As a failed art major in Portland, Oregon, I was lucky enough to meet a lot of photographers early on in my career. Any time I started to feel bad about the menial labor I had in whatever dead-end job I was working in a given week, I would talk to one of them and feel instantly better.
Turns out, in-between the cool stuff like taking photographs, editing them, and getting paid, there's a lot of boring stuff that I'm glad I don't have to do. Things like: scheduling clients, finding new clients, managing file uploads, or exporting images to weirdly specific formats. These tasks took up hours each day and were universally reviled among my group of friends.
So, if you met me between 2012 and 2015, this post is probably for you. Here are five ways to automate the boring parts out of being a professional photographer.
Track new leads and requests
Whether you're running ads or growing your business by word of mouth, keeping track of potential customers is paramount in the life of a freelance photographer. Using Zaps (our word for automated workflows), we'll help you make sure a lead never falls off your radar. With these Zap templates, you can automatically save new lead information to a spreadsheet to come back to later, or an app like Trello, to incorporate them into your to-do list.
Add new Facebook Lead Ads leads to rows on Google Sheets
Facebook Lead Ads + Google Sheets
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Spreadsheets make it easy to filter and sort through new prospects, but take time to build. Use this Facebook Lead Ads-Google Sheets integration to link your records directly to your ads so you can keep your mind on marketing. After being set up, every new ad lead on Facebook will trigger this Zap, automatically creating a new row on Google Sheets with all those valuable details for you. Learn more in our
Create Trello cards from new Gmail threads
Gmail + Trello
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Keeping up with emails can be difficult, but this integration lets you create a new Trello card for follow up later. After you set this integration up, this Zap will automatically create a card in Trello for you when you start a specified email thread in your Gmail account.
Add new Typeform entries to Airtable as records
Typeform + Airtable
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Rather than collecting and inputting data from endless amounts of form entries, use this Typeform to Airtable automation. Set it up and each time a new entry is submitted in Typeform, Zapier will create a new record in Airtable. Create complete and accurate records for your form entries in your Airtable database automatically!
Turn form submissions into calendar events
Once you've booked a client, actually scheduling time to meet with them is sometimes the most difficult part of putting together a shoot. Using this Zap, you can let your customers fill out a form that automatically creates calendar events with everyone invited.
Create Google Calendar events from new Google Forms submissions
Google Forms + Google Calendar
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Forms are a great way to capture information, including scheduling meetings and other kinds of events. Let this integration handle those tasks for you, automatically converting a new Google Forms response into an event directly on your Google Calendar. Get step-by-step directions in
Create Google Calendar event from new Jotform submission
Jotform + Google Calendar
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Jotform can capture dates and times that you want to add to a schedule in Google Calendar, but importing them those into your calendar can be time consuming. With this integration, Zapier can automatically create a Google Calendar event whenever there is a new form submission. You'll never have to manually make appointments in your calendar again.
Stay on top of appointments
Now that you've actually booked an appointment, you want to make sure you don't miss it! Using these Zaps, you can automatically get a summary of tomorrow's events, or build a to-do list from upcoming appointments.
Create Trello cards for new Calendly events
Calendly + Trello
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Spending too much time prepping new meetings? Set up this Zap so that, whenever someone creates an event on your Calendly, Zapier will automatically create a card for it on Trello with the event's details for your planning.
Get a jump start on editing
After a shoot comes the long, often arduous task of importing and editing footage. Apps like Adobe Lightroom and remove.bg want to help take some of the tedium out of that process. Use their integrations with Zapier to start editing by applying presets as soon as your files have been uploaded to OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
Apply presets and check status of new OneDrive files with Photoshop Lightroom
OneDrive + Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
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Edit files dropped into your OneDrive folder, hands free, when you set up this integration. Once it's active, it will automatically apply Photoshop Lightroom presets to your new OneDrive files then check the status to effortlessly supercharge your editing workflows.
Apply Photoshop Lightroom AutoTone and check status for new files in Dropbox
Dropbox + Delay by Zapier + Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
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Keep your editing tasks light by setting up this integration. Once it's active, a new file in your Dropbox account will automatically trigger Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to apply AutoTone for quick adjustments to fix tonal problems, then follow up to check the job status. Stay free to focus on more important work.
Get files to your client wherever they want them
When all's said and done, the final step (besides getting paid) is getting the files to your client successfully. This would be super easy if clients weren't so mercurial about which apps they use for files. Luckily, we can help automatically sync your files between Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and more, and help notify you and your clients when the final images are ready to go.
Add new Google Drive files to Dropbox
Google Drive + Dropbox
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Dropbox and Google Drive are both great apps for accessing the files you need to work with. Now you can make sure new files end up in both, automatically with this integration. No extra work from you!
Copy new Dropbox files to Google Drive
Dropbox + Google Drive
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Dropbox and Google Drive are both great apps for accessing the files you need to work with. Now you can make sure new files end up in both with this integration. Automatically add a file to your Google Drive as soon as it's added to your Dropbox account.
Send emails via Gmail when new files are added to Google Drive
Google Drive + Gmail
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Sometimes you need to know when a new file is added to Google Drive. Effortlessly alert yourself or a curated list of people with this Zapier integration Once it's active, this Zap will automatically send a custom email via Gmail, with the file attached, whenever that new file is added to a designated folder in Google Drive.
Send emails via Gmail with new files added to Dropbox
Dropbox + Gmail
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Have a shared Dropbox folder that you'd like to watch for new files? With this integration, you can automatically send a custom email to a specified recipient via Gmail with info about every new file that's added to your Dropbox folder.
Copy new Google Drive files to OneDrive
Google Drive + OneDrive
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This Google Drive OneDrive integration automatically copies any new files added to a Google Drive account to a directory in OneDrive, giving you your files where you need them without the hassle of manual management. All new files added to Google Drive after you set up this integration will be copied to the OneDrive directory.
Want to see what else Zapier can do for you?
Check out the other ways that you can automate your work regardless of role or industry, how we can help keep your files organized, and how to publish and promote your work automatically.
