Getting started with Pixamatch

Pixamatch helps wedding and event photographers cull a shoot with their client, design the album, and let guests find their own photos with a selfie. This page explains how to sign up and sign in, how the studio (the Albums home, the sidebar, the phone tabs and Pixie, the help chat) is laid out on a computer and on a phone, and what each type of account can do.

What Pixamatch does

Pixamatch has three parts that work on the same photos:

• Selects — you upload a shoot, Pixamatch groups the bursts, and your client keeps or skips photos on their phone from one link.
• Albums — the album designer lays your chosen photos out on spreads, and you finish the design, share it with the client and export print files.
• Guest face search — guests open a link, take a selfie and see every photo they appear in.

Designing is free. Credits are used only when you export an album (see "Spread credits and exports").

Signing in

1. Open the Pixamatch sign-in page and enter your email or username and your Password.
2. Press Sign in.

Forgot it? Press Forgot password? under the button, enter your account's email and press Email me a code, then type the code and a new password and press Save and sign in.

New studios and freelance designers create their own account with Create an account on the sign-in page: a form, then a 6-digit code emailed to you (see "Your account and your team"). Team members do not sign up; their studio admin adds them.

You stay signed in for about two weeks on the same browser. After that, or if your session ends for another reason, Pixamatch takes you back to the sign-in page. Sign in again and carry on.

If the sign-in page says "That email or username and password did not match.", check them. Usernames are shared across all studios, so they are often something specific like "purple.anna". If it still fails, your account may have been deactivated; ask your studio admin. After many wrong tries it says "Too many sign-in attempts. Wait a few minutes and try again."

The studio on a computer

On a wide screen (a laptop or desktop) the studio has a sidebar on the left and no top bar. From top to bottom:

• Your studio's name — click it to go back home.
• New album — the main button. The arrow beside it opens a menu with New album and New select.
• Albums — every album you can see, with a count.
• Selects — your culling projects. A pill such as "2 need you" shows selects waiting for you.
• Marketplace — layout packs made by designers (see Marketplace).
• Team — only for studio admins.
• Settings — tabs General, Layouts and Appearance (plus Desktop inside the desktop app). Pixamatch sets your studio's general settings, so General usually says "No settings available".

At the bottom of the sidebar are Ask Pixie (the help chat, see below), the Spread credits card (your balance, a Storage line with how many photos you keep and their size, History, and Manage for admins) and your name, with a bell for Notifications and a menu with Appearance, What's new, About and Sign out.

Albums is the home page. At the top: a search box and a sort (Last edited, Newest, Title). Each card shows its status, such as "Designed · shared with client", "Proof with client · 3/10 approved" or "Proof approved". The card's ⋯ menu has Open, Preview as your client, Copy link and Delete share link.

The studio on a phone

On a phone or tablet the studio has a tab bar at the bottom with four tabs: Albums, Selects, Pixie and You. Pixie opens the help chat over whatever page you are on. The New button at the top of the Albums and Selects lists lets you start a new album or a new select.

The You tab holds your credits (with History, Have a code? where you can redeem one, and Manage team for admins), Notifications, Ask Pixie, Team (admins: designers, credits and access), Studio settings (not freelancers), Layout packs (desktop only), Marketplace (browse designer looks; phones browse only), Appearance, Install Pixamatch, What's new, About and Sign out.

When Pixamatch is updated, a bar at the top says so; press Reload. After the reload a small New in Pixamatch window lists what changed, one line each, and only what concerns you. Press Got it to close it; it does not come back on that browser. What's new in the menu opens it again.

Some tools need a computer: Template Studio (layout packs) and the spread organizer are desktop only. The album designer works on a phone and tablet with a simpler touch layout.

Account types in plain words

Studio admin. The owner or manager of a studio. An admin sees and can edit everything made by anyone in their studio, manages the team on the Team page, and spends spread credits from the shared studio pool.

Team member. A photographer or album designer inside a studio (shown as "designer" on the Team page). A team member sees only their own selects and albums, and spends from their own credit balance, which the studio admin hands out from the pool.

Freelance designer. An account that does not belong to any studio. The studio shows a freelance designer the album side only: Albums, Marketplace, Settings (Layouts, Appearance, and Desktop inside the desktop app) and notifications. There are no Selects or culling tools. A freelancer's work is private: only they and Pixamatch can see it. Freelancers have their own credit balance from Pixamatch.

Where things live

• An album you are designing: Albums, then click the album card. The Continue row shows the two albums you edited most recently, and the chips All, Needs attention, Not designed and Designed filter the rest.
• A culling project and its client link: Selects, then open the select.
• Guest face search: links you shared earlier keep working; the studio no longer makes new ones. See "Guest face search".
• Your credit history: the Spread credits card, then History.
• Your team and their credits: Team (admins only).

Getting help

If something does not work, see "Troubleshooting" for common messages and what to do. Ask Pixie if you need any help: Pixie is the help chat in the studio (Ask Pixie at the bottom of the sidebar on a computer, the Pixie tab on a phone), and it is in the album designer too. Pixie's drawer has two tabs: Chat and My tickets (questions sent to Keshav, and his answers); Contact Keshav is there if you prefer a person. You can also contact Pixamatch on WhatsApp at +91 79944 99974.