Set up briefs, project requests, and shot-list intake

Project request

The information a prospective or returning client submits before the studio decides whether to create a job.

Job brief

The current job-level record of goals, products, schedule, overall direction, review process, delivery method, and decision makers.

Photography style guide

Reusable account-level visual rules such as background, crop, lighting, shadow, props, and retouch limits.

Shot list

Product and output-level rows that connect a SKU or product identifier with one required view, its instructions, reference, output, and delivery name.

A request can start the brief. The brief does not replace the style guide. The shot list does not replace the brief.

Website project request

Use a public request when the client should provide selected information through the studio website before the studio creates a job.

1. Enable a public request on a brief template
2. Connect the direct link or dedicated embed route
3. Requester submits selected fields
4. Requester confirms the email
5. Studio reviews the verified request
6. Owner or Admin converts it when appropriate
7. Studio invites the client when ready

Studio-entered job

Use a studio-entered job for a referral, repeat client, agency introduction, call, or another source that does not need the public form.

1. Create the job
2. Choose a brief template
3. Add the client now or later
4. Import product and shot rows when useful
5. Invite the client when the working record is ready

Both paths lead to the same studio-controlled job. Neither path automatically accepts scope or schedules production.

Open Studio Settings, then Brief Templates.

Use installed built-in templates as a starting point. Create a studio template when the same field structure will be reused across several jobs.

• Template name explains the work it supports
• Description is current
• Internal and public fields are separated
• Product and reference fields match the studio's work
• Required fields are truly required
• Public request title and description are client-readable
• Request slug is stable and understandable
• AI Brief Assist is enabled only when the studio wants it
• Template is active before use

Choose the public fields explicitly. Do not expose an internal note, pricing decision, private margin field, or staff-only instruction on the public request.

A built-in template can be installed, removed from the workspace view, or set as the workspace default under the current template-library behavior.

Do not create a large custom template before one real job shows which fields the studio actually needs.

Clients can send you a project request from your own website. You can share a link, add a button, or show the form right on one of your pages. You do not need a plugin.

Step 1: Turn on the request form

Open Studio Settings, then Brief Templates. Pick a template, turn on the public request, choose the fields clients should see, and save. A box called "Connect to your website" appears under the settings.

Step 2: Pick how clients will reach it

• Direct URL: share it in emails, social posts, or your link in bio.
• Button or link: paste it anywhere you want a "Start a project" button.
• Embed code: paste it on a page like Start a project or Contact, so the form shows inside your site.

Step 3: Paste it on your site

• WordPress: add a Custom HTML block and paste the code.
• Squarespace: add a Code block and paste the code.
• Webflow: add an Embed element and paste the code.
• Plain HTML: paste the code where you want the form to show.

Copy the whole embed code, including the short script under the iframe. The script lets the form grow to the right height so it does not get cut off.

Step 4: Test it yourself

1. Open your page on a computer and on a phone
2. Send a test request with your own email
3. Open the confirmation email and click the link
4. Check that the request shows up under Requests in Lenso

Only use the embed code from the "Connect to your website" box. Other Lenso pages, like your studio workspace or the client area, will not load inside another website. This is on purpose, to keep them safe.

Request pages are hidden from search engines, so people will not find them on Google by themselves. Link to them from your website.

Clients do not have a password in Lenso. They open their project from a link in an email. If they lose that email, they can get a new link at lenso.io/portal.

Add a "Client login" link to your website footer or menu so clients can find it when they need it. You can copy it from the "Connect to your website" box.

What happens when a client asks for a new link

• If you already invited them to a project, Lenso emails them a new link.
• If you have not turned their request into a project and invited them yet, they do not get a link. There is no project to open yet.
• If you turned off their access, they do not get a link. They need to ask you.

For clients who are still waiting on a request, add a short line near your form or in your FAQ. For example: "Sent us a request and lost our email? Write to us at [email protected]." Then reply to them yourself.

Lenso shows the same message whether or not an email has a project. This keeps your client list private.

• Open the client login page

The requester sees the studio-branded public fields selected for the template.

• Name and email
• Company or brand
• Products or SKUs
• Variants
• Required views
• References
• Deadline
• Output requirements
• Additional notes

1. The requester completes the form
2. Anti-spam verification runs when configured
3. The requester submits
4. Lenso sends an email-confirmation message
5. The requester confirms the email
6. The verified request appears for studio review

Requester email confirmation is required. An unverified conversion is blocked until the requester confirms the email.

When AI Brief Assist is enabled, the requester can use plain text to draft structured fields. The requester reviews the draft before submission.

Submitting the request does not create an accepted job, quote, schedule, or payment obligation.

An Owner or Admin manages request status, conversion, template settings, and invitations.

• Requester email is verified
• Contact details are usable
• Products and SKUs are understandable
• Required views and outputs are clear enough to evaluate
• References open correctly
• Deadline is understood
• Open questions are recorded
• The request matches the studio's services

Current request status labels:

• NEW
• CONTACTED
• QUALIFIED
• CLOSED

Convert the request when it should become a job. Conversion creates the draft job and carries the submitted brief and request-source context into the project record.

