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From Lightroom to a client gallery
There is no Lensdrop plugin for Lightroom Classic yet, and you do not need one to deliver. Export the way you already do, then hand the folder to Lensdrop. These are the settings that keep a gallery sharp and inside your free 5GB, and the two ways to send the folder.
Export settings that suit a gallery
File, Export, then work down the dialog. Each row is one panel of it.
| Panel | Set it to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| File Settings | Image Format JPEG, Quality 85, Color Space sRGB | sRGB is what every browser and phone shows, so colours arrive as you edited them. Quality 85 is about half the file size of 100 with no visible difference in a gallery, which matters when the free tier is counted in bytes. |
| Image Sizing | Resize to Fit off for a delivery. For proofing, or to fit a big shoot into the free tier, Resize to Fit on, Long Edge, 4000 pixels, Don't Enlarge ticked | Lensdrop stores exactly the file you export and clients download exactly that, so a full-size export is a full-size delivery. A 4000 pixel long edge is still bigger than any screen and runs 2 to 5 MB a photo. The Resolution box changes nothing on a screen; leave it. |
| Output Sharpening | Sharpen For Screen, Amount Standard, only if you resized | Resizing softens a photo slightly and this puts the edge back. A full-size export needs none. |
| Metadata | Include All Except Camera & Camera Raw Info, and tick Remove Location Info | Your copyright travels with every download. Camera and lens details show up in the viewer's shooting info. Location is stripped so a wedding at someone's home does not publish their address. |
| Watermarking | Off | Lensdrop watermarks in the viewer, per gallery, and you can switch it off later or serve clean downloads. A watermark baked into the export can never come off. |
| Post-Processing | After Export: Show in Finder (Show in Explorer on Windows) | The folder opens the moment the export finishes, ready to drag into Lensdrop. |
Save it once: in the Preset panel on the left of the Export dialog, click Add and name it "Lensdrop delivery". Every later export is one click.
Three ways to send the export
Pick by how big the shoot is and whether you are still exporting.
1
Drag the folder into the browser
Open the gallery in Lensdrop and drop the export folder onto the uploader. Uploads are resumable, so a dropped connection picks up where it left off. This is the right tool up to a few thousand photos.
2
Send it with the desktop app
Pick the export folder, leave out anything that should not go, press Send. The app keeps going when a browser tab would give up, retries a dropped connection, and skips anything already in the gallery by name and size, so sending twice is safe.
3
Let the app watch the export folder
Turn on Auto-upload in the desktop app and point it at the folder Lightroom exports to. Every photo lands in the gallery as Lightroom writes it. Export a batch of late edits and they are in the gallery before you switch windows. This is also how a live event works.
Re-exporting the same photo unchanged is skipped: Lensdrop matches on name and size. A photo you re-edited exports at a different size, so it uploads again as a second file with the same name. Delete the old one in the gallery, or export the batch to a fresh folder and send only that.
Skipping the export with RAW
Skipping the export is possible for proofing. Lensdrop accepts RAW files (DNG, CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF and others) and shows the preview embedded in each one, so a client can pick selects before you edit. RAW counts toward the gallery's bytes like any file, and a client who downloads gets the RAW.
About a Lightroom plugin
A Publish Service plugin for Lightroom Classic is planned. Until it ships, a watched export folder does most of what it would do. If you want to know when it is ready, or you would use it tomorrow, email hello@lensdrop.app.
Questions photographers ask
What export size should I use for a client gallery?
For a delivery, export full size with Resize to Fit off, JPEG at quality 85, sRGB. Lensdrop stores the file as exported and clients download exactly that. For a proofing gallery, or to fit a big shoot into the free tier, resize to a 4000 pixel long edge with Sharpen For Screen.
Does Lensdrop keep the full resolution?
Yes. Nothing is re-encoded. The viewer serves web-sized previews from your file, and a download hands over the original you uploaded, byte for byte.
Should I add a watermark in Lightroom?
No. Lensdrop watermarks in the viewer, per gallery, and can serve clean downloads while browsing stays watermarked. A watermark exported from Lightroom is permanent and would be on every download.
Can I upload straight from Lightroom without exporting?
Not yet. There is no Lensdrop Publish Service for Lightroom Classic today; it is planned. The closest thing is the desktop app watching your export folder, which uploads each photo as Lightroom writes it. For proofing, you can upload the RAW files and skip the export entirely.
Will re-exporting create duplicates?
An unchanged re-export is skipped, since Lensdrop matches files by name and size. A re-edited photo exports at a different size and uploads as a second file with the same name; delete the old one in the gallery.
How many Lightroom exports fit in the free 5GB?
At a 4000 pixel long edge and quality 85, a JPEG is usually 2 to 5 MB, so 5GB holds well over a thousand photos. Full-size exports from a 45 megapixel camera run 15 to 25 MB each, so a few hundred. Bytes are counted across all your galleries and are never given back on delete.
Export once. Deliver from the folder.
Your first 5GB is free, no card needed. Send a real Lightroom export before you change anything.