Sending a stranger sixty photographs of your family is a reasonable thing to hesitate over. Here is the whole answer, including the part with a number in it.
The short version
Seven days after dispatch. Then permanently deleted.
Your photographs go into a private, access-controlled folder for your order, opened only by the designer laying out your piece. They are used for exactly one thing: making it. We never sell them, license them, or post them anywhere without asking you first.
| What happens | |
|---|---|
| Where they go | A private folder, specific to your order |
| Who can open it | The designer working on your piece |
| What they are used for | Making your piece. Nothing else. |
| Sold or licensed | Never |
| Posted publicly | Only if you say yes, asked separately |
| Kept for | 7 days after dispatch |
| After that | Originals and print files permanently deleted |
The same is set out in the privacy policy.
What the seven days are for
Two specific things, and both are for your benefit rather than ours.
Transit damage. If a parcel arrives crushed, we reprint. That needs the print files, and it needs them at the moment you discover the problem rather than a fortnight earlier.
A second copy. People ask more often than you would expect — a sibling wants one too, a parent wants their own. Within the window that is a reprint. After it, you would need to send the photographs again.
⚠️ If you think you might want a second copy, say so within the week. After the files are gone they are gone, and nobody can undo that at either end. Can I reorder the same book later? →
Who you own
You do. Sending photographs to be printed does not transfer any rights in them, and it never does anywhere reputable. If a service’s terms suggest otherwise, that is worth reading twice.
What to ask any print service
Not just us. Four questions, and the answers tell you most of what you need:
How long do you keep my files? A specific number is a good sign. “As long as necessary” is not an answer.
Who inside your company can open them? “Everyone” and “we have not thought about it” are the same answer.
Do you use customer photographs in marketing? Some do, buried in the terms. Ask whether they ask first.
What happens if I want them deleted now? There should be a way to ask.
A seller who cannot answer these quickly is telling you something.
If your photographs are sensitive
For corporate material, unreleased work, or anything where a leak has a commercial consequence rather than a personal one, an NDA is a normal thing to ask for and we can sign one. Raise it before sending anything. Will you sign an NDA? →
What we cannot protect you from
Your own copy. The photographs on your phone, in your email, in the chat thread you sent them from — those stay wherever you keep them, and our deletion window has no effect on them.
If discretion matters, think about which channel you send them through as much as who you send them to.
Frequently asked
How long do you keep my photos? Seven days after dispatch. After that your original high-resolution photographs and the print files are permanently deleted.
Who can see my photographs? The designer laying out your piece, through a private folder specific to your order. They are not browsable by anyone else.
Will you post my photos on social media? Not without asking you first, separately and explicitly.
Do I still own my photographs? Yes. Sending them to be printed transfers no rights in them.
What if I want a second copy later? Ask within seven days of dispatch, while the files still exist. After that you would need to send everything again.
Part of our questions people ask before ordering. See also: who actually designs the book and sending photos without losing quality.
Read the detail: Privacy policy · Photo magazines from ₹499