An unverified request cannot be converted.

Invite the client during conversion when the job is ready, or create the draft and invite later.

The job can be created when the acting studio user's email is unverified, but the invitation email is blocked until the studio user verifies the email.

Close a request when it should not continue. Do not treat a closed request as a client blacklist or a legal record beyond the current policy.

Use Create Project when the work came from a referral, repeat client, agency introduction, call, or another source outside the public request.

• Add a clear job title
• Choose the client when known
• Add the client email when ready for invitation
• Choose the brief template
• Set due date only when known
• Choose the current deliverable type
• Import the shot list when useful
• Choose whether to invite now or keep the job as a draft

A client email is not required to create every draft job.

Use prior context as a starting point, then confirm what is still valid. Repeat work is studio initiated.

Use the current Lenso import template when a spreadsheet contains many products or views.

Supported formats:

• CSV
• XLSX

1. Open the shot-list import
2. Choose the file
3. Choose the worksheet when the workbook contains several sheets
4. Map spreadsheet columns to the current Lenso fields
5. Review the preview
6. Correct mapping or data problems
7. Apply the import

Lenso can suggest or remember mappings under the current client and worksheet behavior. Review the mapping instead of assuming it is correct.

Re-import a revised sheet

Use re-import when the client sends a revised spreadsheet. Review added, changed, and removed rows before applying the update.

Removed rows can be archived to preserve history rather than disappearing from the record.

The latest in-product import template is the authority for accepted columns, formats, and limits. The public shot-list template is a planning resource and may contain extra columns.

• Use the public shot-list template

Request data and imported rows are a starting point. The studio remains responsible for reviewing the working record.

• Correct unclear or outdated values
• Attach the relevant references
• Record the decision makers
• Name the current version
• Separate an open question from a requirement
• Record requested changes
• Use the current status labels
• Send the current brief or proof for client review when ready

Current brief status labels:

• Awaiting brief
• Submitted
• Changes requested
• Approved
• Brief skipped

Ask the person authorized to confirm the current requirements to record the decision.

The client agreement defines the legal effect of confirmation, approval, silence, delivery, and acceptance.

Approve on behalf of a client only when the current studio interface exposes that action and the studio has authority to use it.

The current studio interface can include an action to approve on behalf of the client.

That action records the studio actor. It is not the client's own click.

Use it only when the studio has separate evidence or authority, such as a recorded email or another approved decision channel.

• Identify the source of the decision
• Identify the person who made the decision
• Identify the proof or version covered
• Keep the evidence with the job when current policy allows it
• Do not imply that Lenso determines the legal effect

When enabled, AI Brief Assist can turn plain-language text into proposed structured fields.

• Review every proposed value
• Correct the product and shot details
• Remove private or irrelevant text
• Do not treat the draft as accepted scope
• Do not auto-save or auto-submit without review
• Keep the person responsible for the final decision

The configured AI provider processes the text needed to create the suggestion. Use the current Privacy Policy for provider, retention, and data-use details.

• Read the AI Brief Assist guide
• Read the Privacy Policy

A camera or capture-system source file can keep its internal name. A review proof can include a version. A released file can use the client-facing delivery name.

In the reviewed product, assigning a creative to a shot slot can control the delivery filename without renaming the original storage object.

• Keep a reliable source-to-shot mapping
• Keep review versions identifiable
• Record the final delivery name
• Do not use final-final naming
• Test the actual released file name
• Use a delivery manifest when the set needs one

Owner

Manages studio settings, brief templates, public request settings, request conversion, client invitations, and Lenso subscription billing.

Admin

Manages brief templates, public request settings, request conversion, client invitations, and accessible jobs. Does not replace the Owner for Lenso subscription billing.

Member

Works on the jobs they are allowed to access. Does not change public intake configuration or manage the brief-template library.

The public request shows an internal field.

Review the template's public-field selection and remove the internal field. Test the hosted and embedded forms before publishing the link.

The request submitted but the studio cannot convert it.

The requester may not have confirmed the email. Check the verification state. Do not bypass the verification requirement.

The client invitation did not send after conversion.

Confirm that the acting Owner or Admin has verified their own email and that the client email is correct. The draft job can still exist.

The embedded form is blocked.

Use the dedicated embed route and current Connection Kit snippet. Do not embed the normal request, studio, or client route, and do not weaken global anti-framing headers.

The spreadsheet imported the wrong columns.

Return to the mapping and preview step. Confirm the worksheet and each mapped field before applying the import.

A re-import would remove rows.

Review whether the rows were intentionally removed. Use the current archive behavior to preserve history when appropriate.

AI Brief Assist is unavailable.

Confirm that the feature is enabled for the template, that the production provider is configured, and that the current privacy and request settings allow it. The normal request form should remain usable without AI.

A Member can change a template or public request.

Members should not be able to do this. Contact Lenso support so we can check the account.

A client lost the email with their project link.

Send them to lenso.io/portal and ask them to use "Lost your link?" with the email you invited. You can also resend the invite from the project in Lenso.

• Product photography shot-list template
• Product photography production checklist
• Product photography quality-control checklist
• Studio workflow diagnostic