Best Software and Tools for Photographers

how to improve the workflow for your creative business

There is always room for improving how you run things behind the scenes as a photographer and small business owner.  Whether you are just starting your business or you have had your business for several years, it is important to continually review your workflow. Finding ways to hone in our process and implement new tools helps us focus on creating an amazing client experience for our couples!  There is a lot out there to consider for your photography business ranging from software, subscriptions to apps.  We have searched far and wide for apps that make our workflow easier or target improving specific parts of our business and marketing, such as SEO. This post contains our personal recommendations on the best software for photographers to improve your creative business workflow!

1. JPEG Mini Pro

One of our favorite softwares is JPEG Mini Pro.  It is a one-time purchase software ($59 for the stand-alone app, $89 for the stand-alone app and Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop Plugins) that reduces the size of your images without affecting quality.  This is great to use before uploading an online gallery to reduce the storage and benefit your client’s who may not have enough space for original file sizes on their own computer or hard drives.  It is super satisfying because you can watch the software work its magic and it tells you the total GB’s you have saved from reducing the size of your photos!

2. BlogStomp

BlogStomp is a great tool for improving website speed and how fast blog post pages load.  This software “stomps” images to minimize their size and offer a variety of layouts so you can create small collages in you blog posts.  This helps minimize the number of images in your post and improve your SEO.  What we love so much about BlogStomp is that it is a one-time purchase, no monthly or annual subscription required.

3. Honeybook

It is likely you have heard of Honeybook, and we are here to tell you whether you decide on Honeybook or another option, having a client relationship management software is essential to your workflow and client experience.  It is an all-in-one place for contracts, questionnaires, projects, invoices, and more.

There is also a community where you can search for and post about jobs, creative opportunities and more! It is never too soon to get started with this.  The earlier on that you create a solid workflow for your business, the easier it is to have a seamless experience for your clients!

For photographers who are unhappy with their current CRM, we highly recommend trying out Honeybook.

If you’re interested in joining Honeybook, use our Honeybook coupon code to get 50% your first year: http://share.honeybook.com/sydney54239

4. Clean My Mac

This one is for the Apple users out there. Like many artists out there, we can thrive in organized chaos.  Even if this isn’t the case for you, it is all too easy to fill up your storage on your computer or laptop and slow down your whole computer to the point where it can make editing slow!

This is the case for us, so we love having a software that helps clean up our Macbook Pro. Stop worrying about deleting things as you go to make room and get a software that takes care of things for you.  One of my favorite features is that it looks for large, old files that you haven’t touched in years that can free up a lot of space if you don’t need anymore!

https://macpaw.com/cleanmymac/referral/6dcf6c59-a6e2-42c4-9335-e7a54423a032

5. Photo Mechanic

This one is a lifesaver, friends. Photo Mechanic is a culling software that has cut our culling time exponentially. Once you mark the photos you want to edit, you can export them right over to Lightroom.  This is way better than culling through Lightroom because culling through Lightroom can be a slow process that eats up storage and slows down the application.  With Photo Mechanic, viewing and culling images is lightning fast (we get through culling an elopement in under 20 minutes).

 

We believe in continually reviewing and implementing new ways to improve your business workflow and website.  We hope you found our list of the best software for photographers helpful and it inspires you to do the same!