From Lightroom
How to send photos from Lightroom to a client.
The Lightroom Classic and Lightroom export settings that suit a client delivery, read on Adobe’s own help pages, and the steps from the export to a link your client opens on a phone.
The short answer.
To send photos from Lightroom to a client, export them full size as JPEG in sRGB (File > Export in Lightroom Classic, then Export To: Hard Drive), keep your copyright in the metadata, and upload the folder to one link your client opens. If they are buying the RAW files too, export those with the Original format, which copies each RAW and writes your edits beside it.
The export settings.
| Setting | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| File Settings: Image Format | JPEG | Opens everywhere. Choose Original for the RAW files, or DNG to archive them. |
| File Settings: Quality | 80 or higher | Adobe’s scale runs 0 to 100. Lower numbers make smaller files and more visible compression. |
| File Settings: Color Space | sRGB | Adobe’s guide says to export sRGB for photos shared online. Adobe RGB is for a lab that asks for it. |
| Image Sizing: Resize to Fit | Off, for the finals | Full size is what a client keeps. For a web copy, Long Edge at 2048 pixels. |
| Output Sharpening | Screen, Standard | Matte Paper or Glossy Paper when the photos go straight to print. |
| Metadata | Copyright and contact info | Adobe’s Metadata menu has a choice that keeps these two: your name travels with the file, the camera details stay home. Tick Remove Location Info for a private client. |
| Watermarking | Off | Watermark the proofs on the link, not the files the client keeps. |
From Lightroom to your client.
Pick the photos and open Export.
In Lightroom Classic, select the photos and choose File > Export (Command-Shift-E on a Mac, Control-Shift-E on Windows), then Export To: Hard Drive.
Set it once, and save it.
Fill in the settings above, then click Add in the Preset panel and name it. Adobe’s own Burn Full-Sized JPEGs preset is close: sRGB, maximum quality, no scaling.
Export to a folder for the job.
Name the files so the client can talk about them: the job, then a number. A folder per part of the job keeps a big set easy to move through.
Upload the folder to one link.
On DropYourFiles, drag the folder into a project. Your client opens the link on any phone, with no account, and sees proofs with Review copy across them until they approve.
In Lightroom, the cloud app.
Lightroom (not Classic) exports from the Share menu or File > Export, Shift-E. Choose JPG, Full Size for the finals, quality from 10 to 100 percent, and Color Space under More Options.
Lightroom also shares an album as a link: Share & Invite, then Get shareable link, viewed in Lightroom on the web. Adobe lists Allow JPG downloads and comments as settings on the album. It works for a quick look; it is a different link from the one with your film on it, and the downloads are JPG.
What comes back.
Your client taps a photo to pin a note on the exact spot. The notes download as a spreadsheet with each photo’s file name, the one you exported, so you can find the photo in your catalog by name.
When they press Approve, the Review copy mark comes off and they download every photo at full size, or a 1600 px JPEG for screens, from the same link.
Free up to 5 GB. No card.
Questions.
What size should I export photos for a client?
Full size for the files they keep. DropYourFiles makes the smaller proof copies itself, so there is no second export for the review.
Should I export in sRGB or Adobe RGB?
sRGB, for anything a client looks at or posts. Adobe’s guide to Lightroom Classic says sRGB is the one to export for sharing online. Send Adobe RGB to a printer that asks for it.
How do I send RAW files from Lightroom?
In Lightroom Classic, set Image Format to Original. Adobe says it exports the image data as it was captured, and writes metadata changes into a sidecar file next to each RAW.
Can my client leave notes on a Lightroom shared album?
Adobe lists comments as a setting on a shared album, and its page does not say whether a viewer needs an Adobe account to leave one. On DropYourFiles your client pins a note on the spot with no account.
Where this comes from.
- Adobe, Lightroom Classic: Export photos, the basic workflow, read October 29, 2026.
- Adobe, Lightroom Classic: Export files to disk or CD (every panel and option), read October 29, 2026.
- Adobe, Lightroom Classic: Export presets, read October 29, 2026.
- Adobe, Lightroom Classic: Keyboard shortcuts, read October 29, 2026.
- Adobe, Lightroom Classic: Color management (sRGB for sharing online), read October 29, 2026.
- Adobe, Lightroom: Save, share and export photos, read October 29, 2026.
Keep reading.
- Lightroom export settings for clients
- How to send photos to clients without losing quality
- Photo proofing your client can do on a phone
- Should photographers give clients raw files?
- sRGB vs Adobe RGB for client delivery
- Web size vs high resolution
- Capture One client viewer, then the finals on one link
- How to export video from Final Cut Pro for a client
More in sending from your editing app, or see what DropYourFiles does.
Send your client one link for the whole job.
Free up to 5 GB. No card. Your client never makes an account.