Who this is for
Wedding photographers, portrait studios, commercial shooters, event photographers, headshot specialists — anyone selling photographic work where the client gets edited images and the photographer keeps copyright.
The three things every photo invoice must do
1. Call it a "non-refundable retainer," not a "deposit." A retainer is consideration for reserving your time — typically upheld in court even on cancellation. A deposit is generally refundable. The single word change has decided more wedding photography disputes than any other.
2. Spell out the license, not the file count. Clients often assume that getting a JPG means they can use it on their corporate website. They can't, unless your license says so. The template includes a standard personal-use clause for weddings/portraits and a commercial clause structure for commercial work.
3. Itemize deliverables. Number of edited images, delivery format (high-res JPG, web-res, RAW), delivery method (private gallery, USB, download link), and timeline (often "within 6 weeks"). This is what prevents the "is it done yet?" emails.
Standard license clauses
Personal use (weddings, portraits):
License strictly limited to Personal Use (Archive, Personal Web, Print). Commercial exploitation is expressly prohibited. Photographer retains all copyright and moral rights.
Commercial use:
Grant of License: Client is granted a Non-Exclusive, Non-Transferable license for [media type — e.g., digital + print advertising] use in [territory — e.g., North America] for a period of [duration — e.g., 12 months from delivery]. Photographer retains all copyright and moral rights.
Both are paste-ready into the Terms field of the template.
Pricing line items photographers commonly add
- Second shooter / assistant
- Extra hours beyond agreed coverage
- Rush editing (under 2 weeks)
- Travel beyond a set radius
- Print packages (separate from digital)
- Engagement / pre-event session add-ons
- Album design
How to use this template
- Open the photography template.
- Fill in event date, venue, and type (wedding / portrait / commercial).
- Adjust the retainer amount — the template shows 25%; adjust based on your standard.
- Edit the license clause in Terms to match the engagement (personal vs commercial).
- Download the PDF and email it with the contract.