Six checks in a product photography launch review before you sign

What to take away

• Most teams review the sample images first and the delivery terms last. Reverse that order.
• A product photography launch review assesses the brief, the shoot schedule, file handover, usage rights, cookie behaviour on the proofing site and the audit trail. It does not assess image quality by eye, because that is a matter of taste.
• Vendor claims about volume, turnaround and ranking gains are marketing until a contract or a published rule supports them.
• Ask for the crawler policy, the retention period and the named contact before you compare prices.
• Score each supplier on the same six checks so the comparison survives a second meeting.

What does a launch review actually cover?

A launch review is a structured read of what a studio or platform promises to deliver in the first ninety days. It covers the brief, the shot list, the schedule, the file naming convention, the licence, the proofing site and the escalation route.

It does not cover whether the images look good. That judgement belongs to the buyer and the merchandising team. If a review claims to rank creative work, treat it as opinion.

Keep the scope written down. A review that drifts into pricing negotiation stops being a review.

Which vendor claims should you discount?

Claims about search ranking are the easiest to test and the most often overstated. Image discovery depends on crawlable markup and fast delivery, so read the Google crawler overview and check whether the supplier's proofing site allows the relevant agents. If it blocks them, the gallery is invisible to search.

Claims about "guaranteed" conversions have no published basis. Ask which metric moved, over what period, and who measured it. If the answer is a case study with no method, file it as marketing.

For a wider view of how these promises sit inside day-to-day delivery, the operations and delivery guide sets out the stages a launch has to pass through.

Are the advertising and data rules covered?

The visual claims on a product page fall under the advertising codes. If a supplier proposes retouching that changes what a buyer receives, that is a trading standards risk, and the ASA guidance on Trading Standards referrals explains how breaches can escalate beyond a ruling.

Cookie behaviour on a proofing or client gallery matters just as much. Any storage or access technology needs a lawful basis and clear information, which the ICO guidance on storage and access technologies sets out.

What should the handover include?

Handover is where most launches quietly fail. Ask for the master files, the edited derivatives, the colour profile, the naming convention and the metadata schema in one documented drop.

Check who owns the raw files and for how long. A studio that deletes masters after 30 days creates a re-shoot cost later. For example, a team paying £400 a month for storage it does not need is a common outcome of a vague retention clause.

Confirm the licence covers paid social, marketplaces and print, not just the brand site. Usage rights are the clause buyers most often discover too late.

Who signs off each stage?

The review needs named owners, not job titles alone. A launch with no single approver for the shot list will stall at the first round of feedback.

Map the roles before the kick-off call. The team roles breakdown shows how approval, styling and retouching duties usually split in English studios, which helps you spot a supplier who has nobody assigned to file delivery.

Set a decision deadline for each stage. Silence is not sign-off.

What goes in the glossary?

• Launch review: a documented assessment of a supplier's first-ninety-days commitments.
• Master file: the highest-quality retained original, kept for future edits.
• Derivative: a resized or cropped export for a specific channel.
• Usage rights: the channels and duration a licence permits.
• Proofing site: the gallery where buyers approve images before publication.
• Retention clause: how long the studio stores files after handover.

Common questions

Can I run this review without seeing a shoot?

Yes. The six checks are documentary: brief, schedule, handover, licence, cookie behaviour and named owners. Image quality is assessed separately by your own team.

How long should a launch review take?

Allow a week for a single supplier and two for a shortlist. Most of the time goes on reading the contract and confirming retention and usage terms.

What if a supplier refuses to share the crawler policy?

Treat that as a red flag. Crawl access affects whether your images can be found, and a refusal leaves you unable to verify a central claim.

Does this review cover pricing?

No. It records what is promised and what is evidenced. Price comparison belongs in a separate exercise once the six checks are scored.