the download

how to download and backup your images

YOUR DAY IS YOURS.
YOUR PHOTOS ARE YOURS. ALWAYS.

We want you to have your photos in your hands as soon as possible so we use an amazing, user-friendly website for sharing photos with you. If you’re reading this, your photographer has likely emailed you a link to your gallery and your four digit PIN number. We know you’ll want to spend your time enjoying your images so we’ll get right to the point. We want you to keep your gallery safe & accessible forever.

Following your event, Anastasia Photography and the Whistler Wedding Collective will host your photos online for three months. This gives you time to download your photos to your computer or mobile device and to back them up to an external drive and to the cloud, but it’s easy to put this step off or forget, so here’s a friendly reminder:

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: As much as we’d like to, we can’t hold on forever, so this is where we pass the torch to you. We don’t guarantee access to your images beyond a three month period. We strongly encourage you to back up and download your full gallery to multiple locations as soon as possible to avoid losing access to the images permanently. Please contact us immediately if your have any issues accessing your images. For more fine print about this and other topics, please see your signed contract.

We want you to share these images with the next generation, and the generation after that, and the generation after the generation after that. We believe you and your family will appreciate them even more as time goes by. Plus, we want you to have your photos at your fingertips when you need them today, tomorrow, next year and on your 40th Anniversary, so we’ll keep reminding you:

please download your images and back them up

please download your images and back them up

  • 4 digit download PIN (sent to you in the same email as your gallery link)
  • Email Address

you will need:

how to download

We recommend you download your entire collection onto your computer as soon as possible. Here’s how:

01

Your photographer will send you a link to your gallery. It looks like this:

Click on the View Photos link in your email to open your gallery
Then click on the Download (downward pointing arrow) icon shown at the top right of the gallery view page.

on your computer

right here!

Enter your 4-digit Download PIN and your email address to continue.

02

The next step is to choose which sections in your gallery you would like to download and at which resolution (see the Tips on Printing and Resolution section of this guide). Check your preferred options, then select the option download to My Computer.

You can stay on this page, or wait until you receive an email with your .zip file. A notification will appear on the page, or come to you via the email address you provided. If you stay on the page, after a few minutes, a downloadable .zip file icon will appear.

If you wait for the email, the enclosed link will direct you to a download page with the downloadable .zip file icon. Click on the .zip file icon to download it.

choose your file types

select your options

then download!

03

save and backup

Click and save the gallery download .zip file to your computer. Mac will download the file to your downloads folder; PC will prompt you to choose where you would like your file to be saved.

Once the download is complete, you can unzip/extract the file to get the .jpg image files inside. If you would like to save the photos to Dropbox or Google Photos just repeat the steps to save to these locations.

If you want to store your photos on another cloud server, you can upload them directly to the server from your computer. We recommend saving to your computer, the cloud and to two external hard drives including one that you store off-site (see the How to Backup Your Photos section in this guide). You can stay on this page, or wait until you receive an email with your .zip file. A notification will appear on the page, or come to you via the email address you provided. If you stay on the page, after a few minutes, a downloadable .zip file icon will appear.

If you wait for the email, the enclosed link will direct you to a download page with the downloadable .zip file icon. Click on the .zip file icon to download it.

options, and a reminder!

There are two options for downloading to mobile devices. You can download the entire collection to your cloud server and/or mobile device, or select individual images to download to your camera roll. We don’t recommend relying on your mobile device for storing your full gallery.

However, it can be a convenient way to save your gallery to the cloud, or download single photos to your camera roll for sharing on social media!

01

Chose view photos from the email link we sent you, this will open up your mobile devices web browser to display your gallery. You will see 3 vertical dots on the right hand side of your screen, click here to open a drop down menu to display your download options.

A new window will open to allow you to enter your email address and download PIN that was provided in your email. Press Next.

download the entire gallery

to your mobile device

The next step is to choose which sections in your gallery you would like to download and at which resolution (see the Tips on Printing and Resolution section of this guide).

