Zno Gallery Review

Zno Gallery is an online platform photographers can use to showcase images to clients which can then be downloaded or turned into printed products to generate more income. We’ve been putting the cloud-based software to the test to find out how easy it is to use. 

Zno Gallery Features

Zno Gallery is one part of the Zno all-in-one, cloud-based platform that’s designed to make the lives of photographers easier by bringing a Gallery, E-Store and various other useful apps together in one place. As everything is online, it all opens in your web browser so doesn’t take up space on your hard drive either. 

For this review, we’re focusing on the Zno Gallery which is a cloud-based photo gallery that photographers can use to share images with clients so they can proof and download them. You can also turn your gallery images into prints, wall art and albums to add to your revenue stream which is something we’ll also be looking at. 

With Zno Gallery, you can create online Galleries with ease which you can then send your client a link to so they can proof the images, select the ones they like and even download your work. You can also sell your photos to clients in the form of various printed products via your own Estore which Zno doesn’t take any commission from, you just pay the cost of the goods sold. 

You can also present images as a slideshow (with a Zno Slideshow purchase), create your own albums/photo books (with Zno Designer) and retouch images with the help of AI (when Retoucher is purchased. These apps come as part of the Fulfillment Apps Bundle which is priced at $30 a month. 

Before we get onto how easy Zno Gallery is to use, some of you might be wondering why you’d want to set one up when you can send clients images via Dropbox after you’ve shot and taken payment which is fine but it doesn’t offer you an option to up-sell very easily or an easy method for communicating with your client about what images they like or if they want any changes making. For this, in steps the online photography platforms that do it all in one place and we’re here to find out if they can really make life that bit easier. 

Zno Gallery Ease Of Use & Performance

Once you are signed up and signed in, you’re presented with a clean and clear user interface that’s rather self-explanatory. Your main work area is in the middle and options for navigating the various tools and apps on offer show to the left. If you’re unsure how to progress, there are really great video tutorials available for viewing in each section which we recommend you do. 

The Gallery is where you organise photos you want to share with clients so they can review, comment on and download them. To add a new collection, click the ‘+ New Collection’ button and give your collection a name. You can then add photos to your new collection or if you have various photos from one event you want to organise into groups, you can add sets within your collection to help organise your images even further. Depending on your file size and internet speeds, upload times can vary but you won’t be left around twiddling your thumbs for too long. 

Before sending images to clients for proofing, you can add watermarks to your images which are done really easily, check each photo individually, rename file names or delete an image from the collection. 

Sending a link to the collection couldn’t be easier as there’s a button you press for sending an email which is done within the Zno online platform and never from your own personal email address. You simply enter the recipient’s email address, chose a subject line (one is inserted for you as a suggestion but this can be changed) and you can enter a message. To save time, you can save email templates which you can quickly just add a different name to. To the right is how the client receives a link to your images which shows a cover photo (you choose this when creating a collection) and the name of the collection. If you prefer, you can access a direct link you can copy and send to people to view the Gallery online. 

If you want to see how your client will view the images, simply copy the link and pop it into a browser or you can click ‘View’. You’ll see the images presented under a title and lead image which we have to say looks very professional and impressed us when the collection opened. First impressions are important and the way Zno presents the images is excellent. Plus, the fact that there wasn’t much effort needed on our part is even better. 

As well as viewing images, clients can interact with them by loving them so they become a favourite and they can also leave notes for you on images, too. You are notified when clients create a favourite image or interact with a collection as they are asked to sign in with an email address before viewing your work (you can turn this off but we think it’s a good feature that’s worth keeping activated). For added security, can also set a password you can send your client to access a collection. 

If you want your client to be able to download your images, you have to make sure the download status is turned on but this is easily done in Settings. You can also set it so a download PIN is required which adds another level of security to the process. If you don’t want them to download the whole Gallery, you can select specific images that are available for download and you can also choose what image size they can download. 

Various sub-settings give you access to design options so you can change the cover photo, adjust the typography and more. 

The Zno Galley really couldn’t be any easier to use and when presented to a client the collections really do look very professional. 

The one snag we do have with the platform is there isn’t an option for listing image download prices or a way to collect payment for image downloads which would be a nice feature. Instead, you’ll have to use an external form of payment and communicate pricing information outside of the platform as well. 

Away from collections, if you have purchased the Zno Slideshows app, you can create slideshows to present your work in an alternative way to clients. As you’ll see from some of the images used in this review, we also have access to Zno Designer and Zno Retoucher but these are things we’ll be looking at more closely in another review. 

No matter what payment level you choose, you have access to an Estore which is a great way to add more revenue opportunities to your Gallery. To do so, you have to set up a price sheet which features what items you want to make available for sale and at what price. By clicking on each individual item, you can see what it will cost you to purchase so you can make an informed decision on what your markup should be. Zno doesn’t take any commission from your sales; just the cost of creating the product which is great. 

Once you have added/removed what items you want to feature and the price you’d like to sell them at, you can use the ‘Actions’ tab to assign the price list to a specific collection and a pop-up will appear asking you if you wish to ‘turn on store status’ which you need to do in order for clients to see what products are available for purchase. To see how your items will be presented to clients, you can view the Gallery by clicking the eye icon (as mentioned previously) and you will now see that a ‘Print Store’ option is available, click this and all of the items featured on the Price List you created will be available and a nice touch is that your images actually appear on the items with prices below them. With not too much effort on the photographer’s part, they get a professional-looking storefront that’s also really simple to manage behind the scenes. 

Prices are listed in USD and this can’t be changed to reflect what country you are in. Shipping for items and postage costs change depending on where you are but roughly, standard shipping is around 8-12 business days. All orders are printed and made in the Zno print lab in Shanghai and payment is completed in an Zno Estore via Paypal. If you do not want to work with Zno for order fulfilment, you can select to work with a third party. 

Overall, Zno Gallery has really impressed us with its ease of use, professionalism and modern design. 

Value For Money

Zno Gallery is available for purchase now with prices ranging from $5 to $30 (USD) a month. There’s also a free version available but, of course, this comes with some limitations. The free version aside, the pricing range is very competitive and actually better than some other companies offering a similar product. For example, shootproof offers photo storage for up to 25,000 photos (up to 1.25TB) and access to an Estore (among other things) for $25 per month whereas the Unlimited plan from Zno is $20 per month. To get access to everything Zno has to offer, it’ll cost you $30 per month but this is still rather reasonable. As a bonus of a paid-for plan, you also get 25% off products such as photo prints and wall art and you earn Zno Lab credit to spend in the store. Other alternatives, you may have heard of, include Milkbooks, SmugMug and Zenfolio.

For a limited time, Zno Gallery has 50% off which makes it even better value for money. To save 50%, use code: ZG0815. Offer ends: August 15th 2023. 

Zno Gallery Verdict

The Zno Gallery is a great way to present photos to clients in a professional way that’s easy to use and a pleasure actually to work with. The bonus of getting access to an Estore so you can up-sell your photos is a great feature and again, it couldn’t be simpler to use. The fact that Zno doesn’t take a cut either is brilliant. The free option is actually pretty decent but to really get the most out of what Zno has to offer, it’s worth paying for a monthly subscription so you get access to other software such as Designer and Retoucher (plan depending). We know some still don’t like subscription models but it’s not expensive and it’s easy to cancel should you wish to but we’re pretty certain you won’t. 

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