A product photography workflow is the sequence of records, decisions, files, and handoffs that move one client job from first contact to final delivery.
The process can begin in two ways.
A client can submit a structured project request through the studio website.
The studio can also enter a referral, repeat client, agency introduction, call, or existing lead itself.
Both paths should reach a reviewed working record before production continues.
The workflow is the studio's process. It is not Lenso's company-level category.
The whole process at a glance
A complete job can include:
- 1. Request or studio-entered lead
- 2. Studio review and commercial decision
- 3. Working brief
- 4. Photography style-guide reference
- 5. Per-output shot list
- 6. Production readiness
- 7. Capture and deviation record
- 8. Post-production
- 9. Internal quality control
- 10. Client proofing and decision
- 11. Invoice and payment when used
- 12. Final-file release and delivery record
- 13. Close, retain, or start a new studio-created job
Not every job needs every stage.
The studio should still know which record owns each decision.
1. Start through the right entry path
Website project request
Use a public request when the client should provide selected information before the studio creates the job.
Each major step in this map also needs a named human who cannot leave the handoff ownerless — see product photography team roles for the standing RACI when titles blur in a small studio.
The requester confirms the email.
The studio reviews the verified request.
Nothing becomes a job without the studio's decision.
Studio-entered job
Use a studio-entered job when the work came from an existing relationship or another channel.
The studio can create a draft, choose a brief, add the client now or later, import products and shot rows, and send client access when ready.
The request form is an acquisition path. It is not the identity of the whole job.
2. Keep the commercial decision outside the brief
The studio decides whether the work is a fit, whether to quote, which agreement applies, when to schedule, and what payment is required.
The client agreement controls the legal and commercial terms.
Lenso does not currently provide contracts or electronic signature.
The brief can reference the agreement. It should not replace it.
3. Build the working brief
The job brief records:
- Goal
- Products included and excluded
- Intended destinations
- Current visual direction
- Output groups
- Timing
- Review path
- Decision makers
- Delivery requirement
- Open questions
- Accepted exceptions
The brief is the current operational record for the job.
It is not the initial request, reusable style guide, or per-output shot list.
4. Reference the reusable style guide
Use the current account-level guide when one exists.
It can define:
- Background
- Lighting
- Composition
- Crop
- Shadow
- Props
- Product-truth limits
- Retouching boundaries
- Approved references
- Naming vocabulary
The brief records the guide version and job-specific exceptions.
The product photography style guide covers what belongs in that document and how to keep it current as the account changes.
5. Expand the required files into shot rows
Use one row for:
- one product identifier or SKU
- one relevant variant
- one independently required view or asset
- one output
- one client-facing delivery filename
A product requiring front, back, and detail files normally has three rows.
The shot list is the expected output record. It is not the production schedule.
6. Review production readiness
Before capture, confirm:
- Working brief
- Shot-list version
- Approved references
- Products or samples
- Known substitutions or damage
- Crew and equipment in the studio's own system
- Set and props in the studio's own system
- Output requirements
- Decision makers
- Open blockers
Lenso does not currently schedule crews, sets, or equipment.
7. Record what changes during capture
The capture team can record:
The day-of run sheet behind capture is the product photography call sheet — setup order, SKU batches, and on-set ownership. This workflow map keeps the sequence; that post owns the morning board.
- Source reference
- Shot-row status
- Missing product
- Substitution
- Approved deviation
- Client decision needed
- New requirement
- Technical note
Do not silently rewrite the requirement to match what happened.
Keep the requirement and deviation separate.
8. Hand the work into post-production
The handoff identifies:
- Current source files
- Selected captures
- Relevant shot rows
- Style and retouching references
- Known limitations
- Questions
- Expected proof or output
- Next owner
The studio's raw and working files can remain in its current storage and editing tools.
Lenso is not a camera-ingest or retouching system.
The full post-production workflow — ingest through delivery — is the operational depth behind this step. This guide keeps the whole-job map; that post owns the shoot-to-desk handoff.
9. Run internal quality control
Internal QC compares the proof or release set with the brief, shot list, style guide, current channel source, accepted exceptions, and manifest.
Use:
- Pass
- Correct before release
- Client decision needed
- Accepted exception
QC is not client approval and is not an automated certification.
The full quality control process — review stages, dispositions, and who does the checking — is worth its own read before writing this step into a job.
10. Share the work for client review
The client review should identify:
- Proof or set
- Version
- Products or assets
- Requested action
- Comment location
- Decision maker
- Feedback date when agreed
Keep comment, selection, requested changes, and approval distinct.
See online proofing for product photography for how to set up that review so comments, selections, and approval stay distinct.
11. Keep invoice, payment, approval, and release separate
A job can have four different records:
- Client review decision
- Invoice and payment
- Refund
- Final-file release
Approval does not prove payment.
Payment does not prove approval.
Neither automatically releases files when the policy is manual.
12. Release the final files
The handoff can include:
- Released files
- Client-facing filenames
- Delivery ZIP
- Manifest
- Recipient
- Release date
- Current access state
- Expiry or revocation
Test the actual download path.
Do not treat an approved preview as proof that the exported final file is correct.
13. Close the job without promising permanent access
Record:
- Final job status
- Files released
- Manifest
- Open exception
- Retention policy
- Access state
- Final client message
Project-specific access can expire or be revoked.
Archiving changes the project state and can change access. It does not automatically delete all files.
A future repeat job is studio initiated.
Use the earlier job as a starting point, then confirm what is still current.
Copyable workflow map
- ENTRY
- Website request:
- Studio-entered lead:
- Requester verified:
- Studio review owner:
- Commercial next step:
- JOB RECORD
- Agreement reference:
- Brief version:
- Style-guide version:
- Shot-list version:
- Decision makers:
- Open questions:
- Accepted exceptions:
- PRODUCTION READINESS
- Products or samples:
- References:
- Crew and equipment:
- Set and props:
- Blockers:
- Readiness decision:
- CAPTURE
- Shot-row status:
- Source references:
- Missing or substituted products:
- Deviations:
- Client decisions needed:
- New requirements:
- POST-PRODUCTION
- Selected captures:
- Retouching instruction:
- Proof version:
- Internal QC:
- Corrections:
- Known limitations:
- CLIENT REVIEW
- Client access:
- Proof or set:
- Version:
- Comments:
- Requested changes:
- Approval:
- Decision maker:
- BILLING AND RELEASE
- Invoice:
- Payment state:
- Release policy:
- Released files:
- Delivery filename:
- Manifest:
- Recipient:
- Access expiry or revocation:
- CLOSE
- Final state:
- Retention policy:
- Open issue:
- Repeat-job starting context:
What Lenso connects
Lenso can connect the request or studio-entered job, brief, SKU and shot rows, references, proof versions, comments, requested changes, approval, optional invoice, final-file release, and delivery context.
Lenso does not run the entire physical studio.
It does not schedule the crew, ingest camera cards, retouch images, inspect them automatically, manage physical sample custody, or upload files to every destination.
Questions
Does every studio need the same workflow?
No. Use the stages the job needs and keep the decision owners clear.
Should every job start with a website request?
No. The studio can enter referrals, repeat clients, agency introductions, and calls.
Is the brief the same as the client agreement?
No. The agreement controls legal and commercial terms.
Is one shot-list row per SKU enough?
Not when one SKU needs several independently delivered outputs.
Does approval release final files automatically?
Only when the current release policy allows it.
Can Lenso replace the studio's production system?
No. Lenso is focused on the client-side job record and handoffs.