Select My Computer to download the .zip file to your “downloads” file folder on your mobile device. After you have chosen your options, click start download.

02

After you agree to the download, your images will appear in your Downloads Folder (likely in your iCloud Drive on apple devices). Click on the .zip file to unzip the contents and your gallery file or files will appear.

Select the folder you wish to view and your images will appear as thumbnails. Click on the photo you want to view or share, and you’re done!

*Note: your browser will likely store the file automatically to the cloud server associated with your device. If you want to store a backup copy on your phone or tablet (we recommend storing the full gallery to your computer instead), please make sure to copy and paste the .zip file into the local files on your device. This may not happen automatically, so if you are relying on your device for a non-cloud storage option, please make sure you follow the step of copying and pasting the .zip file to a location on your device.

your downloads folder

03

Open up your gallery from the link provided in your email. Choose the image you would like to save.

The image will open in a new window, select OK to move on. Then hold, or press down on the image on your device, until the Save Image message box appears.

Select Save Image and the image will be saved directly to your camera roll.

to select individual files to download

tips on resolution

and printing

You have the option to download your images in High Resolution (3600px), or Web Size (2048px, 1024px, or 640px). All resolutions are available for both Single Photo Download, and Gallery Download.

Web Size versions of the image are available in 3 resolutions: 640px, 1024px, and 2048px on the width. The Web Size files are much smaller and therefore are faster to download and upload. They are ideal for sharing on Social Media or for quick viewing. The 2048px is the optimum resolution for sharing on Facebook as it is the widest pixel width that Facebook will allow. 

resolution

web size

High Resolution photos are available in 3600px. The 3600px files are 3600px on the long edge, which can typically be used to print photos up to poster size canvases (though this will depend on the original file size), and are more than sufficient for web use. High Resolution photos are high quality images that download faster and are
easier to manage.

high resolution

we recommend that you save the original, high resolution files.

backing up your photos

We recommend copying and saving your wedding photo files to your computer, to the cloud, to an external hard drive at your location and to one stored off site (at a friend or relative’s house). The worst thing that can happen is to lose your photos to fire, flood, theft and/ or a technical account failure. Storing your photos in multiple ways and locations is the best insurance for your investment

You can choose to save your files directly to the cloud using Dropbox or Google Photos. Both are user-friendly and have relatively inexpensive monthly subscription options. Other cloud storage services include iCloud and Amazon Drive. You can upload your files to the server directly from your computer or mobile device. These services are quite comparable, so choose the one that best fits your needs.

how to back up your photos

backing up to the cloud

One of the easiest ways to backup images is to copy your wedding image files from your computer to a new folder in your external drive. External drives are a great value for your peace of mind. We recommend investing in two external drives, one for storing in your home and one for storing off site. Two good options are Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1tb and La Cie Rugged 1tb.

to an external hard drive

albums

Don’t forget albums! An album is another place to store your images in a format that’s more likely to be enjoyed regularly than any of the technical alternatives. It’s too easy to let your photos live in cyberspace! Our beautiful tactile albums ensure your images aren’t just kept safe, but enjoyed daily by you, your friends and your family.

our beautifully printed albums

YES NOW.

A FINAL REMINDER:

PLEASE DOWNLOAD YOUR IMAGES AND BACK THEM UP.

We’ll say it one more time and you can thank us when you sleep better tonight knowing your wedding photos are tucked up safe and secure in three or four different storage locations:

THANK YOU FOR TRUSTING IS WITH YOUR MOST PRECIOUS MEMORIES.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: As much as we’d like to, we can’t hold on forever, so this is where we pass the torch to you. We don’t guarantee access to your images beyond a three month period. We strongly encourage you to back up and download your full gallery to multiple locations as soon as possible to avoid losing access to the images permanently. Please contact us immediately if your have any issues accessing your images. For more fine print about this and other topics, please see your signed contract.