all my photos from Pixieset?

Open the gallery, click the Download icon at the top right, enter your email and the download PIN, then choose the sets and the size. The photos arrive as a zip.

Where do downloaded photos go on an iPhone?

A zip lands in the Files app. Tap it to unzip, then select the photos and use Share, then Save Images, to put them in Photos. A single photo can go straight to Photos.

Why can’t I download photos from my photographer’s gallery?

Downloads are off, limited to a number of photos, or the gallery has expired. Each is the photographer’s setting, so ask them.

Which size should I download?

Full size or high resolution for prints. Web size for sharing, where it’s offered.

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