Lightroom Export Checklist for Client Delivery
Save the preset, verify the output, and keep print and web exports impossible to confuse.
Lightroom export presets save time, but a preset can preserve yesterday’s mistake just as efficiently as yesterday’s correct setting. Before every client export, confirm the destination and the promised use: archival download, print, website, social media, proofing, or a combination.
Before export
- Confirm the final collection and image count.
- Remove virtual copies or alternates that are not part of the agreement.
- Check that crops, local adjustments, noise reduction, and retouch round-trips are current.
- Choose a new empty destination folder.
Export settings by purpose
| Setting | Client download / print | Web / social |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Usually JPEG at high quality; TIFF only when requested | JPEG or platform-supported format |
| Color space | sRGB unless the lab or client specifies another profile | sRGB |
| Resize | No reduction, or exact client specification | Exact long-edge or pixel dimensions |
| Sharpening | Match print process and paper when known | Screen, with strength checked visually |
| Metadata | Copyright and agreed descriptive metadata | Remove sensitive location data when appropriate |
After export
- Confirm the file count against the Lightroom collection.
- Open files from different points in the sequence.
- Check portrait and landscape images for unexpected resizing.
- Verify filenames, extensions, file sizes, and sequence gaps.
- Test the actual gallery or download package in a private browser window.
Preflight the exported folder →
Preset discipline
Name presets by output purpose and include the decisive constraint, for example “CLIENT PRINT — full size — sRGB” or “WEB — 2400px long edge — sRGB.” Review presets after software updates and whenever a client changes specifications.
Final safeguard
Keep the export folder separate from working files. If one photograph is revised, replace it deliberately and rerun the folder check. This prevents a corrected file from introducing a new size, naming, or format mismatch.