Release Notes: Updated gallery access settings, September 15, 2026

Deliver galleries with confidence using the new gallery access settings.

Our updates to gallery access settings give photographers a simpler, more flexible way to manage who can access a gallery and what they can do once they’re there.

Instead of managing permissions across multiple settings, photographers can now configure gallery access from one centralized place, set different permissions for different audiences, and see at a glance who has access to what. Professional and Advanced subscribers can also create custom audiences that better reflect the people they actually deliver their work to.

Gallery access settings: now even easier to locate and customize.

This update to gallery access settings brings gallery permissions together into one centralized Gallery Features page, making it easier to manage access without moving between multiple settings.

Photographers can configure permissions separately for the three default audiences—General, Guest, and Client—and set different levels of access for each within the same gallery. For example, Guests could be limited to five downloads while Clients receive unlimited downloads, without the need to create duplicate galleries or rely on manual workarounds.

Built-in validation also helps identify permission settings that could prevent a contact from accessing a gallery before it’s shared. A dynamic sidebar provides an at-a-glance view of contact counts and access alerts, making it easier to see who has access and spot potential issues before delivery.

The result is a more streamlined setup and greater confidence that every viewer will receive the gallery experience you intended.

Create custom client audiences.

For photographers whose galleries need to serve more complex groups of viewers, Professional and Advanced subscribers can create custom-named audiences that reflect their real-world workflows.

A wedding photographer might create audiences for a Wedding Party or Parents. A school or sports photographer could organize access around Parents, Coaches, Team Families, or Admins, while a real estate photographer might separate Realtors and Homeowners.

Each custom audience can have its own permissions, allowing photographers to tailor access for different groups within a single gallery rather than duplicating galleries or forcing everyone into generic audience categories.

In product testing, 1 in 3 photographers spontaneously identified custom-named audiences as a standout part of the new experience.

A simpler gallery delivery workflow.

By bringing access settings together and making permissions more flexible, Gallery Access Settings reduces the manual work involved in preparing galleries for delivery.

Photographers can spend less time navigating settings, reclassifying contacts, creating duplicate galleries, or troubleshooting access issues. More importantly, they can share galleries knowing the right people have the right access from the start — creating a smoother experience for both photographers and their clients.

Plan availability:

Gallery Access Settings is available across all Zenfolio plans on our NextZen platform.

Basic includes the centralized Gallery Features page, tiered permissions, and access validation across the three default audiences: General, Guest, and Client.

Professional includes everything in Basic, plus 2 custom audiences per gallery.*

Advanced includes everything in Professional, plus up to 5 custom audiences per gallery, providing additional flexibility for Volume photographers and more complex multi-audience workflows.

Get all the details in the Zenfolio Support Center.